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Reviews For: Ten-Tec 1203/239 300w Dummy Load Kit

Category: SWR & Wattmeters & Dummy Loads

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Review Summary For : Ten-Tec 1203/239 300w Dummy Load Kit
Reviews: 13MSRP: 29.95
Description:
A 50w/50-ohm non-inductive dummy load kit. The resultant dummy load can handle 300w for 30 seconds, 100w for 3 minutes, and 60w indefinitely. Assembly takes less than an hour.
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.tentec.com/Tk1203.htm
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00134.4
TOPPER Rating: 2009-07-22
WORKS Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Goes together quickly, very sturdy, have had mine 12 yrs+. every station needs one for testing.
N0EW Rating: 2008-06-13
Good kit & works well Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have two of these. I built them several years ago. They are quite reasonable dummy loads for practical uses. Not lab quality, but why would one expect that for $30???

The kit was simple and straight forward with good instructions. I don't recall any difficulties in building them. There may have been a point when three hands would have been nice, but that is often the case. Both dummy loads are within the accuracy of my amateur equipment to measure, so they are interchangeable for my purposes. I feel this bodes well for repeatability.

I would buy them again. I do recommend them to others.

73-Erik n0ew
NS6Y_ Rating: 2006-07-28
Decent, not lab-quality load Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I had one, it's a decent load, physically not too large, although it's not a 1:1 SWR, it's 1:2 with occasional places where it's 1:3, across the band 1-30MHz. This is fine for most normal dummy load purposes, it's not so fine if you're calibrating your SWR meter on your rig etc. For that, get a lab-quality load like show up all the time in the surplus field, some nice loads useable up into the GHz range show up.
WA4ZTN Rating: 2006-06-10
Economical project Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
Don't want to spend a lot for a good quality project? Want to test your mechanical dexterity (and possibly your patience)? Then this is the one. After disregarding the ambiguous instructions and poor illustration, this kit went together rather well. The trick is to figure out the assembly before you start (as pointed out in the booklet).
Being more meticulous than the average person, I went to my junk box and replaced the steel screws (which have a tendency to corrode in the humid climate) with plated brass screws. Also the chassis comes drilled for mounting rubber feet which I installed on my unit. The +/- 10% resistor measured 48.9Ohms which is better than expected. The metal enclosure is very good in quality and when all is said and done this turned out to be a good project.
KI6AZS Rating: 2005-11-05
Goes together easy Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This kit goes together in under an hour. Forget about the brass spacers they instruct you to slip under the end clamps, though. They refuse to stay put while you're trying to align the thing, and you don't need them anyway: the clamps are tight without them.

W2NSF Rating: 2004-04-02
Simple & satisfying project Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
TenTec did a great job in designing this unit and preparing the instructions to their kit; it performs flawlessly!

And what a thrill it was to assemble my first ham radio kit since my Knight Kit T-50 transmitter! I also recommend their wattmeter kit.
KU4UV Rating: 2004-04-01
Nice Kit! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I ordered this kit from Ten-Tec on a Tuesday morning and received it on Wednesday afternoon! I live in Kentucky, but that is super fast shipping from Tennessee. The kit went together in about an hour with no problem. As others have mentioned, the kit is basically a mechanical kit with several screws to fasten together with lock washers and nuts and several brass and copper strips to form around a large resistor. The only part you have to solder is a small brass strip to the center pin of an SO-239 jack, no problem. The finished kit looks great and it's a cheap alternative if you only plan on running QRP-300 Watts and need a basic dummy load to do test measurements. I measured 52.7 Ohms on the resistor with my VOM, right in the ballpark. I hooked the dummy load up to a C.B. radio I have (so sue me :)), and it read a 1.1:1 SWR and showed about 5 Watts out. This is a great kit for anyone that needs a basic dummy load. The fact that the shipping was fast will make Ten-Tec my source for amateur radio products from now on if they have what I need in stock. Hats off to the guys at Ten-Tec for making those clamp screws longer too!
K2WU Rating: 2004-01-02
Frustrated... Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Placed an order online from Ten-Tec. After waiting two weeks, called them to find out where the 1203 was. They said they couldn't find the order. Ordered it again - this time over the phone. To Ten-Tec's credit, it came in a few days. But the final insult - they were short one crucial screw! Having to search through my junkbox took all of the fun out of building this kit. However, the assembled unit does work as advertised.
A3NC Rating: 2003-11-11
Very Quick Build Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
TenTec put a nice kit together. It only took about 30 minutes to build. Soldered one connection and the rest was like an erector set. If you need a good, small dummy load, this one should be on your pick list. Well built!

73's
Michael
K4JQL
K9JRW Rating: 2003-09-19
Quick and useful project Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Ten-tec must be listening to the reviewers here, as the clamp screws are now longer - there is no problem fastening the clamps around the power resistor now. Instructions are clear and cover any potential questions that come up during construction.
Took me about 30 minutes to 1 hour to complete.
By the way - shipping was super quick from Ten-Tec to FL for this kit - took only 2 or 3 days to arrive.