The T-Kit series from Ten-tec is a sold as an intermediate skill level kit, but with patience and attention to detail, a beginner should be able to successfully assemble this kit. The T-Kit is a mono-band CW kit available for 20, 30, 40 and 80 meters. The 15 meter kit has been discontinued.
The kit was delivered via UPS within 48 hours of placing my order online which was impressive enough. The kit comes packaged in zip lock plastic bags separating the common components which are placed inside the radio's housing and shrink wrapped for shipping.
The first thing Ten-tec suggest doing is reading the manual completely before beginning construction. Good idea, also make sure you read the supplemental bulletins which inform you of part number changes, corrections to the manual and part substitutions. The manual is well written and consist of eight phases of assembly instructions plus a reference section for parts listings, troubleshooting and alignment. At the end of each section there are progress test to verify that everything works as it should and to make adjustments as needed.
Phases One, Two and Three are pretty straight forward and will get your keying, VFO and low level transmit stages completed. The L3 VFO coil consist of several turns (depending on model) of #28 enameled wire, and will determine the frequency range of the transceiver. Adjusting the coil consists of compressing or expanding the spacing of the wire turns to acheive the desired range. Spreading out the turns will lower the frequency and squeezing or compressing the space between turns will raise frequency. Once you are satisfied with the frequency range, secure the coil to the board using a drop of hot glue (do not use wax as suggested in the manual).
Phases 1,2 & 3 completed |
Up to Phase 5
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Phase Four is the receiver IF stage and Phase Five gets the BFO and audio amplifier stages completed. Section 5-28 instructs you to solder a piece of trimmed wire from a resistor in P4 as a temporary antenna connection, do yourself a favor and just install the RG174/U coax, it will save you time in Phase Seven. The progress test at the end of Phase Five aligns the receiver by adjusting L6, L18, L7 and L5 for maximum signal.
Phase 7 completed
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Final assembly Phase 8
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Phase Six is a short phase with only 22 parts to install and will get your receiver audio preamp and AGC circuit completed. Phase Seven consist of the transmit driver, output filter and RF amplifier. There are four toroids to wind in this section one of which is the T1 bifilar transformer. Winding the toroids is fairly simple; just make sure you count the number of turns that actually went through the toroid. If you count the number of turns on the outside of the toroid, there will be one less than the required value. When installing L8, L9 and L10 make sure you mount them approximately 1/4 of an inch above the board. This will allow you to adjust and reposition the coils to prevent oscillation. For more information on this modification visit N5ESE's mods page. In section 7-22 you are instructed to mount the Q15 transistor to the aluminum heatsink using a plastic shoulder washer and a rectangular piece of insulator, pay extra attention when performing this step and check your work with a VOM to verify that there is no short between the heatsink and the back of the transistor.
L3 VFO coil hot glued for stability
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L8, L9 & L10
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At the completion of Phase Seven the unit is finished with exception of mounting it in the enclosure which is the final phase. Phase Eight is the final assembly and alignment section. Here you will mount the board into the chassis and complete hook-ups for power, speaker and keying. The RCA type connectors are not the best idea especially for the 12 volt supply. The center pin can be easily shorted. N5ESE has a modification for this also.
The final sections are the RIT alignment and transmit power adjustment. After you are satisfied with the frequency range and proper operation of the radio, secure the coils L3, L8, L9 and L10 with hot glue. I completely covered the turns on L3 with hot glue to help minimize warm-up drift.
1320, 1330 & 1340
The 1340 has about 4 watts output and is a joy to operate. I have since built the 1320 and the 1330 and I am planning on getting a 1380 to round out the collection. The audio is exceptional and making contacts with minimal power is easier than you think.
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