Two amps in two years: The dual 3-500Z Centurion made its debut in 1989 and is till current in the Ten-Tec line 19 years later. 1990 was the release date of the 550 watt output Hercules II, with a compact 13.8 VDC solid state design that could be used mobile or in the shack with the companion #9420 80 amp power supply. The Titan 425 would undergo it’s third cosmetic change in 1989 to match the Omni and Paragon transeiver styling.

The Delta II and Argonaut II were two nearly identical compact transceivers released in 1991. Delta II was 100 watts output, Argonaut V 5 watts output, continuing Ten-Tec’s long tradition of high performance HF QRP rigs.

Not much has changed — Japan still can’t match the performance of top of the line Ten-Tec HF rigs. The first HF radio for ham use to feature Digital Signal Processing was the Omni-VI, in 1992. The original Omni-VI receiver was utilized with DSP added plus an updated serial port command interface.

The Scout 555, released 1993, would be the best selliing Ten-Tec rigs by units sold released to date. At an introductory price of $495, this little 50 watter took mobile HF by storm on its release and thousands of them are surely still in use today. Bare bones, no frills — even the bands were optional.

Ten-Tec released our first kits in 1994 and by 1996 had a complete line of offerings, from VHF transceivers to transverters to 4 different models of shortwave receivers.

More DSP and additional crystal filter capability marked the transitiion from the original Omni-VI to the Omni-VI Plus in 1997. An upgrade program lasted from 1997-99 which provided Omni-VI owners with the opportunity to send in their existing Omni-VI and have it upgraded by the factory.