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Reviews For: Ten-Tec Jupiter

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

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Review Summary For : Ten-Tec Jupiter
Reviews: 161MSRP: 1,189
Description:
Formerly known as the "PegasusFP" now renamed Jupiter
Product is not in production
More Info: https://www.tentec.com/ten-tec-538-jupiter/
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
001614.5
KD4LYH Rating: 2003-05-30
The Best Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Iv,e owned TenTec rigs for 9 years. Iv,e had nothing but trouble with Kenwood and Yaesu. Their service is poor. Maybe you need to personally know someone at these companies to get good service. Yaesu needs to send some of there techs to school to learn the english language so you can understand them. Im very happy with my Jupiter (besides you have 30 days if you dont like it) I also have a Ten Tec Omni6 opt.1 I wouldnt own a Kenwood or Yaesu only because I received poor service.
AF5U Rating: 2003-04-25
Thanks for returning my rig Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
Somebody returned my rig to Ten Tec because they they hated it and I gave it a happy home. Oh yes, I own Kenwood, Icom, and Yaesu HF/VHF/UHF rigs. Each radio has its good points and negative points. I find the Jupiter to be an excellent base station HF rig. Sure, it does not have 50, 146, or 440 MHz - so go buy a IC706MKIIG - I did. And, if you need to reduce whats in your pocket book buy a IC-756PRO2. Those rigs have their place. But, if you are a HF man who like simple, clean, solid rigs that make dollars and sense, you'll like the Jupiter. CW and audio is Ten Tec crystal clear.
David Little, AF5U@arrl.net
K5MDM Rating: 2003-04-23
Incredible for the money!! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Glad I didnt read these reviews first. Most are pretty far out there on the negative side. Im replacing a 746 Pro with mine and very happy for the dollars spent!! Different, yes....but not so problematic as one might think reading all the negative reviews. Probably wouldnt like it as much without the KNOB, but that makes is fast and easy to use. Now think Ill buy that "pretty kit". I think Im gonna keep it!! THis is my second one and I finally learned to use it, now I like it a lot! Only complaint I have was how long it took Ten Tec to do "RESET" (they say) on it. It woudnt transmit when I got it, gone about 6 weeks..NOT NORMAL I am told by TT fans. Wonder why my "reset" didnt do it? OH well, I like it!! K5MDM Murray Neece
WB8RIM Rating: 2003-04-06
GOOD Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I've only had the rig 5 days and the biggest complaint that I have is the computer hash that shows up on 21mhz(the strongest)and 18mhz(not as bad but still noticeable).It sounds like real bad ignition noise that I understand to be the computer scanning the front panel. I managed to eliminate 95% of the noise which is due(in my case) to poor lead routing from the PBT and BANDWIDTH controls.The leads run along the side of the chassis and right against the front panel next to the main cable that connects the front panel to the DSP board and does that cable radiate.I ended up removing the four screws on the DSP board and routed the PSB and BANDWIDTH leads under the circuitboard and toward the rear left corner of the board and also taping the leads down to the chassis.This gave a real good improvement in the hash.When the rig is out of warrenty I will replace the leads with some belden double shielded cable which I think will eliminate the problem completely. This is a good rig and with the proper cable and routing this problem could be solved.(pay attention Ten-Tec).
If this works for anyone else let me know at (lhenders@1st.net). Thanks
NM0EJ Rating: 2003-03-26
Everything I expected Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
My Jupiter has been great to use and as performed wonderfully. Ten Tec is a very easy company to work with and supports their products well.

With the great return policy trying a Jupiter is very low risk.

I also highly recommend the N4PY software for the Jupiter. It extends the rig in remarkable ways and is very very cheap for the value it provides.

I see the Jupiter reviews seem to be love-or-hate. I cannot explain why, but with the return policy, no potential buyer risks much.
KA5TIZ Rating: 2003-02-23
My JUPITER is getting better Time Owned: more than 12 months.
This Great Radio is getting better. I wrote my first review June 5,2002 and enough has changed to merit an additional review. My first review pictured the JUPITER as a great radio and I will not cover the same material again. My focus for this review is a really tough radio, new factory knobs, and new software that is really good. I have read most of the previous reviews and I am convinced that a number of the reviewers who have given very negative reports are simply trying to trash TEN TEC without reason. I have used the Jupiter extensively and many of the negative comments simply do not accurately picture the radio. Enough said about that!

