I have had my ticket since 1979, but have not had a shack set up
for several years, I am going to set up a new shack in a couple
of months and want to replace my old KW107 supermatch with
an auto tuner (well, I will probably move the 107 over to the
standby shelf )
Anybody care to share experiences with various units?
(I have been away from the game for a while and am just
beginning to research equipment - so not yet up to speed
on whats available.
Rig will most likely be an Icom 756 pro III - with my old 820S
sitting beside it - probably use a dipole or G5RV)
In my truck I use an Ah4 with Ic706mkiig. Works good.
__________________
Pat
73 de W6PEA
"No-Code Extra and proud of it!"
ARRL Member /ARRL VE
"When all else fails....Amatuer Radio"
Semper Fi....."Here's Looking at You Kid"
Calling an illegal alien an "undocumented immigrant" is like calling a drug dealer an "unlicensed pharmacist"
I just got an MFJ-998 auto tuner. I've used various manual tuners for the past 39 years and this is my first auto tuner. It works very well. It's expensive but has a ton of features; e.g. built-in watt meter, digital readout in addition to an analog meter, rig interface so the tune button on the radio controls the tuner and an amp bypass mode.
I use the tuner with my Icom Pro3 and Ameritron ALS-600S solid-state amp. It makes for instant, no-tune QSY all over 160, 80, 40 and 30 meters -- the bands I operate with my horizontal loop antenna.
I won't get rid of my trusty 25-year-old MFJ-962 kW manual tuner but for now the auto tuner is king of the shelf, so to speak. I had just about decided to buy the MFJ-994B 600-watt auto tuner but it doesn't have an amp bypass feature which is wonderful! But the 994B sells for much less $$$. But I found a used 998 for a good price and so I made the purchase. No regrets at all.
BTW, the fit and finish on the MFJ-998 is excellent. I like it.
I have the baby version of the above, a MFJ-993B, has foward and reverse watt/SWR meter, and a digital meter with cap and inductance values, frequency counter, fwd and reverse power and SWR. The meter is peak reading, has a built in balun for ladder line, and two antenna inputs.
Has a few zillion memorys for tuner settings for up to 4 antennas I think, once you tune at a certain frequency then go back to it later, as soon as you transmit the tuner goes "CLUNK" and your tuned instantly. I used to have to spend time fiddling around tuning when jumping bands, no longer... I switch bands, and in split second I am tuned.
I think many of the auto tuners out there do that these days. Anyway, the two meters on the MFJ come in handy, I like seeing actual numbers for my SWR and power, never thought that would be a big deal to me till I started using it. It cost around 230 dollars from R&L I think. One of the few MFJ tuners that eham reviewers like.
I have the MFJ 993-B tuner as well, and must say it works just fine..
True to the MFJ name the lightbulb for the analog power/swr meter burned out in 2 days, as did it with my friends tuner.
Replaced it with an better one, added an resistor wich will add in keeping it burning an lot longer.
The Icom tuner is highly popular for several reasons. #I like it because it addresses the mismatch problem out between the antenna and feed line, not in the shack. #Find out more about it and other Icom tuners by joining the Yahoo! IcomTuner Group.
For all of my portable work with an 857d and just running 100 watts, I use an LDG AT-200PRO. I love it. It's simple to use and generally gives me a 1:1 on everything from a G5RV, Hamsticks, Buddiepoles etc...
I plan on testing it on a random wire here in the near future. But... when I finally get around to buying that Tokyo Hi-power that pushes a kw, it's going to be a "Palstar" all the way.
We appreciate your support.
) 
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