Hi All,
I have owned several LDG Tuners and currently use one (an
AT-11MP) with my Omni V.9.
This unit was upgraded several years ago to a LDG firmware
version (V 1.6) that includes 200 memories similar to their
current AT-200 Pro model and the OT-11 they are now selling
for use in the Orion II.
Having used their tuner with and without memories, I can
attest that a memory feature in this style of tuner vastly
improves the tuning speed of the unit when QSY'ing the bands
or powering-up initially. I would not choose to own a
similar tuner without the memory capability at this time.
As far as matching range is concerned, my older LDG matches
a variety of non-resonant wire antennas with ease. As the
basic design of their tuners has not materially changed over
the years, I suspect similar results will be obtainable with
the LDG OT-11 unit. All of these tuners use mechanical relay
switching and take a bit of getting used to compared to the
memory step motor/T or Pi circuits used by the Big 3 (now
the Big 2?). They are all noisy but work very well.
Remember that LDG introduced the ham market to this current
version of relay-switched fixed value inductance/capacitance
tuners back in circa 1996 with one of the top three kits
ever offered through a QST article. I built two of these
tuners.
IMO a better owner, company and product you will not find.
Check out their manual and photos on the LDG site. I believe
that their manual is either being or has been recently
revised to reflect the Orion II installation as well.
If you believe that fewer features at twice the cost is a
value then go with Ten Tec tuner. If you want better
features and similar performance at half the price then go
the LDG route.
The change by TT in the Orion II, I suspect was made for
other reasons.
73 de N1LQ-Dave
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