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Reviews For: Ten-Tec 1253 9-Band SW Receiver (Regenerative)

Category: Receivers: General Coverage

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Review Summary For : Ten-Tec 1253 9-Band SW Receiver (Regenerative)
Reviews: 30MSRP: 69.00
Description:
The classic "first radio kit" is back better than ever! We've combined the very same audio output circuit of Ten-Tec transceivers with a modern FET design
for classic regenerative SWL receiving plus one-button electronic band switching. The result is an easy-to-build shortwave radio that's fun and interesting for the whole family. No alignment required! Simply install all parts as directed, put together the high quality mechanical parts and start enjoying the magic of shortwave radio. Explore 9 smooth tuning SWL and ham bands from 1.8 to 22 MHz at the push of a button! Receives AM, SSB and CW.
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.tentec.com/rcvrkit.htm
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00303.6
WA7WYW Rating: 2011-04-20
Not good Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
First I bought my kit on e-bay and it has no guarantee, so I accept the fact that it is all mine. I have a suspicion that there were at sometime a supply of these kits classified as distressed property, and they found their way into the market. I think I got one.
I made my way through the tests at the end of phase 4. Everything was well, so I proceeded to the end. When finished the unit would not tune in the bands, and I found that the main tuning pot had very little effect. Actually the 180 band was overloaded by a strong AM station and would not function at all. I have an LM 7 surplus signal generator that I intended to use to line up the bands. I found that the bands were nowhere near their intended frequencies.
Taking things apart and making test I found that the pots were flakey. Any pot passing RF was suspect. I ordered replacements from Allied, and replaced all but the volume control. This required some redrilling. My test of the replaced pots leads me to believe that a supply of cheap poorly constructed pots found their way into the kit. The 100K trimmer was also replaced. The kit now works, but I am still not satisfied with the two highest bands. They do not work at all.
I replaced the power on toggle with a dpdt center off so that I can switch in L10 and have power on in both off center throws.
I am also inclined to pronounce this kit a piece of c**p, but will stop just short of that as I am only interested in using this kit as a medium for some testing.
K6SLR Rating: 2011-02-10
Almost, but not quite Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I was pretty excited to get this kit and when it arrived quickly after ordering, I got right to work, reading the manual thoroughly (it's just what I do) and then proceeded to build.

The fit and finish are superb. The case is stout, powder-coated and screen printed. Well done, Ten-Tec! The manual is well written, if not a bit finger-wagging at times, humorous others. I did have some difficulty with the format, which was a good idea, but fell apart in a few places, leaving me confused and thumbing through pages to see what I might have missed. There was a single page of errata that explained the changes to components, process and/or procedure. That was helpful and some of the past problems, noted in reviews here, were addressed.

The coil inductors are extremely difficult to discern the color bands on the green bodies. It wold have been more helpful if Ten-Tec had just identified them in some way. I'm 99% sure I got them right, but I don't like that 1% uncertainty when building a kit. The parts should be obvious, not something one has to sleuth over to make sure they're right. It's our responsibility to build it right, but it's the manufacturer's responsibility to assure that the process is understandable and the parts are all included, indicated and intact.

The build was another story entirely. The first test, of the power amplifier stage, worked fine but then later failed (the volume pot would give all it's range in the first 1/4 turn and then noting after that) after I finished the regen circuit. I immediately called Ten-Tec and the fellow said it was likely a bad pot and sent me out another.

But that was the first of my troubles. After I finished the Band LC stages it was time to test again. Same problem: the volume would only work in the first 1/4 turn and I couldn't get the thing to oscillate on any band. I decided then to install the optional LC choke that is meant to increase sensitivity and while that definitely worked, it made the radio TOO sensitive (at least with my 100' long wire antenna), so I removed it and was back to the same problem: no oscillation, no receive.

Of course, my next step was to check and double check my work. All the soldering was good, no misplaced or omitted parts. I'm still stumped and can only think that it's a component failure...but, which one? This is a problem.

The overall build is a bit tedious, with lots of fiddly bits and wires that need careful attention or they'll weaken and break at the solder pads. As I said, it's beautifully made, well thought-out but, at least in my case, it didn't work at all like the sales webpage says. I'm fairly skilled; this isn't my first kit. I only shudder to think what this would have been for a beginner, perhaps even a kid who was really excited and then got this result. What a disappointment.

