I did not send this properly the first time? Re: [TenTec] Details of SP-325 receiver

[Sherrill WATKINS]

For a short time, Ten Tec offered the SP-325 in a "civilian" version.  The only advertisement I have been able to find for it appeared in the December 1986 QST.  If my memory serves me it was listed for $695 new.  I have the civilian version that I purchased about 10 years ago.  It has an internal speaker in the base of the receiver and the audio quality is outstanding with lots of volume and it is free of the "tinny" sound of the poor audio from other radios.  It is great for listening to medium and short wave broadcast.  A few years ago I used it to listen to the coastal telegraph stations (WLO etc.) when they were broadcasting high seas weather at 20 wpm.  However, alas, all the broadcasts in cw have been discontinued in the western hemisphere.    I have tried listening to ham cw and ssb but my civilian model really lacks the sensitivity and selectivity to make a good ham receiver.  (Also, the original instruction manual for the civilian version did not contain a schematic diagram and when I  called Ten Tec they could not furnish one.)   My SP-325 cannot compare in sensitivity and selectivity to my old solid state, discrete component Drake SPR-4.  However, it is continuous tune from about 300 KHz to 30 MHz which the Drake is not.  I do not know how the civilian version differs from the military version other than the military versions I have seen were built for rack mounting and the civilian version is in a very attractive and compact desk top cabinet.   However, for a reasonable price and for listening to medium and short wave broadcast, the SP-325 is hard to beat! -  Sherrill W.  k4own

>>> dslosty <dslosty@pipeline.com> 10/06/00 04:47AM >>>

A few weeks ago, I bought a Ten-Tec SP-325 receiver.
Since then I've seen several other units for sale 
on EBAY - prices going from around $300 to $350.
For the money its a very good receiver, that I feel is
comparable to the Drake R8.

I was told that this was a military receiver built for "training"
purposes.  My manual shows approval by the Naval Electronic Systems
Engineering Center, Charleston, SC.  The SP-325 seems to have been built
in 1987.

While the SP-325 is not in the Watkins-Johnson class, it seems too 
elaborate to be just a "training" receiver. It is similar to
the RX-325 with slightly different control programming but has
much better stability due to oven controlled reference oscillators.
It has no speaker audio amp - just a 600 ohm line output.
My unit had a T-Kit audio amp pcb installed, so at least it's still
pure Ten-Tec.

Anyone know more details?
How many were made?
Was training the only purpose for these units?

73,
Doug/WA1TUT

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