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Reviews For: Ten-Tec TT526 6m+2m allmode IF DSP

Category: Transceivers: VHF/UHF+ Amateur Base/Mobile (non hand-held)

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Review Summary For : Ten-Tec TT526 6m+2m allmode IF DSP
Reviews: 25MSRP: 695.00
Description:
6m and 2m allmode IF DSP Radio
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.tentec.com
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00254.1
K7VO Rating: 2005-09-12
Absolutely brilliant. Not perfect but the closest I've found. Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
To me the time to really judge a VHF multimode rig is during the rigors of a contest. While I've only had the 6N2 about a month the ARRL September VHF QSO party gave me a chance to give it a real workout. (I had worked one 6m opening and worked some local FM, both repeaters and simplex, before this.)

The receiver is very hot, more so than any other rig I have on either band. Much like it's HF twin, the Argonaut V, I can pull out signals with this rig that I can't with other rigs. The only downside is that the 6N2 is mildy prone to front end overload. A true "big gun" six or seven miles away was able to wipe out a 30kHz swath of either band. This is far better than many rigs I've had but there are others that do hold up a bit better.

Six was wide open Sunday evening and being able to narrow my bandwidth to as little as 950Hz and still have a readable SSB signal was wonderful on a suddenly very crowded band. Signals less than 2kHz apart could be sorted out. The IF DSP filters are every bit as good as on the Argonaut V and are an absolute pleasure.

The rig does have birdies on 6m. One, at 50.118, is S4 and quite loud. It's there with the antenna
disconnected. Others are S1 or less and it isn't a huge flock. I had a Patcomm PC-9000 and that truly had loud birdies everywhere. On 2m I found no loud birdies and perhaps a couple of very minor ones (no S meter movement at all) in the weak signal portion of the band.

Received audio is excellent on this rig and based on the reports I've received both on FM and SSB so is transmitted audio. CW... well... it's a Ten Tec with that lovely full QSK.

FWIW, my rig is early production but has been updated to 1.23 firmware (the latest). I would have bought new but Ten Tec has discontinued these. I think some poor reviews for early versions with the 1.00 firmware (including some here) helped keep sales fairly low. Pity. Ten Tec, clearly got rid of any deficiencies in the firmware.

Overall I am quite pleased with the rig. It isn't perfect but it is very, very good. There is no 4.7 or 4.8 rating so I've rounded up to 5. At $450 or so on the used market this radio is an absolute bargain. With the hot receiver and wonderful filtering this really is a first class rig.
KE6PID Rating: 2005-08-08
Great Radio Time Owned: more than 12 months.
The TenTec "6N2" 526 is a dual band multimode base radio that is quite sophisticated and works very well. The user interface is quite simple, you can use it without really reading the manual, but that would be a mistake as there are a few hidden features you'd miss if you didn't.

This is an all mode 6 and 2 meter radio; mine exhibits superb sensitivity on both bands and all modes. I noticed that some reviewers feel the radio is "deaf as a post" if you have one and this is the case; send it back for repair, something is wrong. I have used mine in all modes under various conditions and it always gets the job done and then some.

Connections on the back are RCA jacks; mic is connected through a 4-pin connector. Mic gain is easy to set on SSB with the ALC indicator and on FM through careful observation on the S/Power out meter. Transmit and receive audio is always clear and crisp. PL encode is included for repeater use. 99 memories are available to store the radio setup.

