10 meter antenna

[wpwx694]

Is tuning antenna better than using a tuner?

 

[mmckenna]

Yes.

The antenna tuner hides the mismatch from the radio.
Actually tuning the antenna will make it radiate more efficiently.

 

[wpwx694]

Thanks

 

[AC9KH]

Yes.

The antenna tuner hides the mismatch from the radio.
Actually tuning the antenna will make it radiate more efficiently.

Actually, if the antenna is resonant but has high SWR it won't make any difference. Resonance and SWR are two different things. An EFHW is resonant and radiates beautifully, but has a feedpoint impedance ~2,800 ohms.

It's pretty hard to get an acceptable match across 1.7 MHz of radio spectrum on 10 meters unless it's a low-Q antenna. I prefer to adjust an antenna for 10m to electrical resonance at the middle of your expected operating frequency range, then see what you got for SWR. If the SWR isn't right due to antenna design or the matching coil or transformer is off, and adjusting the feedline length can't "fix it", then use the tuner on it. Any "losses" at HF on 50 ohm coaxial cable is so low that it doesn't make a difference anyway.

Adjusting or "tuning" an antenna out of resonance to get a SWR match actually defeats the purpose of matching your antenna system to the radio output impedance.

 

[RU55]

Is tuning antenna better than using a tuner?

What exactly do you mean by "tuning antenna"?

An antenna "tuner" is a device that matches impedance between to devices.

Feed point impedance is the relationship between voltage and current at the feed point. If there is a mismatch, radio frequency energy will be reflected.

Tuning an antenna could mean tuning it's resonate frequency or tuning it's feed point impedance or both.

It is best to have an antenna tuned (resonant) at the desired frequency and a good impedance match to the feed line.

 

[K6GBW]

The Solarcon A99 antenna can very easily modified for use on 10m and it works very well. If you need an easy and effective base antenna it’s a good option.

 

[K9KLC]

The Solarcon A99 antenna can very easily modified for use on 10m and it works very well. If you need an easy and effective base antenna it’s a good option.

Yep that and the iMax 2000 both work great on 10 meters.