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write your own review of the Ten-Tec Delta/Delta II.
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KG9H
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Rating: 5/5
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Apr 19, 2012 08:48
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Great "little" radio
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Time owned: 3 to 6 months
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For it's year manufactured, great little radio. I was surprised how small it actually is! Also, I just got it serviced by Ten Tec, one week turnaround time! Great audio reports love the variable bandwidth filter, active on all modes! No filters needed.
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KE8SZ
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Rating: 5/5
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Dec 21, 2011 10:51
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Fun radio to operate
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Time owned: 6 to 12 months
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Excellent quality voice reproduction on receive for SSB/AM and FM. It is very easy on the ears. I was somewhat disappointed however, that it receives AM like a champ, but does not transmit on AM.
CW mode QSK performance, perfected by Ten Tec, is fantastic. If I can hear a signal they can hear me while running barefoot. I've received many audio compliments using the stock hand mike and internal speech processor. The Delta II is the first HF rig I reach for in the shack, when I want to check the bands for activity. I spend more time on this rig then on the other radios I own.
The Ten Tec Delta II is easy to learn and a fun radio to operate!
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KK6OQ
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Rating: 5/5
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Mar 4, 2006 00:16
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Great Bargin
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Time owned: 3 to 6 months
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Found a Delta II up for auction with a matching power supply. Really got a super deal for a Ten-Tec rig. The QSK is amazing, so smooth that it can be difficult to tell you are transmitting at 100 watts. This is a precision CW instrument when coupled with a Schurr Profi-2 paddle and Logikit CMOS-4 keyer. If you can find one, buy it.
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KI6YN
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Rating: 5/5
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May 21, 2005 08:34
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AHEAD OF ITS TIME
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I remember when QST trashed the Delta II. I was amazed because I had been a ham for five years and always heard how great Ten Tec was. I reread the review and it was obvious the person that did the testing was way off base. Without going into detail, I also suspect that Ten Tec was being "encouraged" to advertise more in QST! That is only my opinion. I just obtained a Delta II in mint condition and I am having a blast with it. It is sitting between an Orion and an Omni 6 +. A/B testing shows it holds it own for most signals; I only work CW. I enjoy changing rigs every so often; the Orion will out perform my other rigs but then again, it is the latest of the state-of-the-art and is a software derived radio. You must not compare apples to oranges! Comparing a rig made in the last few years to a ten or more year old rig is ridiculous. However, for 95% of contacts, it wouldn't make any difference if I was using the Orion or the Delta II. I normally operate QRP but like the receive options on full sized rigs.
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2E1SDX
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Rating: 4/5
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Jan 5, 2004 11:27
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surprised me
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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i owned this transciever for a very short time and took it in a deal on other equipment and i must admit i was quite surprised how nice recieve audio was and great filtering,the audio reports were outstanding and several guys commented on which studio mic i was using with the ten tec delta 2 it sounded that good so i surprised them when i said it was the standard stock mic,controls are laid out well and im sure the keypad could be mastered within minutes after a quick read of the manual,ok the display is maybe a little dim but dont be put off by this.i personnally thought the display was not to bad, the delta 2 is a very underestimated radio...
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HB9FBJ
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Rating: 5/5
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Jul 26, 2003 13:47
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A rig to keep
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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This is a nice transceiver.
SSB sounds so nice on this radio in my opinion.
I like the large display.
The IF BW + PBT works just like a DSP.
Display backlit is not very good. Speech processor is nice. TX audio is clear and sharp.
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K3TE
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Rating: 5/5
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Apr 27, 2003 21:10
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Fantastic
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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QST trash this rig in 1993. This is truly the most underrated rig Ten Tec has made (besides it's sibling - argonaut II) Bth rigs have the most quiet receive, excellent toll to manipulate signals and great tranmit audio. I own both the Delta II and the Argonaut II and I can think of no other rig I would rather be working in my shack or mobile. Great signal reports and audio reports make me confident I have great rigs.
Friends don't let friends operate rice boxes . . .
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KU4QD
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Rating: 5/5
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Nov 27, 2002 14:00
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Best kept secret and best value on the used market today
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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The Ten Tec Delta II (model 536) was subjected to, as another reviewer stated, the worst trashing I've ever seen a rig take at the hands of a QST reviewer. I really like this rig and I have a lot of problems with the QST review. I feel they unfairly killed a really nice product. The one I have now is my third.
