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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
N8YV Rating: 2002-04-20
Diamond in the Rough Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I have owned my 526 for a month now, after buying it used from TenTec at a reduced price. I'll get straight to the bad parts, first!

1) I don't like the way the S-meter needle "pegs" with an audible "tink" as it slams against the stops, while the rig is being switched on. Powering up the rig by using the DC supply's own switch remedies this, but the display will not light up. TenTec recommends powering the supply first, then switching the rig "on". This needs to be fixed!

2) The tuning knob and its rotary shaft are cheap-feeling, lightweight and have too much "slop". Put a heavier knob on it, supply a ball-bearing shaft mount and a bit more friction (I can literally blow air at the tuning control and it will detune the rig slightly!). This should be an easy bill to fill, and would go very far toward improving the overall quality and smoothness of operating the rig.

3) A secondary function to one of the single-purpose pushbuttons is lacking, to facilitate a display dimmer. Even if not variable, just having the ability to dim the display in an A/B fashion would be a welcome feature.

Now, the good parts! Do the above complaints seem minor? They should, and even though I'm perfectly serious about them, the rig does enough things very well to more than offset my dislikes.

The DSP I-F filter bandwidths are very effective. The noise blanker works fairly well (though it falls short of the performance of the non-DSP NB on my ICOM rig); the sensitivity does not seem at all affected by it, nor does the audio quality suffer when it is in use.

Sensitivity is good, the audio is fairly potent and clean although, just as with most rigs I've owned, an external speaker greatly improves this.

The design objective seems to have been met by packing some very solid features (I-F DSP, good performance and VHF that includes six meters) into a compact and lightweight package. TenTec has accomplished this quite well, though there are shortcomings and certain inconveniences that could easily be addressed without drastically altering the design.

I frequently work 2-meter SSB, which is difficult to find in a new, current rig without spending hundreds more (IC-910, FT-847, etc.). I enjoy working six meter SSB during the DX seasons. This rig definitely meets my needs for adding VHF to my station without the need to revamp my HF arrangement.

I also feel this is a great rig for new technician licensees, giving them the ability to work beyond the typical local-repeater horizons and experience weak-signal work, as well as helping facilitate easier expansion into HF equipment when the time comes. It is just a bit pricey in my opinion, especially for a rig with only 20 watts RF output and lacking a better-quality tuning mechanism.

Still, it makes an excellent addition to my station and it certainly is unique among current offerings by the "Big Three" Japanese manufacturers. It's pretty hard to compare this transceiver with any other on the market.
K4KAE Rating: 2002-01-27
Missed the mark Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I must say I was very disappointed with the Ten-Tec 526. I had really hoped for a modest rig to replace my TS-600 and TS-700, but it was not meant to be. The amplifier key outputs are useless unless your amplifier is QSK capable, contrary to what Ten-Tec told me. I found the mic gain setting very critical and difficult to set properly, even then, all on the air reports were very poor, excessive distortion was present even at low mic gain settings. Noise blanker performance was sub-par, I had difficulty seeing any line noise reduction, even at the highest noise reduction setting. Possibly my experience is not the norm (I would hope not) but I would look closely at other rigs for just slightly more money i.e IC706 at $839, a lot more rig for only $140 more. Fortunately Ten-Tec has a great 30 day money back guarantee.
AB0SD Rating: 2001-12-31
Gets the job done Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
Running the full 20 watts to a 4 element quad has yielded me 18 different gridsquares so far. I have made several contacts over 1000 miles via meteor scatter using WSJT.

So far I have mainly used it on 2m, as I am never around when 6m opens. It has performed well, and the simplicity of the controls is refreshing. I would recommend it to anyone interested in a multimode VHF rig.

73's, Allen AB0SD
DG0ZB Rating: 2001-08-10
Good also for Europe Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I tested the 526 during a contest at 8/5/2001 on the top of a mountain (750 m ASL) in JO70IT. It worked well, I received compliments for SSB modulation and the receiver was comparable to my IC-746. Using a RF-generator I found that S9 on the S-meter is 50 µV. Normally the standard is 5 µV for VHF bands for S9 :-((. In total: Well done Ten Tec. (DG0ZB, www.qslshop.com)
WG6H Rating: 2001-07-23
Good basic radio at a great price! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
The new Ten Tec Model 526 6N2 multi mode is a good performing basice radio with
the added advantage of IF DSP. I live in an area close to high power paging
transmitters on VHF as well as several neighbors that run high power on 6 meters.
The 6N2 seems to have good dynamic range as I have had no intermod problems.
The receiver uses balanced mixers preceded by ham band only RF amps. There is
a third broadband RF amp just for the extended VHF coverage up to 174 Mhz.

The IF DSP works great. The shape factor is good and there is no ringing even on
narrow settings for CW. The noise blanker also works well and does not degrade
the dynamic range of the receiver.

The 100 memories are easy to program and access. There is both memory scan
and band scan which is also easy to program and use. One small complaint is
that there is no delay setting for the scanning.

Transmit power is adjustable from about 1 to 20 watts. The power setting seems
stable with no ALC power spikes. I have received good audio reports on SSB and
FM. The CW QSK has the smoothness that Ten Tec is noted for.

I have only a few other minor complaints. An external speaker jack would be nice.
The main tuning is smooth but a small weighted spinner knob would be a welcome
addition. The multi purpose encoder knob feels a bit stiff. Ten Tec says it will
improve with use.

In summary: This is a good performing radio at a great price and it is made in the
USA. Ten Tec's service and support is second to none.