I had the c21 and the 22 as well and were very nice cw rigs. I recently got a c21 for club use and it continues to be a great radio
C21 was my first rig, too! Used it in my apartment as a novice feeding a slinky dipole stretched across the ceiling. Operated between midnight and 5am to avoid QRMming the neighbors. Used it as my novice station at my first Field Day and worked 84 stations. Still have the paper log. Replaced it with a Ten Tec 544, which was an awesome rig. Sadly, both have gone on to other owners.
I still dust mine off and fire it up on occasion. It was my first rig as a novice in 1990 - I bought it used on consignment. It was my elmer's recommendation for a new ham's rig and being a CW-only rig, it caused me to fall in love with the mode.
It was actually Richard's videos that got me interested in a Century 21, and using a bug for that matter. Been using both since this past summer and having a blast. I was fortunate to find a really clean C21 from a local ham at a decent price. The PTO is pretty good but has a very slight sign of slippage, so that will have to be addressed later. Right now it works fine. It's going to be fun using it on straight key night this year, which is primarily what the previous owner used it for.
Got my C21 as I was getting back on the air following my college days. Absolutely loved it. Turned me into a 99% CW Operator. Larry KB0R
I quickly learned I had to constantly ride the gain on my C21 so as not to blast out my ears when encountering a strong signal. It gave me a whole new appreciation of AGC. For some reason, I could never get more than 25 watts out of mine although no one can tell the difference between 25 and 40 watts. Cute rig. Lots of empty space inside that cabinet. One year in the Dayton Hamvention flea market I ran across some guys who absolutely loved their Century 21s. Sadly, I no longer have my C21. Someone else made me an offer I couldn't refuse and off it went to its adopted ham shack.
I agree. All the TenTec radios I've heard have really nice CW audio. The C21 in particular since it's direct conversion rather than superhet or sdr isn't sending the signal through a ton of stages before you hear it. I also think that big, mostly empty enclosure adds it's own sonic flavor to the bottom firing speaker. When the bands are busy it's no fun to use but they way things have been lately, unless there's a CW contest there's no problem working stations with the C21.