Unfortunately, the "6N2" 526 has been discontinued. This ought to be a great value on the used market.
KA1YUW Rating: 2003-10-04
great radio update Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
well I have owned this radio for a few months now.
I haved worked 9 states on 2 meters with a 5 elements homebrew yagi up 28 feet. And this is on ssb just running 20 watts. So if I can hear it I can work it. Great Job TenTec
W5FRG Rating: 2003-07-30
"deaf as a post" Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Whoever it was that wrote that the TenTec 526 was ‘deaf as a post” hit the nail right on the head. This is especially noticable on 2M FM simplex. Using the same outside antenna, my old 1970s Regency HR-2A and my classic Drake TR-22C both hear signals that don’t even register on the new TenTec. And even worse, sometimes I can hear simplex stations on my Yaesu VX-150 using only a rubber ducky inside the house that the 526 can’t hear using the outside antenna. If one’s 2M FM activity consists only of working loud local repeaters, then the 526 will probably do the job. However, if you plan to work simplex stations more than a mile or so away, then the TenTec 526 will likely not be very satisfactory.
KC5LVW Rating: 2003-04-26
Don't do it! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I was on the list the day the ad came out in QST, radio arrived one month later....I just have to believe that the engineers that design things for Ten-Tec should not have missed all these...
1. no detent on memory channel changing so you don't know if you're on the edge or in the middle.
2. no external spkr jack
3. IF DSP active all the time
4. ALC setting via green LRD
5. No DTMF capabolity
6, Can't tell if you pushed the "lock" button or not
7. Meter display cosmetics the cheapest
8. Firmware upgrade required because it was sluggish & deaf
9. going mobile? no bracket at all
10. no seperate PL "enc" & "dec". just one choice
Get the picture? The price is the same as the day it arrived on the street (July 15. 2001 for me). For $30 or so, get yourself an ICOM or Ywasu & have fun!
73's
Jon, KC5LVW
K1FPV Rating: 2003-03-31
Great VHF All-Mode Radio! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've owned my Ten-Tec 526 (6N2) now for about a year and a half. I've used it mostly on 6 Meters and ocassionally on 2 Meters. On the day I got the tranceiver, I worked into Europe using my HF longwire and a tuner. I hadn't had time to put a 6 Meter antenna up. Shortly afterwards, I was working the west coast of the US. Not bad for a make-shift antenna that was up only 10' high and only 20 watts PEP.

I've found the receiver to be fairly sensitive, and the DSP IF filters to work well. Reports from stations I work say my transmit audio is excellent. The receiver noise is quite low. The radio has a super front end! My only complaint is 2 "birdies" on 6 Meters. One in the DX portion of the band and the other a bit higher in the band wbut weaker. The stronger birdie is only an S2 on the meter while the other one is somewhat weaker. On 2 Meters, I've made ground wave contacts of over 200 miles using a homebrew log periodic made from a TV antenna. I currently use the same antenna on 6 meters too. If I can hear it, I work it. It is a teriffic rig for the money. Ten-Tec did a super job on this radio!
KG4AUQ Rating: 2003-02-03
Really wanted to like it Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I really wanted to like this rig, but in the end I'm sending it back today.

By far the easiest radio to program- the other manufactures could learn a thing or two here.

However, on 2m FM it's deaf as a post. Stations that give me an S-3 on a Yaesu 1500 I couldn't even detect on the 526 using the same antenna (yes the attenuator was turned off).
Audio sounds "harsh" on those stations I could hear. Transmit audio reports were excellent.

No DTMF functionality whatsoever (not mentioned in the lit.) which makes using echolink and IRLP out of the question.

