[TenTec] OT: Question to the group

Mon Jul 18 14:12:56 EDT 2016

Well, not to beat a dead horse, but I've always been partial to
Nye-Viking MB-V-A tuners. I have several and they have been
able to tune most anything. They're a bit touchy at the low end of
80M and at 160M when you get away from resonance.

On the other hand they do not mind outdoor temperature changes or
rain/snow, drifting only slightly over time, if at all. And they
are stable at high power.

Too bad they're no longer being made, but they were crafted well.

73 de Phil - N8PS

Quoting Al Gulseth <wb5jnc at centurytel.net>:

> Rick,
>
> Just to clarify here - when you say "if you can find a good JVM, buy  
> it" - are
> you referring to the 275W or the KW version, or both?
>
> TNX/73, Al
>
> On Mon July 18 2016 11:00:54 am rick at dj0ip.de wrote:
>> FULL AGREEMENT GARY, EVERY WORD.
>>
>> RECOMMENDATION TO ALL:  if you can find a good JVM, buy it.  You'll never
>> regret it.
>>
>> WARNING:  More than half of the JVM's I have seen at hamfests were garbage
>> on the inside and not worth much more than the scrap metal value of the
>> box.  BEFORE YOU BUY, remove the 30 or so screws and take a look and the
>> inner components.
>>
>> Tip:  Most people selling these won't want you to open them.  When I bought
>> my last one, I offered the OM $10 to allow me to open it up.  Said if it is
>> clean, I will buy it and the $10 goes towards the purchase.  If not clean,
>> I won't buy it but he can keep the $10.  If he still won't let you open it,
>> DON'T BUY IT.  It probably has a melted coil form (the larger coil) and is
>> no longer balanced.
>>
>> 73
>> Rick, DJ0IP
>>
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: TenTec [mailto:tentec-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of Gary J
>> FollettDukes HiFi Sent: Monday, July 18, 2016 4:13 PM
>> To: wb5jnc at centurytel.net; Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment
>> Cc: Paul Christensen
>> Subject: Re: [TenTec] OT: Question to the group
>>
>> Antennas and tuners are fun. They are about the last bastion in which hams
>> can still perform meaningful experiments and produce publishable results.
>>
>> Radios have simply gotten complex to the point at which everyday hams can
>> no longer do much with them but plug them in and turn the knobs (or press
>> the keys).
>>
>> SMD’s and SDR’s only serve to take hams farther from being involved with
>> their radios’s operational theory.
>>
>> Antennas (and tuners), on the other hand, offer an opportunity for one to
>> perform mathematical modeling to predict designs, optimize them, build them
>> and finally test them.
>>
>> Paul and Rick both have shown extensive knowledge, both in terms of
>> modeling and practical construction. Their input is very valuable to this
>> discussion.
>>
>> I do not yet have the time to go into those aspects of antennas and tuners
>> since I am still spending my time doing lab science on chemical sensors and
>> flame detectors.
>>
>> Therefore, my expressed opinions on the topic are based only upon my own
>> practical experiences, some of those being over 40 years ago.
>>
>> Thanks for an interesting discussion in which I received more than I gave.
>>
>> I admit to having overstated the EFJ Matchbox in terms of being the “best
>> ever”, but it is better than most I have seen lately, and t worked in every
>> application in which I tried it. Plus, it never arced on me.
>>
>> It’s kind of like a restaurant owner saying "Our restaurant has the best
>> burger anywhere”. Really? Have they tried all of them and taken into
>> account that different people have different preferences in burgers?
>>
>> Gary
>>
>> W0DVN
>>
>> PS: Does anyone know why Ten ten chose to allow operation of the internal
>> auto tuner in the Orion only on antenna 1 output? Everybody else seems to
>> have figured out long ago how to do the antenna switching AFTER the tuner
>> so that it would work on both antenna outputs.
>>
>>
>> PPS: The EFJ Matchbox was a  real pain to repair if the band switch seized
>> up (which it frequently did). The level of disassembly required to remove
>> the shaft from the switch, clean and lubricate it, was far disproportionate
>> compared with other tuners. It is nice to see that Nye Viking carried this
>> tradition forward with the MB5 VI series. What a masterpiece of design in
>> terms of making parts nearly impossible to remove for repair! Add that to
>> the fact that there were several designs for the directional coupler, only
>> one of which was documented, and you have good reason to make parts mules
>> out of some of them.
>>
>> > On Jul 18, 2016, at 8:38 AM, Al Gulseth <wb5jnc at centurytel.net> wrote:
>> >
>> > Paul,
>> >
>> > Why the need for a rotating turret? Wouldn't switching taps accomplish
>> > the same thing? Cliplead taps on the coil have been a staple of link
>> > coupled systems since the early days of ham radio, and it seems to me
>> > that one could locate the optimum taps for each band and then use relays
>> > to switch them. Doing it that way shouldn't be any more complex than a
>> > typical autotuner is.
>> >
>> > 73, Al
>> >
>> > On Mon July 18 2016 6:47:02 am Paul Christensen wrote:
>> >> ...
>> >> A remote-controlled link tuner would by my Holy Grail, but the
>> >> mechanical complexities start getting in the way of improved
>> >> efficiency.  To do it right would require separate link coils moved on a
>> >> rotating turret. ...
>> >>
>> >> Paul, W9AC
>> >>
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