[TenTec] 160 meters, ten ted 238 tuner, part two

John Huffman hjohnc at gmail.com
Thu Oct 31 13:32:07 EDT 2013


I agree with Bob.  But, having no technical background I tend to do 
things the 'ham' way.  I'd try a different 1:1 balun.  I know they 
should be the same, but experience the problems you describe with a 
wound balun at times.  The problems are not there with a sleeve balun.  
And, sometimes the sleeve had problems but the wound one doesn't.  A 
choke balun is another thing to try.

I keep trying things until I happen upon a setup that works well on all 
bands with a particular antenna and tuner.  I've only had limited 
success with changing wire or feeder length.  More luck changing balun 
and the coax length between the balun and tuner.

The 238 and the Palstar should both work well.  The 238 will need the 
external cap on 160m.  I believe your issue is not the tuner.

73 de K1ESE
John


On 10/31/2013 1:17 PM, Bob McGraw - K4TAX wrote:
> Having gone back and reviewed some 30 or so e-mail exchanges on this 
> topic, it is my conclusion that the length of the wire should be OK 
> and the type and length of the feed-line should be OK.    Further, 
> this configuration should be relatively easy for most all external 
> tuners to affect a good match, all bands, from 160M - 10M.  There is 
> something yet to be discovered in, with, or related to the 
> installation that is the cause of this issue.
>
> The fact that the 253 Automatic tuner finds a match, somewhat affirms 
> that the wire length. antenna position and the feed-line type/length 
> is not the issue.
>
> 73
> Bob, K4TAX
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Mike Bryce" <prosolar at sssnet.com>
> To: "Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment" <tentec at contesting.com>
> Sent: Wednesday, October 30, 2013 2:11 PM
> Subject: [TenTec] 160 meters, ten ted 238 tuner, part two
>
>
> Well gang,
>
> It’s great being able to move again and once more I’m in the shack.
>
> I did some interesting testing with my doublet.
>
> here’s a recap
>
> 132 feet on each side fed with 180 ish feet of 600 ohm open line. That 
> goes to an external 1:1 balun feed with three feet of LMR400 to the 
> coupler.
>
> A palstar coupler and the Ten Tec 238 coupler were unable to find a 
> match.
>
> So I added 15 feet to both ends.
>
> No joy.
>
> I added about 10 feet of wire inside the shack and strung it across 
> the ceiling. Looks like hell, but it’s up there
>
> The palstar will find a solution at 1.890 now, but the swr is around 
> 2.7:1
>
> The 238, not so much. I did get it to tune, but the SWR slowly 
> increased (I plan on modifying the coupler with the high voltage 
> doorknob caps)
>
> Now, here’s the odd part.
>
> I have a Ten Tec 253 AUTOMATIC tuner. That tuner found a solution for 
> the 160 meter band from one end to the other.
>
> Happy days!
>
> But, using the same tuner, it can’t find a solution on 30 meters.
>
> But the 238 and the palstar will tune it flat.
>
> I don’t mind changing antennas, but swapping out couplers to operate 
> from one band to the other kinda sucks.
>
>
> Mike WB8VGE
>
>
>
> Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit; Wisdom is not putting it in 
> a fruit salad.
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