If you have never use a TEN TEC you may not know how a good transistor transmitter can work. The common discussion is that transistors are fragile and prone to failure. Also, that they will not work into a standing wave of more that 2 to 1. This is not true for any of the TEN TEC's that I run. These radios will work into a broad range of standing waves and will put out reasonable power into almost any possible antenna. I am not encouraging dumb operation, but TEN TEC finals are tough and continue to work for years following occasional abuse. While other radios are shutting down and being sent back for new finals; for the most part TEN TEC's just continue to work faithfully.

I note that some reviewers have commented that the Jupiter looks cheap or fragile. I disagree as I think it looks good as it came from the factory, but if you do not like it's looks the factory supplies a knob kit that is much fancier than the original. The tuning knob is heavy metal and has a bright ring on the back. The smaller knobs are much improved and all together the radio looks very good with the new knobs. And you won't believe the price.

The latest improvement for my radio is new software to run the radio thru the computer interface. I still like to run the radio from the face of the radio, but it is like getting a New Radio to bring up the new CALLSIGN SOFTWARE - HAMSTATION EXTREME edition. The software has a full scope feature that includes a digitally processed band scope, and a transmit audio scope that is great to use. The digital processing makes the band scope much more meaningful. It also includes a stepped attenuater that I find very helpful to overcome some band noise. I believe that it is the most adaptable software available for the JUPITER, at least for SSB as I do not work CW. There are so many options in setting up the software, that it really takes some time to get everything set up for you and your personal computer. There are now a number of sources of commercial software available for the Jupiter, so with such a variety it is sure to please. I have recently written a fairly detailed review and you can find it under CALLSIGN SOFTWARE.

The JUPITER is a great radio from a good AMERICAN company that gives good service. The radio does what it was made to do and is getting better almost monthly, and you cannot say that about many radios. There is simply not much competition to the JUPITER as far as I can see.

