[TowerTalk] Antenna Tuners

[Hawkins, Bill]

Hi Yall
A recent posting reminded me that I have had a question for
a long time which I have never asked. So here it is.
Suppose I put up an antenna, generally the best I can afford.
I feed it the best way I know how. 
I hook it to my antenna tuner to which I hook my rig (oldtimers
talk for transceiver).
I tune the tuner so the rig shows a perfect match and happily talk away.

Here's the question.
Unless (a BIG unless) the feedline is a perfect match for the 
antenna, ain't I just fooling the rig and matching it to the feedline
while the feedline is still probably mismatched to the antenna
and bouncing reflected power all around?

Another question.
Unless everything is properly matched (a BIG unless),
Shouldn't the antenna tuner be at the antenna and the 
feedline tuner be at the rig?

Any words of wisdom?

Thanks
Bill W5EC


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