My favorite tuners are the ones I made. They always work as designed, can be easily modified, and tech support is 24/7.
I built an interface box that goes between the IC-705 and the T1 Tuner. It makes tuning a whole lot easier. Curt WU3U
Nice job. I am sure there's a market for the interface. I hope you market it soon. I personally use only resonant antennas but there are times a tuner is needed. Seems some people think you must only use a matched resonant antenna for it to be efficient. What about an 80 meter doublet, fed with parallel feeders, terminated into a 4 to 1 balun and used on numerous bands? That is a very efficient multi band antenna. Try using it without a tuner. Barry, KU3X/QRP
I rely on it. Exclusively. I select my operating locations where there are ample trees with enough height to do the job. Inverted Vee hung from a single tree at a campsite fed with 600-ohm open feeder line to a small Johnson Matchbox tuner inside the tent. High efficiency with low system loss, and the ability to instantly change bands in the rain and never get wet. Resonant antennas? Not for me. Paul, W9AC
This was just a "can I do it experiment" - the doublet I was using isn't practical at all, but it was fun to build and operate. I have more simple/more resonant antennas for portable work.
Well its all about resonance and always has been. It's not difficult but if you like carrying more stuff then please do. Like I said its not something you should rely on and if your in the weeds with limited equipment and the tuner fails what then? You will be in the rain cutting to tune anyways or you go home. If your stuck and have little experience doing that then that tuner won't add up to much.
True if we're discussing resonance of the the complete antenna system including the line together with the radiator. We do not require that the radiator alone is resonant to achieve excellent efficiency. A tuner placed at the input end of a low loss transmission line is capable of achieving the complete resonance function with high radiation efficiency. During relatively low power portable operation I don't see the tuner being any more vulnerable to failure than any other piece of gear. I use several tuners with the 250W version of the Johnson Matchbox being my favorite unless hiking to get to where I need. Then a much smaller unit is used with an output balun. Paul, W9AC
Were Rich Measures, ex-AG6K, alive today, he'd suggest you stick that balun on the rig end of the tuner: http://www.somis.org/bbat.html
W8JI offers a comprehensive analysis of why a balun placed at the input typically adds no benefit and is often detrimental. See his conclusion in the link below. However, there's a benefit to placing a balun on the input of a tuner under two conditions, both of which require a perfectly symmetrical network (e.g., no benefit when using a balun on the input of the common "T," "L," or "Pi" tuners). Antenna Tuner Baluns (w8ji.com) Paul, W9AC
Thanks for responding. I am a new HAM and so I probably need more detail than most. Do you have a video on your portable doublet? Or any details you can share? I ask because I created a 50' doublet which was a complete failure.
Great tuner, I built mine in December. Unfortunately, when posting anything on YT or FB, there is always a huge rush of people very keen to tell you that it's too expensive, resonant antennas are the best, it's too heavy, it introduces losses, Icom make a better one, blah blah. Well done you - yes it does work well with my KX2 and 705, top tuner! cheers de GW4OKT. PS. Don't forget to breathe....in the meantime, I'll just run for cover!
Now wait a minute. You forgot that it's the wrong color. My ham club of fellow old farts likes a different brand and I want to fit in. And no one will listen to me, so if I want to feel better about myself I have to be negative towards others. Much better to belittle people rather than have a pleasant educational exchange. And the bands are going to be too crowded soon, so lets try to run off anyone who is enthusiastic about the hobby. And I know everything, so a little bowing and scraping is in order... %^{
A resonant antenna is great if you can afford it. I'm not talking about the wire I'm talking about the real estate to set it up on. If you lived in a multistory apartment building you would soon learn of the golden edge that a good antenna tuner can give.
