[TenTec] KW 107 Supermatch

[Rick - NJ0IP / DJ0IP]

Tom,

First of all, if I say "yes", Gerry will jump in my case!  ;-)

This is a clasical Z-Match - the 2-coil version.
It is the high power version built about 30 years ago (or more).
It was designed for openwire from the get go and is pretty good for matching
typical open wire antennas.
Like the Viking, it adds selectivity, which is useful for the receiver and
for suppressing harmonics.
However with today's good receivers (the good ones), you don't need it for
that reason.

It has no bandswitch, so that is one less source of trouble.
Instead it has two sets of connections for the openwire.
You have to move the feedline back and forth to change from 80/40 and
20/15/10.
However, if you have some wild impedances, it can happen that you need to
use the other input - generally only true when working 40m or 20m.

It also tunes the WARC bands, matches them quite well.
Which input 30m uses depends on the antenna.  Can go either way.

Sounds good up to this point.

However, when you get impedance extremes, this box has an awful lot of loss.
They were condemned by many people because of this.
As long as you know that and make sure your antennas are never more than
about 1000 Ohms, they work OK.
You do that by changing feedline lengths.

The answer to your question depends on the price.

A better box in my opinion is the big MFJ Symmetrical matchbox.
If the auction price comes anywhere close to that, go with the MFJ.

Maybe Gerry has some other reasons why not to use a Z-match.
I'm sure Steve is quite familiar with it; probably more than the rest of us.

At the end of the day, there is theory and practice.
I have the low power version, the KW EZEE Match, and I'm not parting with
it.
I haven't used it for 20 years, but I'm keeping it as a backup symmetrical
matchbox.

When I was using it regularly, I used it with:
- 2x 13m doublet
- 2x 17m doublet
- 2x 20m doublet
- 84m Horizontal Loop
- 42m Horizontal Loop
- Vertical Dipole (2x 5m)

Our club(s) turned in lots of good field day results with these antennas
(especially the loop), using that Z-match.
I had lots of successful mini-expeditions with these combinations.

There are better matchboxes.  
Some are expensive, others are not to be found (because nobody parts with
them [think "Annecke"]).

73
Rick

-----Original Message-----
From: tentec-bounces at contesting.com [mailto:tentec-bounces at contesting.com]
On Behalf Of tom stewart
Sent: Friday, February 18, 2011 11:48 AM
To: TenTec at contesting.com
Subject: [TenTec] KW 107 Supermatch

Is this a good tuner for balanced lines? Is it worth pursuing?

Thanks- Tom N7ESE

-- 
"No matter how fast you miss, you still lose."
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