Hate to say it but there are better options out there.
K5JFG Rating: 2002-12-18
Not much of a radio Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I am astounded by some of the high marks this radio is receiving on this site. Makes me think they are not talking about the same Ten-Tec 526 that I own. Mine performs awfully in just about any test I have put it to. It's the worst rig I have ever owned in over 40 years of ham radio. Huge birdies all across 6 and 2 meters, some of them S2 or S3 on the meter. Intermod performance very poor. Some frequencies I can't even use (145.01 being one) if the police are on the air. Huge intermod at 50.118 MHZ, right in the DX window. Sensitivity is very poor compared to other lower cost FM radios. Transmit audio quality substandard. A number of hams have complained of hearing a constant buzzing tone around 800 hz on my audio -- it's in the rig, nothing induced from the outside. My radio has been back to Ten-Tec 3 times. Each time they tell me they can't do a thing about the birdies. Each time they say the radio meets their specs. Had I not bought this radio at a ham fest I would certainly return it to Ten-Tec. Had I paid full price for it, I would really be upset. Anyone want it? The first $200 takes it away. In good conscience I couldn't ask for more.
KD6WD Rating: 2002-12-13
Super Rig Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Having read the last posting, I was surprised. I have had the 6n2 for going on 3 months and have been completely satisfied with the rig. I have both the desk and hand mikes. I purchased my rig directly from ten-tec. I have found that used rigs many times have problems due to abuse even if the rig looks brand new. The only thing I noticed was that the preamps in the mikes are pretty potent. I, therefore, set my mike gain at 9:00 and leave it there for every band and mode. I have found that Ten-Tec rigs have great audio out of the box with factory mikes. Contrary to the previous posting, I find that I get continual unsolicited comments on the great audio of this rig on both bands. In addition the receive audio is superb. Since Ten-Tec offers a money back guarantee, I bought mine while I had other all mode rigs . Guess what, I sold the other all modes on our 40 meter swap net and kept the 6n2. I plan to buy a second 6n2 for my second shack and mobil use. All in all, I am very satisfied.

----------------------
Earlier 5-star review posted by KD6WD on 2002-11-05

I received my 6n2 yesterday. I spent about 10 hours using it. I use a Ten-Tec Jupiter as my main rig for HF. I took my other multimode rigs and put them into a box. I am going to sell them on the swap net. I found the audio superb both on FM and SSB. The dsp on receive is slicker than the dickens. The mike gain is pretty hot so I set it at about 9:00 and the rig gives plenty of punch. Besides the audio the rig is super easy to use compared to my other multi-modes.
The radio is a bit bigger than other multi-modes but then you don't have to use a pencil to poke the buttons either. The rig runs very cool and you will not have to use a fan. Comments I have received on the transmit audio indicate that this rig has excellent transmit audio quality on ssb as well as fm. I like the easy manner in which you set frequencies, offset and tone for fm. I wish my mobile 2 meters rigs were as easy to set. Read the manual. The rig has a lot of set up goodies that are not apparent when you first turn on the rig.

John kd6wd
KK9H Rating: 2002-12-04
Delightful Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I have been hoping for some time that someone would come out with a multimode radio that covered the 6 and 2 meter bands. Last spring at the Dayton Hamvention I happened to walk past the Ten-Tec booth, and there it was! A couple months ago I finally placed an order for one and I have been very glad I did.

I use it primarily for scanning the 6 and 2 meter SSB calling frequencies, but I also frequently end up using it to have delightful evening rag chews with local hams. I run it connected to a pair of halo antennas, one for each band, at about 35 feet up.

The Ten-Tec 526 is a very easy and intuitive radio to operate. Since I also own an Icom 756PRO2, I am quite familiar with DSP operation and I felt right at home with the DSP function of the 526. As far as I can tell, the filtering works great and is easy to adjust the way you want it. The rig has plenty of audio and the speaker is big enough to deliver it cleanly. Programming memories is simple to do too. The receiver seems to have plenty of sensitivity on both bands and the transmit audio has provided several unsolicited complements. An earlier review that makes a reference to not needing much MIC gain is also true with my 526. I am also very glad to see that there are separate amp control connections for each band should I ever want to add any external amplifiers. So far the 20 watts available on each band has been plenty of power for my use.

The only problem I have experienced was that the frequency display seemed to be about 400 Hz low on 2 meters and about 150 Hz low on 6 meters. A simple tweek of the small capacitor next to the master oscillator crystal was all that was needed. Ten-Tec even put it in convenient spot right under the top cover. I suspect this was probably caused by the rig being bumped around during delivery.

The Ten-Tec 526 is an uncomplicated and well designed rig that will get you on 6 and 2 meters with a great receiver, DSP filtering and an excellent sounding transmitter. I have discovered a couple good band openings on both bands while I have had it in scan mode and I have made some great new friends with it. I really couldn't ask for much more.