Excellent tutorial. I am recently back into ham radio after quite a while of being away. I just purchased an FT-891 with this tuner. Could not be happier. I watched reviews on this tuner and the Pro ii version. Candidly, the pro version just didn't seem as efficient as the Z-100 plus. I am primarily interested in POTA right now so I wanted something with a simple interface. This met the need hands down.
I have this set up and I have to say this is one of the best radio/tuner combo for portable operations. I can put this entire rig with an antenna, solar panel and battery all in an airline friendly backpack. Great grab and go setup and you never feel under gunned like you do with a smaller QRP rig.
Great video! I believe the Z-100Plus will make you happy. I use the earlier model LDG YT-100 for my Yaesu FT-857 to fantastic results. 85' random wire or 43' random wire using 4:1 Unun and the Wolf River Silver Bullet Mini+102" whip all operate fine. I made Saratoga, NY to Namibia (8,000 miles) from a park bench with that rig and tuner using the 43' endfed at 100W. I don't need anything more from a portable rig. 73 from N1DEL.
Thanks very much for the detailed run-through! Just a little FYI/BTW: of course the ATU is only matching the input impedance to the feedline to the ~50 Ohms at the radio's RF output. An impedance match on any band for which the antenna is NOT designed to operate will result in much-reduced power radiation, with an unpredictable pattern. Sure, you won't upset your radio....but people need to realise that impedance matching does NOT equate to tuning a piece of wire to resonate on the desired frequency and operating efficiently. Thanks again for your well-presented video! 73 from VK-land
The tuner reflects the reflected wave back up the coax to the antenna. The losses would be in the coax. Other than the coax losses all your power makes it to the antenna. How good the antenna is at the freq of operation is a different story.
New FT891 owner - can't put antennas up in my apartment so I'll be doing portable operations for a while - and I just happen to have purchased this same tuner. This tutorial is PERFECT for me! Excited to get a good antenna and go out to a local park to give it a workout. Thanks! Tom W7BHN
I know I am a dinosaur. But I prefer a manual antenna turner. I just like the experiance of fiddling with the dials to find the lowest SWR and seeing it on and actual meter. Just lights makes me suspicious.
Yeah some meters in some radios aren't very accurate but so far the one in my FT-891 seems right on the money. One advantage I have found a Auto Tuner gives is faster tune up. Running on battery power that is a plus. Its been times on a high mismatch I almost drained my bats trying to fix the problem and get tuned up. Im thinking I would be better off with a store bought resonant antenna but hate to spend the money on it. I love building my own but I spend way to much time tinkering with them and not nearly enough time on the air. lol WW5RM
Dennis I paired this with my FT-891 and it works like an LDG is expected too. From an 8 ft wire to 250 feet of wire without a hick up. I suggest you pack a 1:1 and 4:1 LDG balun in the go box for those times you need it.
I use the same tuner on the same radio, by watching i am making a use correction. The LDG tuner instructions were different and complex. Thanks for making it more simplified. 73
All this does is add extra protection against a high SWR to the finals of your transceiver. And an AA battery is 1.5V, which means eight of them in series is 12V, not 9V.
You Canadians sure are nice. You seem to spend 50% of your time making these very useful how-to videos for us ugly Americans... ...and even after enduring all those ice-choked Winters. Thanks, hoser, eh? 😃 William, k6whp dit dit
Are you manually reducing radio power before tuning? The manual says that when using the Y-ACC interface cable that pushing the TUNE button, the radio is keyed at its “current power setting.” I am concerned about transmitting 100 watts into a hi SWR while it tunes. Have you had any issues?
Your videos are great. I am considering this set up with a dipole, and I have 2 questions. Would you go with this setup again and why not pull DC from the same line that feeds your FT-891? I noticed you like the Z11 Pro II in another video.
I think he did that so he wouldn't have to splice in is my guess. Probably had the battery pack laying around. I just sliced in some crimp terminals and run off the same power.
