Antenna tuner

[dougdoug]

I am looking for low power (300) watts antenna tuner. I want to go with the manual type as I like the simplicity and the more personal control. I think the MFJ 969, 949s, or 949e would fit the bill. Now the differences I can see are the 969 has a roller inductor. The 949s has a dummy load. The 949e is the same as the 949s minus the dummy load so I don’t see that much difference between these two. Now my question is, is the roller inductor worth the extra money? Would it really give that much more tuning ability? Prices vary from $169 to $219. Any thoughts?

 

[dougdoug]

I am looking for low power (300) watts antenna tuner. I want to go with the manual type as I like the simplicity and the more personal control. I think the MFJ 969, 949s, or 949e would fit the bill. Now the differences I can see are the 969 has a roller inductor. The 949s has a dummy load. The 949e is the same as the 949s minus the dummy load so I don’t see that much difference between these two. Now my question is, is the roller inductor worth the extra money? Would it really give that much more tuning ability? Prices vary from $169 to $219. Any thoughts?

My mistake, there is no 949s. It is a 949e or 949b. The b model is without the dummy load. Question is still, is the roller inductor in the 969 that much better?

Thanks

 

[prcguy]

I've had a few MFJ tapped inductor tuners and they live up to the name Mighty Fine Junk, especially the 941 series with the inductor arching to the case even at low power. I've had friends with MFJ roller inductor tuners and they have had problems with the roller inductor having intermittent contact and some related mechanical problems.

I've also had a bunch of tapped inductor tuners from Drake, Dentron, Johnson and others and they always seem to find a good match on all bands with the fixed inductor taps. I have a Collins 180S-1 and Palstar AT-1500CV roller inductor tuner and the Palstar is a really nice piece of equipment but its a lot more difficult and time consuming to find a match but once you make a chart of the settings its not a problem. The Collins is a real PIA to find a match but its rated as one of the lowest loss tuners ever made.

Even though a roller inductor tuner would theoretically give you more tuning options I have not found a need and would rather stick with a tapped inductor tuner for simplicity and ease of finding a match.
prcguy

 

[dougdoug]

I've had a few MFJ tapped inductor tuners and they live up to the name Mighty Fine Junk, especially the 941 series with the inductor arching to the case even at low power. I've had friends with MFJ roller inductor tuners and they have had problems with the roller inductor having intermittent contact and some related mechanical problems.

I've also had a bunch of tapped inductor tuners from Drake, Dentron, Johnson and others and they always seem to find a good match on all bands with the fixed inductor taps. I have a Collins 180S-1 and Palstar AT-1500CV roller inductor tuner and the Palstar is a really nice piece of equipment but its a lot more difficult and time consuming to find a match but once you make a chart of the settings its not a problem. The Collins is a real PIA to find a match but its rated as one of the lowest loss tuners ever made.

Even though a roller inductor tuner would theoretically give you more tuning options I have not found a need and would rather stick with a tapped inductor tuner for simplicity and ease of finding a match.
prcguy

So I can probably assume that the Vectronics tuners are about the same quality as the MFJ?

 

[prcguy]

Don't know, never had a Vectronics.
prcguy

So I can probably assume that the Vectronics tuners are about the same quality as the MFJ?

 

[LtDoc]

The simplest solution to that sort of problem is to get a tuner of 'greater capacity' than is required. If you are talking about MFJ, the how about the '989 tuner? Sure. it's more than 'required', but that just means more 'ability', sort of. That's a terrible way of thinking about it, but it generally works out to the best bet. You very seldom have 'more' tuner than required. It's real easy to have 'less' than is required. To really understand that you have to know exactly what an tuner does and that's not always simple. Oh well, there ain't no 'simple' answers.
- 'Doc

 

[WA0CBW]

Adding to what LtDoc said you might look at some of the older MFJ tuners. Their older tuners had a much better roller inductor. Their later models have a kind of flimsy hokey roller inductor. I use an older MFJ "differential T" 3K watt tuner. I bought it from and ex CB'er for $100. It is a little easier to tune than the 2 capacitor 1 inductor "T" type tuner. As Doc said get one with more capacity. The bigger box allows bigger capacitor and inductors. The larger size reduces the interaction between the components. Search back issues of QST for the proper way to tune either type of tuner. It is a little different than what MFJ suggests.
BB

 

[acyddrop]

If you're going to get an MFJ tuner get the tape inductor like prcguy suggested, the quality of the MFJ roller inductor tuners is subpar. If you want a roller inductor go with a Palstar they're quite nice tuners, I really like my AT2K, though I'm anxious to try the Palstar HF-AUTO in the near future. I can vouche for the older tapped tuners from MFJ, the one I used was a good performer and never gave me a lick of trouble. If you do find yourself considering a low cost/low power auto tuner I really love the LDG tuners, super fast and spot on tuning.

 

[w2txb]

If you get a Palstar HF-Auto, you will love it. There have been a couple of (now Kessler) AT-Auto tuners available for sale, and they get sold in a hurry because they are so goo (Don Kessler provides excellent support as well). Try either one, and you will be hooked.

 

[acyddrop]

Really looking forward to getting mine, I placed an order on DXEngineering on Thursday so it should arrive at my QTH in Mass on Monday sometime. I will move the AT2K to my QTH in Aspen at some point but I'm quite literally in a mountain valley there, I'm thinking my signal will be awful.

If you get a Palstar HF-Auto, you will love it. There have been a couple of (now Kessler) AT-Auto tuners available for sale, and they get sold in a hurry because they are so goo (Don Kessler provides excellent support as well). Try either one, and you will be hooked.

 

[SCPD]

I know you want a MFJ, but in my opinion, an LDG brand auto tuner will cost no more and be a much better tuner.

 

[prcguy]

LDG does make some good tuners but they are considered line flatterers and not intended for things like end fed wires which many manual tuners are set up for. I used to carry an LDG Z-11 and Z-11Pro on travel but not any more because on many occasions they would not find a match on a a temporary antenna I had set up to check into a scheduled net.

The LDG tuners had previously worked with the same antenna on the same frequency but the surroundings and height had changed enough on travel to be out of the tuners range. I was not happy sitting and only listening to the net that I had intended to participate in because the tuner was useless at that point.

Another problem I had with LDG was their original Z-100 tuner in a plastic case. I have some radio equipment set up next to a computer and the RF hash from the computer and monitor leaked right into the traces and relays of the unshielded LDG tuner and caused my noise floor to go from something very low to S-9 on most bands. I eventually shielded the entire inside of the tuner with copper tape and it quieted it down to almost the same noise level as with the tuner bypassed with a coax jumper. I also found the Z-100 through insertion loss on 6m was excessive.

I now carry a Dentron Jr tuner on travel which goes for about $40 used and has never failed to find a perfect match on any antenna.
prcguy

I know you want a MFJ, but in my opinion, an LDG brand auto tuner will cost no more and be a much better tuner.

 

[SouthOrRadio]

I second the motion on the Palstar AT Auto. It tunes a 250' ladder line fed dipole from 6 meters to 160 in about 30 seconds. It stores 250 memories for each antenna output, a balanced output for ladder line and a coax output. The newer version is even better, but they have a big footprint in the shack.