Jim,
You're right about the lack of high power capable auto tuners. I don't
quite understand why. I'm no engineer but it would seem a natural
evolution to incorporate auto-tune features into some of the very
capable roller inductor style tuners on the market. I can find several
auto tuners rated under 200 watts that have the features I like but only
a few that can handle up to 1K watts or so. And then the features drop
off sharply. i.e, no dummy load, no balun, no antenna switch, etc.
I have no need or future plans to remote the tuner and definitely want
to keep it at the load. I will more than likely always use coax but of
course I'd like to have balanced output as well. Someone suggested the
LDG line which I'm considering. But I'm not sold on it for several
reasons, and want to look at others.
Thanks for the response.
Noel
<Jim said>
There aren't a huge number of autotuners that can handle the high power
(most are aimed at the 200W and under market).. I like my LDG tuners.
Others have had good luck with the SGC line.
Things to think about (for any tuner).. not necessarily that these are
important for you, but something you should think about.
Can you remote it to the antenna? You're much better off with the tuner
at the load, so the amp drives 50 ohm coax into a 50 ohm load.
Do you need a balanced output? Think about chokes and baluns.
Does it have some way to store presets? If you have to go through a
whole tuning cycle everytime, it's pretty annoying. Do the presets
store manual "touch up" you do after the auto tune cycle? (My older LDG
(without
presets) doesn't always find a match on 75m, into a dipole hanging 5
feet off the ground, so I have to bump it in manually) If you are
manually tuning, do you have forward and reflected power to look at
while doing the tuning?
Does it need to be portable?
----- Original Message -----
From: "Noel" <y.yaesurigs@verizon.net>
To: <towertalk@contesting.com>
Sent: Saturday, March 27, 2004 7:33 PM
Subject: [TowerTalk] Auto antenna tuner
> I know this isn't exactly tower related but I'm considering an auto
> antenna tuner as an addition to my shack. I'm sure some of you out
> there have some experince with auto tuners and could make some
> recommendations as to what make or models to consider. My
> requirements are simple but don't seem to be easy to find. I want an
> auto tuner that can handle more than a couple hundred watts, that I
> won't have to take out of line when I want to use my amp (600 watts).
> I'm currently using an MFJ 989C legal limit roller inductor tuner but
> want to be able to change bands more quickly. I'm obviously willing
> to settle for less than legal limit but want the funtionality of a
> roller inductor tuner but without the manual tunning.
>
> All responses appreciated.
>
> Noel
>
>
> ____
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