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write your own review of the Ten-Tec Universal BFO Kit #1050.
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NG9D
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Rating: 4/5
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Jan 8, 2011 04:45
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Just for Fun
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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It won't turn your shortwave radio into a communications grade receiver but it will allow you to hear some CW and SSB on radios lacking a BFO. To listen to a few on-air examples see
http://www.youtube.com/user/NG9D?feature=mhum#p/search/1/VEJVrOXGgRU
Enclosing it in a case adds stability. I had fun assembling it and using it with various 455kHz I.F. radios. 73 de NG9D
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KD8PHX
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Rating: 2/5
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Dec 4, 2010 13:01
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So So
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Time owned: 3 to 6 months
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I have a HQ100 & wanted to add a BFO to it like the HQ100A. So I bought the TenTec hoping I could get it to work with the HQ100. I did not have good success. It was still easier & more effective using the Q multiplier & BFO on the 100. So I tried it on a few SS SW radios I have, and had mixed results. It was cheap & worth a try even tho I knew mixing SS with Tube stuff, isn't always effective. The signal coming out of the TenTec BFO does not look like a sine wave at all, but my counter tells me it is 455kHz.
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KG6QNK
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Rating: 3/5
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Sep 16, 2010 13:46
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Fun to build; actual use not that great
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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Easy to build Fun Kit; does what it is designed to do; but not that great. Output is very high and varies from Band to Band. Would need to tame and regulate (hope you have good AGC) before putting this inside receiver enclosure. My unit would not track very far before I would need to readjust variable inductor... Ten-Tec attributes this to the Receiver; could very well be. As a Fun stand alone kit it's allright; however, I would not buy another. I just obtained an old Sony 8 Transistor pocket AM only Radio and am using it as a BFO to beat a Note over to my ShortWave Radio. Still somewhat mickey mouse; however I do prefer it overall to this kit in general performance. CW sounds excellent. Main tuning capacitor is air variable, and no matter the band can find a beat note. SSB is ok; don't listen to it too much . Just get yourself an old AM Radio with variable tuning and use for BFO. Save your money for good RCVR with SSB/CW capability.
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KC4FKX
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Rating: 4/5
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May 30, 2010 11:27
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Simple to Build...Does the Job
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I received an AM/FM/SW pocket radio from C.Crane (CCRadio-SWP) for Christmas. While I really like this radio it does not receive CW or SSB....until now! The kit is very simple and straight forward to build. Initial testing and setup is a breeze. I connected an alligator clip from the 455 KHz out to the antenna, connected a battery, set the radio to 4.032 MHZ (my favorite cw watering hole), set the pot to its mid-range setting, tuned the coil a turn or so and wham, the signal came in like gangbusters! The pot makes for a very nice fine tune adjustment. While I did experience a little hand capacitance I expect it will go away once everything is mounted in the suggested TP-13 aluminum case. Well worth the $11.
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OLLIEOXEN27
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Rating: 0/5
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Nov 9, 2009 12:07
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drifts
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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Mine drifts and has to be retuned every 5-10 seconds plus there's usually a heterodyne floating around the signal. Also if the signal is much stronger than the oscillator signal it doesn't work (only weaker signals). Sad that a person wanting to listen to single sideband signals (a future ham perhaps?) should have this as their first experience. Probably turn him off to the hobby.
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N4AUD
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Rating: 5/5
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Mar 21, 2008 19:47
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Great accessory
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Time owned: 6 to 12 months
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The kit couldn't be any simpler, takes no time at all to assemble. It works as advertised. One thing I don't like about it is I have to adjust the can coil quite a bit if I move around much in a band. If I go from say 3900 khz to 3950 khz, I have to center the knob, then use an adjustment tool on the coil. No biggie, and it is a blast to listen to CW or SSB on a Transoceanic, or your favorite portable SW radio.
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W8ZNX
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Rating: 5/5
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Apr 1, 2007 10:38
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just the thing for that old GE or Zenith receiver
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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very very easy kit
once the soldering station is warmed up
takes less than 10 min to build
standard TenTec manual
works great
have used this with more than one
older shortwave receiver
80 cw late winter night
its fun during a qso
to send
rx hr is Zenith or Philco
dit dit Mac
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NS6Y_
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Rating: 3/5
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Mar 22, 2006 22:03
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Univeral BFO the QRM's free
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I got this in a box of stuff, and decided to build it, it was an early 90s packaging so it had the older type Ten-Tec manual, you know, color cover and actually readable. Building this was easy, and the kit's manual has some interesting info on BFOs in general, it powered up the first time and no problem, I soldered on a 9V battery holder (not included) and an antenna wire (ditto) and put it on the frequency counter (A good HP oven stabilized one) and this circuit seems to be very nice and stable, probably more so than most of the radios it will be used with. Fine business there BUT..... I then decided to look at the waveform on the 'scope. No, not a junk scope, a Tek 2465A. The waveform is........ interesting. Imagine on each cycle, first a half of a sine, then a sharp drop downward, then a square wave! Weird!! This probably works great but it can be a source of harmonics due to the harmonic content of the complex waveform described. It puts out a decent amount of voltage so you can always put the output through a 455kHz IF can or 455 kHz filter to clean it up if you like.
It's really hard to go wrong for $10, in my experience the kit will work OK on first power up, and while the output's not pure it's not going to cause trouble in your neighborhood due to the overall QRPp power level. It should work great for that old non-BFO shortwave radio.
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