KA5TIZ Gene
AA8SH Rating: 2003-02-13
Fine Radio Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
Hi All!
I'm not an audio nut, but upon learning that the Jupiter had made the short list of desirable radios for the SSB audiophile, I decided to give one a try. For three months now, it has been my primary radio for 75/160M SSB. I seldom operate CW or DX (weak signal). I operate in strong signal environments, and I do like good audio for ragchewing.
Let me define what I consider to be good audio. In LSB, I want to hear a carrier right down to the bass limit of my external speaker, then throb at the sub-audible near zero-beat. I have found that if a radio can't produce a note near zero-beat, it will never give full-bodied audio. Also, a receiver must be quiet. When I short the antenna, I want to hear nothing from the speaker. Based on this, the Jupiter is better than anything I've owned, except perhaps the Corsair II. I will loosely rank my previous radios by these criteria to give you an idea of what I'm comparing to. They are the CorsairII, FT-902DM,FT101-E, TS-570D, TS450, TS-140, SB-102, IC-706MKIIG, FT-747, IC-725. As you can see, I've never operated high-end radios but I believe the Jupiter will exceed the capability of any mid-priced radio available.
To begin with, if you've never heard DSP noise reduction, this radio will amaze you. If you’ve had experience with AF DSP, it will only impress you. When the Jupiter’s IF DSP NR is engaged, it quiets the Jupiter so much that signals seem to pop out of nowhere. I’ve never heard anything like it. I run NR all the time. It does impart slight digital “artifacts” to weak signals, but signals of average strength sound normal--except
for the missing noise.
The digital filters are good enough to withstand almost all strong signals nearby with no blowby. When I cut back from 2.7 to 1.8, intruding signals usually disappear. Also, the filters are more "listenable" than the 1.8 filters I've had in three of my previous radios. I've never liked the audio that a 1.8 crystal filter passes. While these filters did decrease noise, audio copy suffered to the extent I would simply rather hear the noise.
Consequently, I seldom ran 1.8 filters previously. However, this radio gives good audio at 1.8 and is still readable, though pinched up, when set as narrow as 1.2kc.
The Jupiter/Pegasus transmit audio I've heard on air is quality as expected, no surprises there.
A number of qualities stand out. Every transistor radio I’ve ever had would not drive 100W above 2:1 SWR. The Jupiter drives 100W into 3:1 and higher SWR. I didn’t want to find how high a mismatch it would stand, so I stopped at 3.5:1. Who needs a so-called built in “antenna tuner”? Also, there is no noisy cooling fan. The external heatsink keeps the finals absolutely cool during typical SSB operation. The radio itself is a bit larger than a 746, but so uncluttered it looks a bit, well simple. And it is simple! It’s
the easiest menu-driven radio I’ve ever operated. The big display is nice.
There are only two negatives so far. The processor scans the front panel and I can hear this as computer hash when the volume is set above 35%. If I go to the menu screen, it no longer scans, and the hash stops. This trait is reported in other Eham reviews. Luckily, 35% is sufficient desk top volume, so I can live with this. Also, I was surprised at how easily a strong signal (30 over S-9 or so) will overload the receiver. However, the attenuator or RF gain will stop this overload. I run attenuation habitually anyway so I don't consider this a real drawback, just surprising.
The Pegasus control program works on my Win95 Pentium 100 FB and the N4PY software will provide functionality that wasn’t even possible previously. But that’s another review. For now, suffice to say that Ten Tec has convinced me that analog radios will soon be a thing of the past.
N2PKN Rating: 2003-02-06
WHAT A RIG!!! Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
Sold my Kenwood 850 and replaced it with a Jupiter and never looked back.So much so I bought another Jupiter for my vacation home.I am running n4py program which is fantastic.No problems and no over rated Bells and Whistles which honestly you never use or have to look it up to rember how to use them.So the big 3 have a lot more Glitz than this rig,but the updating more than makes up for that.New band coming?
I will have no problem how about the big 3 ,their answer put up another chunk of cash for the UPDATED VERSION.Don't think so.VERY PLEASED ALL AROUND.
WB4HUC Rating: 2002-10-21
A fun radio Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I've owned my Jupiter about two months. It replaced an OMNI VI/Option 3.

Things I like:

The ability to operate it under total software control

The DSP Filters

The sound of the receive audio

The general coverage SW receiver

The Noise Reduction (wonderful!)

Physical Size - smaller than the OMNI VI


Things I don't like:

Not enough dedicated buttons and knobs - you have to go into
the menus too much, or you have to fool with the MULTI knob
to change things that should have their own dedicated
controls, like RF gain, AF gain, Squelch, and output power
adjustment.

For instance:

To change bands you have to hit the BAND button eight times
to go to the next higher band.

You have to hit the MODE button four times to back up one
mode.

There should be a separate button for each band and for each
mode

There's no manual notch filter

There's no front panel frequency entry keypad

If the RF gain is turned up past a certain point, you can
still hear receiver volume even if you turn the AF gain down
all the way

Most of the things that annoy me can be made easier by
operating the radio under software control, and yes, you can
get the remote keypad, but that just means you pay an extra
$139 for something that should be built into the radio.

Overall I really do like the radio. Its features and
capabilities fit what I want to do, but I think more
attention should have been paid to usability.


KC4YLX Rating: 2002-10-04
I WOULD buy it again Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Tried one before going to the hamfest and liked it! Now mine is sitting beside the 756PRO and I still like it. Using the Heil Goldline with the Jupiter and I get a good audio level with about 65% Mic gain. Drives an Alpha99 without problem.

I was going to sell the 756PRO but my son suggested that we keep both so we could listen to two bands or one SWL. I'll do that but, I am keeping my Heil, March Paddle and Alpha99 connected to the Jupiter. I will try the Heil mic made for Ten Tec sometime in November when it is shipped to me. I expect it too will be fantastic.

If you would like to hear my Jupiter, email for a sked. I'll be happy to answer any questions I can.

Display is NOT color like the 756PRO but it IS better on my eyesight. I can see it much better.

I have A/B'ed the Jupiter and 756PRO and I find the Jupiter is the winner.

Thank you Ten Tec for another great hamfest and a great rig! I look forward to next year and my Orion!