[TenTec] Ten Tec Junk ??!!

[Tim English]

Hello all. Having just recently been "turned on" to Ten Tec gear and =
reading other folks comments, I felt compelled to write my short story =
on how I made the switch from YaeComWoods to TT. I've been a ham and die =
hard CW fanatic for over 30 years now. Over the years I have owned =
umpteen different YaeComWoods and always sluffed off TT as being total =
junk mainly because of the rig's cosmetics. Too me TT rigs always looked =
like something someone had homebrewed in their basement and threw it =
into a MFJ cabinet. The only fairly good Jap rig I have ever owned was a =
TS-130S. Some such as the TS-690S and IC-745 were the absolute worst =
rigs I have ever owned for CW. I bid and won an Argonaut 509 about a =
year ago on eBay. I mainly bought it because it was at a good price and =
came with the external CW filter, rig and power supply and intended to =
break the items up and resell for a profit. As I was sitting in the =
shack cleaning the rig up getting it ready to resell I figured I had =
better hook it up and check it's operation out. Once I fired the rig I =
just couldn't believe how low the noise level was. I live just 1 block =
from a 250,000 power sub-station and almost always have had to contend =
with hash noise levels approaching S9 at times. I had to check to make =
sure there was an antenna connected. I peaked the resonate knob and =
started tuning around 20 meters. Signals just jumped out of nowhere at =
me. To me this was an absolute jaw dropping experience because I had =
always had this high noise level. I then thought well maybe this was a =
night when the noise was reduced so I flipped on my IC-745 and sure =
enough the hash was there, strong as ever but yet was non-existent on =
the Argo. I hooked a 6BTV vertical to the Argo and a CF zepp to the 745 =
and started comparing signals. I was picking and copying dx signals on =
the Argo Q5 that were not even audible on the 745. At this point I was =
hooked. I made similar comparisons between the Argo and my IC-706 and =
although the 706 was better than the 745 neither held a candle to the =
Argo. I decided to keep the Argo and had a ball working a lot of QRP DX =
but having never been a great fan of QRP I did some intense research on =
finding a QRO TT rig. After asking many questions and taking alot of =
poles from TT users as well as reading reviews online I settled on =
finding a Corsair. I found one, bought it and have never looked back at =
the YaeComWoods since. The Corsair exhibited the same charecteristics as =
the Argo in the way of low S/N only better ! And the filters... whew, =
let's not even go there. All I can say is AWESOME ! Although it needs a =
PTO rebuild it is with a doubt the best rig I have ever owned. I =
immediately sold the IC-745 on eBay but held onto the 706 to use in my =
motorhome and on 6 meters. Although I still feel TT rigs will never win =
a beauty contest, I just can't believe it took me 30 years to discover =
these fabulous rigs. 2 years ago while doing some travelling I had the =
chance to go by and see the TT factory. I was totally unimpressed. The =
place looked run down, unkept, and there were people sitting around =
outside leaning back in chairs smoking. The showroom was empty except =
for a glass showcase with a few rigs in it. There was basically nothing =
to see. This of course was before I discovered TT. Looks can very, very =
deceiving I have discovered !

That's my 2 1/4 cent's worth !
--
Tim, K8TJ



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