Yaesu: Do I Need An External Tuner?

[WRVK753]

I’ve been mostly a 2-meter and 70-centimeter user, but I’ve purchased a YAESU FTDX10 and I’m going to set it up soon in my shack. The transceiver has an internal tuner. Do I also need an external tuner?

My use will be general Pota hunting, DX, FT8. Antennas will be wire.

Mike

 

[AK9R]

Depends on your antenna.

Most internal tuners in modern radios can handle an SWR of up to 3:1 which would be an antenna impedance of 16.7 ohms to 150 ohms. If your antenna's impedance is between those values, the internal tuner should handle it.

From the owner's manual:

 

[dimab]

that depends on what kind of antennas you will put up, and how they're tuned. need a lot more info
resonant antenna, won't need a tuner or internal tuner can clean it up
non-resonant, will probably need external tuner.

 

[spongella]

As an old-time ham, internal antenna tuners are the greatest innovation that have come along.

Erect your antenna(s) first and see if the internal tuner can handle the job. You can also go to eham dot net and look at the reviews for your radio, maybe someone'll mention how well the internal tuner works.

I've used manual tuners for many years. They've become quite expensive. Their advantage is letting you know when for some unknown your antenna goes out of tune since you, the op, spin the tuning (indictance/capacitance) dials.

Enjoy your FTDX-10.