[TowerTalk] Maxcom Matcher info needed

Chris R. Burger crb@nanoteq.com
Tue, 26 Aug 1997 15:40:25 +200


K5ED wrote:

> I picked up a Maxcom High Speed Antenna Matcher (per label)...
> Anybody know anything about this unit?
There were some anonymous mentions of this device on this Reflector 
recently.

It's a dummy load.  You connect wires to it, and those wires end up 
in parallel with the loading resistor.  You end up with a reasonable 
match, but poor efficiency.

There was an expose' about these units in QST in the early eighties.  
There were even some X-ray photographs, showing that scrap PC boards 
had been moulded into the casing to make the unit appear a lot more 
complex than it really is.

Advertising at the time claimed that they'd sold large quantities to 
the US Government (including the Navy, as I remember).  

If you have a solid state radio and you ragchew on 40 during the day, 
this is your unit.  If you want to work DX, get a real antenna.

Chris R. Burger
ZS6EZ


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