Kits - Remember When?
Remember when? 20, 30, or 40 years ago looking through a print catalog, placing your order and when the box arrived from Benton Harbor in the mail you couldn't wait to get all the pieces and parts spread out on the table in front of you? All those resistors, diodes and capacitors. A case with a funky green crinkle paint finish. Remember smelling the melting solder as the first components were put on the board and you carefully checked off each of the step boxes on the manual checklists?
The green crinkle paint finish may be long gone, but the thrill of kit building is no nostalgia act. Ten-Tec offers a series of receiver, QRP transceiver, and accessory kits that are built just like we did them in the "good old days". Step-by-step instuctions are provided with progress tests at the end of each section to assure you've built one section right before going to the next. Checkboxes for every single component and step. With your soldering iron, a volt-ohm meter, and basic hand tools, you can re-create the memories of yesteryear with a modern kit building project - today!
We have a tech staff that is waiting and ready to provide advice if you need it. You will find that most of our kit building projects are as easy as being able to solder and identify components properly. See sample manual pages from the model 1254 receiver kit below to get an idea of how our manuals are constructed. Call (800) 833-7373 or click on the links below to place an order for your kit today!
1254 sample pages 40 & 41
1254 sample pages 42 & 43
QRP CW transceiver kit - 80 Meters
Enjoy the world of QRP CW operation with one of our single band transceiver kits. 3 watts power output. Easy to build and simple to operate.
QRP CW transceiver kit - 40 Meters
Enjoy the world of QRP CW operation with one of our single band transceiver kits. 3 watts power output. Easy to build and simple to operate.
QRP CW transceiver kit - 30 Meters
Enjoy the world of QRP CW operation with one of our single band transceiver kits. 3 watts power output. Easy to build and simple to operate.
QRP CW transceiver kit - 20 Meters
Enjoy the world of QRP CW operation with one of our single band transceiver kits. 3 watts power output. Easy to build and simple to operate.
Superhet Receiver Kit
Model 1254 combines the satisfaction of the kit building experience with the performance features expected in a modern HF receiver. Building one’s own receiver from a kit has launched countless thousands of people into communications careers or the hobbies of amateur radio and shortwave listening (“SWLing”). You will build a true dual-conversion superhet with a microprocessor-controlled frequency synthesizer. Digital LED readout. Alignment is easy and does not require complicated equipment. You only need a volt-ohm meter and your ear; the kit provides its own 45 MHz test signal. Project skill level: Intermediate. Not recommended as a first-time kit building project. Estimated build time: 15-20 hours.
Regenerative 4-Band SWL Receiver
Model 1054 4 band regenerative shortwave receiver kit. Here it is: PROOF that the classic “first receiver” project need not be more expensive today than our favorite 1950’s kits.
There are accessories available for the Regenerative 4-Band SWL Receiver. Please click on the picture to the left or the product title above.
Any Band Direct-Conversion SSB/CW Receiver
Model 1056 single band direct conversion receiver kit. This is your best buy, by far, in a ham band direct conversion receiver kit. It has better audio and filtering than the others, and we supply all of the parts and instructions to let you build it for (or change it to) ANY band of your choice. There are only minor coil and capacitor differences in the simple RF input and oscillator sections of a basic direct-conversion receiver. We give you ALL parts needed to build for your choice of 160, 80, 75, 40, 30, 20, 17, 15, 12 or 10 meters! Try out your own multi-band switching ideas. An ideal receiver for use with a homebrew QRP transmitter! MUTE function included for use with your transmitter. We recommend case (undrilled, no holes) TPx-45 for this receiver, available in unpainted aluminum, black or charcoal. Order TP-45 for aluminum, TPB-45 black, TPC-45 charcoal. Building skill level: Beginner to intermediate. Must be able to solder, read instructions, and use small hand tools.
There are accessories available for the Any Band Direct-Conversion SSB/CW Receiver. Please click on the picture to the left or the product title above.
9-Band SW Receiver
Model 1253 9 band regenerative shortwave receiver kit. The classic “first radio kit” is back better than ever! We’ve combined the very same audio output circuit of Ten-Tec transceivers with a modern FET design for classic regenerative SWL receiving plus one-button electronic band switching.
Universal Low-Noise Broadband DC to 1 GHz RF Preamp
Broadband, untuned RF preamp. 50 ohm input, 50 ohm output. THIS one is your best buy! Excellent noise figure, gain and frequency coverage at a BUDGET PRICE. Up to 18.5 dB gain at 100 MHz. 17 dB gain typical at 500 MHz. Supply voltage: 8-14 VDC. We recommend (undrilled, no holes) enclosure TPx-13 for this item. Order TP-13 for unpainted aluminum, TPB-13 for black, TPC-13 for charcoal. See bottom of page to add enclosure to cart.
There are accessories available for the Universal Low-Noise Broadband DC to 1 GHz RF Preamp. Please click on the picture to the left or the product title above.
Universal BFO
Got an old (or very new) AM only shortwave radio with no CW-SSB capability? If you want to enjoy casual CW-SSB reception, this varactor-tuned 455 kHz oscillator may be built into larger receivers or else mounted in its own case and placed near your portable SWL radio. The on board tuning control compensates for alignment variations from one receiver to another in addition to permitting fine-tuning of SSB/CW signals. Operates on 6 to 15 VDC. We recommend (undrilled, no holes) enclosure TPx-13 for this item.
There are accessories available for the Universal BFO. Please click on the picture to the left or the product title above.
Transmatch Tuning Bridge
Have you ever wondered what good one of those -100 “R X Noise Bridges” could do for YOUR station setup? Are you baffled by your antenna tuner or “transmatch”? The 1051 is easy to build and super-easy to use. No “R-X” controls, calibration or calculations needed. Just connect it between your rig and antenna tuner, set receiver to desired operating frequency, and adjust the antenna tuner until the distinctive modulated pulses (NOT just straight “noise”!) drop to an easily-recognized “null” indicating that the tuner offers a 50-ohm match to your transceiver with NO on-the-air nervous experimenting with the tuner controls! We recommend (undrilled, no holes) enclosure TPx-15 for this item.
There are accessories available for the Transmatch Tuning Bridge. Please click on the picture to the left or the product title above.
