[TenTec] Non-digital Ten-Tec transceivers

[John/K4WJ]

At 10:48 AM 6/12/2006, you wrote:
>Hi William,
>    The Omni C was the last of this line of the Omni's and had all
>the proper mods made. It also worked properly on the WARC bands.
>I know C before D. The process was Omni A (analog)model 545; Omni
>A  series B, Model 545B; Omni D (digital display) model 546; Omni
>D  series B model 546B; Omni D series C (also known as Omni C)
>Model 546C. The model 546C was the only one with the WARC bands
>that worked properly, others has spurs due to choice of IF
>frequencies.
>Here is a good web site that tells about the different ten-tec
>equipment. http://www.qsl.net/tentec/
>73 Jim K4CGY
Jim,

It appears you didn't do your homework correctly.   :-)

A few years back I posted a message that I will paste below.


>It has been bothering me that some folks are calling the Omni C a 
>"Omni D Series C" since over the years that I've owned my Omni C I 
>have never heard of it as a Omni D Series C.
>
>
>The front panel of my Omni has only the word Omni above the Ten-Tec 
>logo. There is no letter "C" after it. My owner's manual has the 
>word Omni on the front. There is no letter "C" after it.
>
>
>On the back of my Omni, below the heat sink and between the external 
>speaker jack and linear connector, it is stamped,
>
>
>         HF TRANSCEIVER
>         MODEL 546 SERIES C
>         TEN-TEC, INC.
>         SEVIERVILLE, TN 37862
>         MADE IN U.S.A.
>
>
>All of my repair invoices refer to the transciever as 546 and then 
>the serial number follows. There is no model or series letter.
>
>
>I got out my old QST magazines and found the following.
>
>
>Omni Announced in October, 1978
>
>
>The October, 1978 QST  has a TEN-TEC advertisement that announces on 
>pages 128 and 129,
>
>
>"there's a world of difference in TEN-TEC's  all new hf transceiver-- OMNI"
>
>
>The Omni was avaialble with either a digital or an analog frequency 
>readout. The specifications for both OMNI models were the same 
>except for the readouts
>
>
>" ANALOG OR DIGITAL READOUTS . OMNI A features an analog dial with 1 
>kHz dial markings. OMNI D has 0.43" LED readouts with the 5 most 
>significant in red and the 6th in green to show 100 Hz increments."
>
>
>The price for these beauties was "Model 545 OMNI-A $899" and the 
>"Model 546 Omni D $1069".
>
>
>Both transceivers pictured in this advertisement have digital 
>readouts and have "OMNI D" printed above the TEN-TEC logo on the 
>front panel. In other advertisements I saw pictures of the Omni A 
>and it had an analog dial and "OMNI A" above the Ten-Tec logo on the 
>front panel.
>
>
>August, 1979
>
>
>It appears that this is the first time Ten-Tec advertised the series 
>B. This advertisement announced,
>
>
>"New OMNI/SERIES B Filters The Crowd". The advertisement claims "NEW 
>I-F RESPONSE SELECTION"  and "NEW NOTCH FILTER" and new prices.
>
>
>The prices were, "Model 545 Series B OMNI-A $949" and the "Model 546 
>Series B OMNI-D $1119". Pictures of the digital model show OMNI-D 
>printed above the logo on the front panel. Ten-Tec continued to 
>offer an analog and a digital version of the Omni.
>
>
>May, 1980
>
>
>In QST on page 109 I found the first Omni - Series C advertisement. 
>It said, "new features, new performance + all 9 bands". The price 
>line says "Model 546 Omni - Series C...$1189" The front panel has 
>"OMNI" printed above the logo and the A and D were dropped.
>
>
>The digital "Model 546 Omni - Series C" replaced the analog "Model 
>545 Series B Omni-A" and the digital "Model 546 Series B Omni-D" in May, 1980.
>
>
>In summary, the Ten-Tec OMNI models were as follows,
>
>
>Omni Analog Models  (545)
>Model 545 OMNI-A $899 announced around October, 1978
>Model 545 Series B OMNI-A $949 announced around August, 1979
>Around May, 1980 the analog version was discontinued.
>
>Omni Digital Models  (546)
>Model 546 Omni D  $1069 announced around October, 1978 (same date as 
>the analog version)
>Model 546 Series B OMNI-D  $1119 announced around August, 1979 (same 
>date as the analog version)
>Model 546 Omni - Series C  $1189 announced around May, 1980  (the 
>analog version was discontinued)

The Omni C does have the WARC bands but as Mike, N4NT, pointed out, 
it isn't very useable on 17M.

73..de John/K4WJ ex K8PXG