> I was just wandering I f anyone else is using this radio successfully
> ,and If not what are their disappointing stories with the Ten-Tec model
> 526
I tried out a 526 and was disappointed with it's performance. There were
several birdies across both bands that made frequency range scanning
unusable. These birdies were confirmed as inherent in the design. I don't
remember the details, but there was a nasty one in the repeater output range
of 146.6 to 147.4. I live out in the country and intermod isn't a problem.
Also, received signal strength both as indicated by the SMeter and by the
absence of full quieting was less than on my venerable Kenwwod 7930 2m FM
mode. While that may be a concession to the weak signal and 6m capabilities,
it reduced the usefulness of the 526 to replace the 7930 for repeater work.
Lastly, I found the user interface awkward and not up to current (or even
1980) standards. At the very least, the radio should have maintained
settings for each band individually, but there were several settings that
carried over when the band was switched. The memory selection was terrible.
You could select up from 0 to 99, but it didn't wrap (i.e. down from 0
should be 99 - up from 99 should be 0). Even the 7930 did this.
Needless to say the 526 went back on the 30 day trial.
73,
Mark
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