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Reviews For: Ten-Tec Omni C

Category: Transceivers: HF Amateur HF+6M+VHF+UHF models - non QRP <5W

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Review Summary For : Ten-Tec Omni C
Reviews: 32MSRP: 1289 (when new)
Description:
HF radio
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.qsl.net/tentec/specs/546c.jpg
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00324.7
WB4EDB Rating: 2023-07-08
Ten Tec had it Right Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Of all of the older Ten Tecs i really enjoy operating the Omni C the best. No, it is not perfect but it has fine qsk and a great zero beat feature.A rig that can be worked on yourself and is just a joy to operate.Yes I know some will have issues with its agc operation but just turn the rf gain down some. No doubt one can spend a lot more for a rig and probably get more but for bang for the buck the Omni C is a sleeper. Smiley wb4edb. I sent my Omni C to the Radiosmith and it came back better than ever. this is still a great rig. He was even able to repair the inoperative push pull on off switch
WD6GLA Rating: 2018-09-30
12 year update Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I wrote a review of my newly acquired at the time Ten Tec Omni C 12 years ago and figured its time to do an update on it . Its going strong , zero problems and I still use it all the time . I know there are much more sophisticated rigs on the market these days , but for a simple to operate , excellent performing rig these are hard to beat especially if you love CW with its low receiver noise and full break in capabilities . I've never had to do any repairs but looking inside it would be an easy task , most of the parts are generic and it doesn't seem that difficult as there is plenty of room inside to work . Ten Tec service as we knew it is gone but I think most anything is available from Mouser or another supplier . Yes , as previously mentioned it has that "pop" on very strong signals but that is easily overcome with use of the RF gain control as pointed out in the owners manual , and the PTO will probably have to be serviced once in awhile ( cleaned and greased ) although mine is still smooth after all these years . Everybody has their favorite rigs , I have several but this is the one I go to when I get on the air , and you cant go wrong picking one of these up on the used market .
N6BIZ Rating: 2017-09-11
Great Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have one with all the filters and matching power supply
ITS GREAT
KB1CKT Rating: 2017-09-10
Love it Time Owned: more than 12 months.
IMO, I have three gripes about the rig: the preselector (aka "resonate"), a PTO which needs periodic rebuilding, and a strange two-knob power setting. Ok, a fourth: I'm afraid the band switches will wear out, which might brick an awesome radio.

Perhaps the resonate control is actually a good thing; the radio is quite selective and sensitive--and quiet. Maybe that's due to this control? It's not much of a bother other than during band change. Mine has some felt behind the knob as it's too loose otherwise.

I do like the analog PTO, and I've never noticed drift. But I feel a bit of grit in there, and it's not exactly fun to rebuild. I may give in and get an external VFO.

The ALC knob is apparently to set max output power, while drive is for setting mic gain. But drive also works in CW mode. Since I pretty much only do CW, ALC is set all the way up, and I tweak just drive. Seems like a wonky setup to me.

Zero beat: I've read that it really doesn't work. I tried it recently, and I agree, it doesn't seem to help with zero beat. I haven't had an issue though with just going by ear.

Mine has the 1.8kHz and 500Hz filters; the 500Hz filter is a bit lossy. But otherwise I find this radio a joy on CW. I use an external speaker, set the RF gain all the way down, then advance AF until I get about all the noise I can stand. I flip the Audio filter to 1, to tame some high frequency hiss, then raise RF gain until I hear band noise. I have to lower gain for a few signals, as the AGC does pop.

On SSB: I tried it a couple of times, and found my audio overdriven on a second radio. Might be a radio problem, as I also a loud carrier. So, no idea there. I had to resolder some crystals when I got it, relube the PTO (wish I had gotten new parts when I did it!); but that's trivial repairs for a radio of this age.

I have read to not use this radio on 18MHz, due to a transmitted spur at 18MHz. Not sure what to make of that. As I tend to stick to 80/40/30 it won't bother anyone.
W3ATT Rating: 2014-12-21
Way ahead of its time... Time Owned: more than 12 months.
You would have to spend thousands of dollars to get a receiver this quiet.

I've been using this rig for over 2 years now and have logged over 3,600 CW qso's with it to date.

I have compared signals back-to-back with radios from the "Big Three," and cannot find a better receiver. On a spectrograph during summer qrn conditions on 40m, my suspicions were proven true.

While other rigs struggle to pull weak cw signals from the terribly noisy audio (some rigs sound like a tornado is swirling inside the rig,) the Omni shines. It can be seen and heard.

Hearing is one thing, but actually seeing the signal on the audio spectrograph confirms that CW notes just seem to float on top of the tiny crackles of qrn (which are very quiet in the Omni) and weak signals can be pulled with ease.

