[Premium-Rx] Ten-Tec SP-325: opinions wanted

[GandalfG8 at aol.com]

Hi Mike

I bought an SP-325 in the UK a couple of years ago and sold it on recently 
for approx $360 but they're quite rare here so that would probably explain the 
difference.
To be honest I don't thing the SP-325 is anything special, although it does 
have some rarity value, and it's certainly in no way "premium" despite its 
microprocessor control and its US Navy origins.
It does come with a crystal filter for CW but AM and SSB filters are ceramic.
I'm sure it fulfilled its intended role as a training aid but I would 
consider it to be just an average amateur market receiver in terms of performance.
It was fun to play with for a while but I soon lost interest and wouldn't buy 
another.

One problem when I bought mine was that it was very difficult to operate the 
push buttons from the membrane keypad. On inspection I found that the PCB 
mounted switches were not tall enough to meet the keypad projections. A layer of 
sponge had been inserted to take up the gap and this had perished over time. I 
replaced the switches with those of the correct height and problem solved.
I can't be sure that this was done in the factory but there was no indication 
of the switches having been changed previously so I'm inclined to think it 
might have been a bodge to get round a supply problem.
Not difficult to fix but not something to inspire confidence either.

I never bothered to check mine for absolute display accuracy but was told by 
another user that he'd found an offset in displayed frequency that was 
impossible to correct by realignment. 
He believed this was due to the drift problems associated with the use of two 
separate crystal references, rather than one, but was not sure if it was just 
a problem with his particular set.

I didn't experience any display problems but would certainly expect spares to 
be hard to come by.

If you're interested in it as a period Ten-Tec item then it's probably a 
reasonable price but don't expect anything special in performance terms.

regards

Nigel
G8PZR
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