If your set up is permanent then yes splice into the 12 volts for sure. My setup are mostly portable so I use the internal battery pack or one of the portable packs that I've made up. The Z-100 and the Z-11 are both very good tuners and I'd buy them again if I had too replace them. 73 de VE3BF
Can u get police coms on these radios? I live in England and do sub contractor work as a locksmith and I would love to be able to listen in to my local police force just to see how much work is going out and how much of that work I’m getting lol 🏴🇬🇧🏴🇬🇧🏴🇬🇧🏴🇬🇧🏴🇬🇧🏴🇮🇪👍🏼
HI, thanks for the video, 2018... now 2022.. I have an LDG KT-100, do you know if these models are all the same and the supplied interface dictates the model ie KT, YT etc.. asking if perhaps my KT-100 (looks identical to the Z100 Plus) would work on the FT 891 with appropriate cables..? currently plug and play on a Kenwood TS-50.. thank you for the videos, you have a nice calm manner that is easy to watch/listen to and casually very informative..
The KT-100 has the interface for Kenwood radios, the YT-100 was for the previous generation of Yaesu radios, neither will work with the FT-891. Thanks for your kind words. 73
Great Video Dennis! Do you lower your power to tune or tune at high power? I always lower my power to 5 watts before tuning and wonder if I am just wasting my time.
No need to change your power settings the tuner interface does that for you. When you hit the tune button the rig drops down to 5 watts, once the tuning is do the rig goes back to whatever your you had it set at.
Hi Dennis, I did the Mars Mod, That came out perfect, but when I did the factory reset, I forgot to put the Radio back to "LAMP" mode, this video helped me , so a BIG THANK YOU for this video.de ZF1PB
I made a mistake and bought the MFJ-939Y. It has irritated me no end. Half the time it just stops working or the TNR in the 891 disappears. I have to manually do the pushbutton thing everytime i change freqs for it to tune. The autotune function just wont work. YES i have checked many times the jumper settings in the tuner. They are correct and the cables are the correct cables and the setup in the 891 is set to tune. I give up.
Hi Dennis, thanks for the valuable information! Would you recommend this tuner or the Z-11ProII to pair with an FT-891? What are the relative merits of each?
I have the 100A. Different cable set-up. There is what looks like an S-video plug on the tuner end, then a different plug on the radio end, with anther 3.5 (like yours) attached. For this one, you need both plugged in on the radio for it to do things more automatically. I got there, but it took some playing. Thanks fort the help.
I have a question, how do I protect my AT (old version) LDG Z 100 with 10 watts on CW? where do I set it on the FT 891? 80 watts is probably a bit too much for tuning. Translated by Google Sorry
Thanks for the great video. Quick question: When you said you were concerned that the ground connection (your wire from LDG to back of radio) might interfere with the antenna can you explain and how would you recommend connecting the ground wire to the radio? Thanks again for this video. 73
Thanks. Your presentation is simple and very understandable. I am looking to add a tuner to my FT-891. You mention that your SWR reading on your transceiver is high. How did you determine that? Again, thanks.
any problems wiht the tuner locking up with an audio tone? i have the same set up and it all of a sudden has an audio tone and it does not stop tuning. any help will be appricated. kn4lwj
JUST got my FT-891 and LDG Z-100 - still haven't warmed it up. I'll definitely get the interface cable - or build one (I probably have some jacks somewhere). Is that a Yaesu cable or an LDG cable? Enjoy and 73!
Not sure if this was mentioned previously but you cannot transmit on 80 meters with a 20 meter antenna. All the tuner does is make the radio happy. You are NOT tuning the antenna. If you hook up an antenna analyzer that shows reflected power, you will see there is no forward power and all the power is being reflected back. Tuners are great to fine tune but there is no tuner that tunes the antenna. All they do is keep your finals from burning up.
Thanks for the video. I'm looking at using this tuner with my 891. The manual says that you should put a carrier wave on AM, FM or other during the tuning process, but I noticed you didn't. Looks like it tuned just fine without doing that?
I'm late to the game. You're quite skilled at creating good videos Dennis. Can you mount the ldg z100 in the trunk along with the FT-891 body? 891 face plate is on the dash. How to engage the tuner when the tuner is in the trunk? (The tune button would be on the tuner in the trunk.) Thanks. Tim K3JTA
Love the video, thank you so much. I was looking to get the Yaesu FC-50, but it can only do 3:1 matching (someone called it a "touch-up tuner", which sounds about right), whereas this little guy seems to be able to do more (10:1). The real selling point for me is that it can be powered by an internal 9V battery. I will do anything to avoid having to many cables and wires hanging around if i can, so this is a great option for me. Thank you for the little demo, this has helped me with my decision. 73s, 9A5ELO.