To update my Omni, I added two kits from N4YG.com. One is Joe's sine wave side tone kit which replaces the old raspy side tone with a joyous (and adjustable) side tone - Great improvement for only around $25

My next upgrade was to replace the old and drifty PTO with Joe's DDS digital encoder dual VFO with split (also available at N4YG.com. Now the Omni has silky smooth tuning and rock solid stability without having to wait for a warm-up.

As far as the complaints about the AGC pop, just read the manual.. It clearly states that you should adjust the RF gain to achieve an S-7 signal strength (I usually go even lower like S-5 or so on strong signals,) and then adjust the AF gain according to the level needed for you, and the pop goes away. Not a big deal for such a great rig.

If you can get one for $300 - $350 or less, buy it. Throw in some upgrades, and you will have one of the best CW rigs made without a single menu to navigate. (Lots of the Big 3 rigs use DSP and can't even compare to the nice receive in the Omni)
KW4JA Rating: 2014-10-28
Best I've used Time Owned: more than 12 months.
My only radio is the Omni C which I've been using eight years. After 20 minute warm up it works perfectly for digital modes requiring only two rca to 1/8 inch cables attached between computer sound card and patch cables on the rear. What I like best I can run up to 100 watts for 20 minutes (100% duty cycle). What modern transceiver can do that? It has an adjustable notch filter that nearly eliminates nearby signals that would desensitize it. The radio does cw perfectly with Ten Tec qsk. On top of all that the controls are right in front of me and radio keeps working. Plus I am a person that can't replace something that won't stop working. It's almost environmentally wrong to replace something that keeps working. So no need for a newer radio although I am sometimes tempted.
If you find an Omni C buy it. You can't go wrong.
KB5JO Rating: 2014-10-24
Suits my needs Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Listening this morning to two ops on 40M trying to figure out manual for one of the new radios, I was thankful for the old Omni C on my desk. No menus, sparse controls, sufficient for all of my needs. The price was right too, bought used several years ago for not much.

Have owned several of the microprocessor controlled radios with the layers of menus, they've all gone to live elsewhere. The Omni C will stay.
RSHIRE22 Rating: 2013-10-23
The last radio Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've been using an Omni C for five years. It is my only radio. After owning a variety of mid priced Japanese radios I always come back to Ten Tec. After being a 99% cw op for several years I am now a 99% JT-65A op. I often look at ebay
auctions and other sites for other used equipment but nothing justifies changing radios especially at the price.

This radio works perfectly: Stable after warmup,
very sensitive, warm audio for monitoring ssb.
On JT-65A I work stations worldwide including
long path to Western Australia (17000 miles) from Florida running 40 watts and an MFJ 2286 vertical.

What else do I need?
NR7N Rating: 2012-07-19
Beats many rigs of today Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I recently acquired a Omni C (546) and I am extremely pleased with it. It needed a small amount of work such as rebuilding the PTO, resoldering HF oscillator crystal socket pins and replacing broken leads to a few front panel LEDs. I also performed a simple RX alignment. The folks at Ten-Tec were great and Paul even took of the front panel off the Omni C they have back in TN to let me know the LED wire colors. All I can say is wow. No rice box outfit would do that.

This rig is accessible and can be worked on by the ham owner so it harkens back to another time.

Performance is dazzling. I side-by-side compared it with a brand new IC-7410 and The Omni C hears better, has better received audio and better on-the-air signal reports. What more can you ask for. The '7410 is for sale now and the Omni is my main HF radio. Everything on it is functional, it's intuitive, the manual and Ten-tec support is great, and the performance wonderful (especially the receiver).

We haven't made as much progress as we think in the last 30 years.

When I do buy another new radio it will be a Ten-tec. The service/support is the best in the industry.
KB1OF Rating: 2012-01-02
Time tested rig Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've been a ham for 31 years and have had all kinds of HF tranceivers but have never had one better than the Omni C. The first Omni I bought was the Omni D. A few years later the ham I bought it from was having memory problems and wanted to buy back the Omni D. He was having trouble tuning his TS 430 and could tune the Omni because of its simplicity. I traded with him for the Kenwood but missed the Omni D. Then I had a chance to buy an Omni C with all the filters, mike and speech processor, remote VFO and power supply for $200. The problem was with the VFO in the main rig. I sent it in to Ten Tec who rebuilt the VFO and realigned and tweeked it before they returned it. I sold teh Kenwood and moved into the Omni with ease. Later when the ham with the Omni D became a silent key, I was able to buy it too. I am now the proud operator of both the Omni D and the Omni C. I use both and keep the D set up for CW where I spend 99% of my radio work and the Omni C mostly for SSB. There is no rig with as sensitive a receiver or as quiet as the Old Omnis. From time to time I have chances to operate the new rigs, and am delightfully proud to get back to my Omni D and C. KB1OF - Bud