First, let's look at the QST complaints: if you read the "loss of sensitivity" issue closely, you'll see the complaint really is that if you narrow the bandwidth with the Jones filter and also shift the passband with PBT you can effectively shut down the receiver. If your bandwidth is 500Hz and you shift the PBT
sufficiently that your tuned signal is no longer within the passband, well... duh! This same effect can be achieved on any radio with dual PBT or the ability to shift both the bandwidth and passband by a significant amount. Simply reducing the BW, as one can on the Scout as well, doesn't cause any more loss of sensitivity than you'd expect with any narrow crystal filter. It's the combination of the two controls that can bring the bandwidth down to incredibly narrow levels without a DSP. This was a plus, not a caveat.
The synthesizer is not particularly noisy when compared to other midrange general coverage transceivers of the day, i.e.: the Kenwood TS-850 or Icom IC-751A. I have done an A/B comparison with the TS-850, which is considered to have an excellent receiver, and I could find no discernable difference between the two radios in the ability to hear weak signals with everything at default settings, and the Delta II did not have a higher noise floor. Ten Tec puts the noise floor at -129dbm, and I believe it. The Delta II is actually better at pulling out a weak signal next to a strong one becuase of the Jones filter/PBT combo.
AM receive audio was described as muffled by QST. I do use the rig for shortwave listening and the Delta II sounds very good indeed. The PBT still works in AM mode and can effectively allow you to adjust the tone of the incoming AM signal to suit your ears. Very nice. The sound was not muffled at all unless *I* made it muffled by messing with the controls. The only negative I can find (in all modes) is that the internal speaker is small and sounds it. The rig sounds much better with a nice, external speaker.
Weak SSB signals on 40 under the shadow of broadcasters can be sorted out with the PBT/Jones filter combo to eliminate the broadcast stations. The Jones filter is much better with the PBT than it is all by it's lonesome like in the Scout/Argo. By using the PBT in combination with the Jones
filter I can keep SSB intelligable and even pleasant at much narrower bandwidths than I can on my Scout, and the adjacent channel QRM just
drops away. The notch filter is also quite effective.
I have read that it just doesn't stand up under a very strong signal. I haven't found anything on 40m that could overload the front end, which is
a very good sign. Of course, this wasn't field day or a multi-station contest, so it may not hold up under those conditions, or maybe it will.
I don't know yet. I never operated a Delta II that way.
My nits to pick would be the fairly flimsy feel of the panel where the keypad is, and also the non-standard layout of the numeric keypad.
In the $400-$450 price class on the used market the Delta II has to be the best kept secret out there and the best value if you want a general
coverage receiver. I feel that the QST review was either written by someone who did not quite get how the controls operated or else had some sort of axe to grind. The Delta II isn't an Omni V/VI or even a Paragon. It's just a very, very good midrange rig from the '90s.
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KO4DT
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Rating: 4/5
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Jan 5, 2002 16:53
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A Nice Rig
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I bought my Delta II from a junk dealer and surprise----it only took 100 bucks to overhaul it and bring it up to snuff. The greatest thing about it is the Jones filter. The keypad and the display backlight are the worst things about this rig. I've worked the world with it at 50 watts and can usually work what I hear with my verticaL. Speaker output is nice. A good rig, but not an exciting one.
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VE3EFJ
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Rating: 3/5
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Sep 10, 2001 00:16
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OK Radio;Incomplete execution
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Time owned: 6 to 12 months
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I remember reading the QST review of this radio. It was probably one of the worst done reviews I can remember. This radio did not deserve the way QST wrote about it. I rate this radio a 3. This rating means 'OK', and thats what it is - an OK HF transceiver. The radio does all that is asked of it, and its quite well made. The IF/Shift - Bandwidth Jones filter was quite innovative and effective. SSB audio was good, and the speech compressor works really well. However, the AGC isn't quite right (it hangs forever at the S4 level), and I detested the top mounted switches. This radio has keypad entry, but the layout makes it all but unuseable. I see no reason why Ten Tec could not of deployed a proper keypad layout. I am sure it QSK's well. In the end, its an innovative radio for its day and as a basic HF radio its OK. The point is that it could of been better than it was with but a bit more time at the prototype stage.
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