I'm really disappointed with this product. I expected much better, but clearly the "good sets" seem to have been shipped years before. Maybe they changed component suppliers, I don't know. All I know is the cost has gone up to $90 and I've now spent that and have a pile of silicon and metal that doesn't work. I cannot recommend this kit.
LUNAN1968 Rating: 2010-12-29
not as expected Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Built this RX a few yrs ago. I'm NOT a beginner so knew what I was doing. After careful build set did not oscilate.Very few stations resolved.Contacted manuf by eml they were helpfuland sent a few transistors they thot were at fault.No better.I suspect the large IC is/was at fault, but TRY getting that off the circuit board!Spent far too many hours of my life on it!gave it up as a very bad job. Just finished building a 1930s design valve SW set from scratch 100% efficient! Thumbs down to the 1253.
Hardware ok just the set is c**p
AE5VM Rating: 2010-12-26
Educational Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Built it twice. first in 1999. was in a rush and messed up and had to send it for repair.
Then in Dec, 2008. Took my time, and done an excellent jobe...I had installed a switch for one of the extra chokes it came with. to choose between them.
these kits will work great if done right.
they take time to build, that's what kit building is. I plan on building another one soon.
Ten Tec, Good job.
W4QQI Rating: 2010-09-20
Great First Build Kit Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Ten-Tec did a fine job with a quality kit. Due to the three different power up tests, I would recomend using quite a bit longer power wires so you can position your power supply further away.
The color bands on the inductor coils were difficult to read so you might get into trouble on two of the bands. This was mentioned in the kit instructions which was excellent. Called tech support to ask what ampreage required for external power power supply ( 1amp) and they were pleasant and helpful. Would recommend and build again. Nice job Ten-Tec!
NJ3X Rating: 2010-08-26
not so good Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
this kit is more work than fun. all went slow doing all the tests along the way. when it was completely wired it showed led's lighting, etc. but it wouldn't receive anything. and then came trying to put it in the case. forget it. if you get this kit, good luck. mine is in the junk pile for spare parts.
TERRYW Rating: 2010-03-23
Learn why Superheterodyne became the standard Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This was my first kit and I found it a lot of work to build. Work, not fun.

Tuning the regenerative circuit is half fun and half pain, which is a strange masochistic mix. The selectivity is very poor. The variation in volume is extreme. I do enjoy listening to hams on it, but not the AM broadcasters.

I'd say get this as an intermediate kit and know you are building a circuit which rightfully went the way of the dinosaur.
NG9D Rating: 2009-02-19
Great kitbuilding fun Time Owned: more than 12 months.
This is a fun kit to build and use. It works well on all bands. You can see and hear it at
http://www.youtube.com/user/NG9D
73
Lynn
NG9D
KE7RVH Rating: 2009-02-01
a lot of fun Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
this was my first kit. i found it a fun kit to build. the final assembly was a little difficult.

it is a fun radio to tune. i like to try and get in weak stations using the RF and the Regen knobs.

i give this a 5 because all the parts were there. the instructions are well written. and playing with it is fun.
KE7HPV Rating: 2008-08-17
Nice radio & a lot of fun! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I had been thinking of building a regen for a while and my homebrew designs were poor so took a chance with the Ten Tec 1253 and am very pleased I did.

I have built many kits so didn't follow the exact building scheme in the manual - I find it easier to populate the board with all smaller components (resistors, inductors etc) before the larger ones like potentiometers etc. If you are just getting into building kits I would recommend you follow the instructions to the letter however...

There were no missing components at all (yeah Ten-Tec!). Build time for me was around 6 hours and the radio worked perfectly first time.

I have been able to get regeneration on all bands and the radio is very nice on AM broadcasters.

Strong signals can be a little troublesome but with judicious use of the RF Gain and Regen controls you can usually find a sweet-spot that works.

I didn't opt for the higher sensitivity option (adding a small radial inductor) but soldered a nice little 2 pin socket from the junk box instead so I could test it out and remove it easily if needed. As I guessed the sensitivity is ample without the inductor and adding it just makes the radio a lot harder to set the Regen level (if anyone wants one of the sockets, send me a postage paid reply envelope)

Conclusions: SSB/CW is OK on this rig (but fiddly) low bands work better for these signals and 160m/80m SSB receives very nicely. Strong signals cause frequency shifts so you will be using the Fine Tune/Regen/RF Gain controls a lot (that's the fun of a regenerative radio)

AM SW is great and you will be able to listen to stations worldwide when the ionosphere cooperates and not need to tune so much!

The bandswitch arrangement is a little hit and miss sometimes but works fairly well.

The case is bulletproof and the radio is quite heavy when completed (even without the batteries).

All in all a very worthwhile and fun kit and you end up with a quite usable receiver for SWL.