Thanks for the informative review. I think the Z-100Plus will be just right for my 891. I operate portable with a Bushcomm Highlander 8 vertical on an Alpha Delta Outpost ground-coupled tripod mount.
Nice little tuner. Considering getting one for camping. But why do you use a separate wire to connect radio's and tuner's ground since the coax' outern shield did it already?
Very good info on the Tuner and the radio I'm getting my FT-891 tomorrow. I think I can run it without looking at the manual with your great instructions on your videos. I probably get the Z-100 if I get a different antenna that needs a tuner. Sounds like the LDG Balun is a great add-on. I have the Wolf River Coils SB1000 with the mega tripod stand and an Rigexpert AA-55 Zoom to check resonance.
THANKS! Great demo! I just ordered an FT 891 and want to use a random wire or G5RV (non-resonant wire) antenna on my trips to So. Africa (family) for easy set up and take downs. I first saw this tuner on Signal Searches channel and liked the price tag when I searched it out.
You don't really need the radio interface cable, right? Just press "tune" on the tuner while transmitting in AM or CW mode once you're on whatever frequency you want to transmit on?
If you don’t use the cable then you will need to reduce your power output to 5 or 10 watts, select cw mode, key the rig for the tuning process then return to the power and mode of choice.
@@VE3BF got it. Yep my kx3 has a "tune" function for when you're using an external tuner. It puts out a carrier at low power. Does the 891 have a similar function or do you have to do this manually?
@@gabes80 No, you have to do it manually on the 891 unless of course you have a compatible tuner. with a compatible tuner and cable I simply press the tune button and le the magic happen :)
Denis -- Say I'm transmitting SSB and I've set the output to 75-watts. When you use the automatic tuner, what reduced wattage does the 891 automatically reduce to to find the best SWR? Or, does the 891 tune at the set output of (75-watts) only? Thank you.
Philip Grocki hi Philip the LDG tuner reduces the rigs output power to 5 watts for the tuning cycle the returns the rig to the preset power level once the cycle has been completed. 73
Nice video, picked up a FT-891 a few weeks back, need to grab one of these LDG’s as soon as I have the financials together. Looks like a great little setup. I use a BTV-6 with all the DXE toys, my 40mtr just does not play nice, and needs a tuner.
Thanks for the video, Dennis! I think you just sold a tuner! Nicely done with a great demonstration! I am about to buy a new FT-891 for the travel trailer and this will fill the bill as a nice companion! Subscribing as well, enjoyed listening to you!
I have all the parts to the puzzle now so I will be trying this out this afternoon. Thanks for doing this and taking the mystery out of the selection process.
I have the same setup as well, very happy with it. My tuner came with a tray already installed under the cover for double a's yours probably has it too
Was about to comment the same thing. It seems that some revisions of there smaller tuners do and others don't have the battery tray pre installed which is a little odd. Regardless I'm happy it has it, one less wire I need to carry with me for portable work.
Same for mine for anybody looking post early 2019'ish. My Z100Plus came with an internal tray as well so kudos to LDG for throwing that in there! Been running off and on HF portable over a year and still kicking strong on the internal batteries
I have the same set-up and I don't ground anything, I have found that when I do ground it interferes with my antenna, I get a ground loop going and it's not good. Just my experience but I am guessing this is not the proper way to do things but it works over in these parts. Cheers!
the Yeasu cable wired different the a standard audio cable. you can find the wiring diagram on the web and solder a cable yourself. Just remember to mark each end, one for tuner and one for radio, the cable does not work in reverse. When done correctly there is no need to drop the power for tuning or keying the mic, the tuner will do all of that automatically. 73
@@VE3BF thanks for the reply. So the Yaesu style cable is necessary, got it. Now I ask, do you think it’s better to have the alc cable than just holding the tune button and keying the mic? Is the only benifit to the cable having the power drop without going through the motions myself? Or is they another benefit. Holding the tuner button and keying AM is pretty simple.
