Excellent. Thank you for putting this together. Content = superb. Audio = superb. Video Quality = rather good. I learned a lot from your demonstration!
I tune the inductor till I get the loudest band noise. That gets me in a good start place for my inductor. Then tune caps. Readjust inductor and your done
First... The sound is excellent. Bery clean and and quiet, ie, no surrounding noise. That is the advantage of dynamic microphone. Nice antenna tuner. My dream antenna tuner will be the BT1500A, balanced antenna tuner. .. and it will be always in my dream, because I cannot afford it. :) Question: While tuning the antenna tuner, is the SWR on the rig, also change Thank you, Bahathir 9W2GNU, 73.? ?
Dear Bahathir, it is a beautiful tuner. I too could not justify the money if I was not able to obtain one in excellent condition second hand, which is easier in some countries than others (although not particularly easy in VK). You are correct that during tuning the SWR on the rig does change - it should roughly follow the meter on the tuner as it is wired between the output of the radio and the input of the tuning components. 73, Jarrad VK3BL :)
The authorized Icom repair guy I know, says the tuning activity is the major cause of PA failures. He states that at high SWR & power, the max voltage of the PA transistor can easily be exceeded. For many PA transistors that is around 50V. I tune first for max band noise using the inductor and then at very low Tx wattage. Then add power & retune. Good video. I have a AT2KD. One of the few ham radio pieces I will never sell. 73
Good advice for new players. Out of interest have you ever asked the repair guy what type of tuners his customers are using? I suspect that 'switched inductor' style tuners are considerably more likely to damage a final section than the continuously variable roller inductor in the Palstar lineup. At any rate, I've never had any issues tuning up with roller inductor style tuners at any power level - the radio has always throttled back and the rate of impedance change due to tuning activity is graceful compared to a wafer switch being suddenly disconnected. One could talk about tuners all day, 73, Jarrad VK3BL :)
He wasn't specific. Almost all internal ATUs in radios are stepped. He had no answer for the internal ATU. But he did say he talks to the Icom guru's everyday about the latest fixes & issues.
I dont use any of those methods. I use an MFJ Match maker that generates noise on the reciever and you just tune it until you no longer hear it. Then apply RF and you have a 1.5:1 or less. Most of the time flat. There is no reason EVER to use RF to tune an amp when using the MFJ Matchmaker.
Hi...I think you said you have owned both tuners..Which one do you honestly prefer...I'm about to buy either the at2k or the at2kd and I'd like your experienced answer having used both...Thanks... Graham...
Really like my AT-500. It was bought second hand as well. It did need a little maintenance especially on the rod. Palstar does sell the conductive grease, for a price. Great tuner! Solid.
Enjoyed your video! I'm getting back into activity in ham radio after being away for over a decade. Need to buy new equipment as my TS-440SAT is over 30 years old, but still works. Using a random length long wire antenna cut to about 60 feet so as to not be a half wavelength or multiple thereof 10 - 80 meters. It loads with the internal antenna turner on 75 and 80 and 20 meters. Needs an external antenna tuner on 10 meters. I have an old used MFJ 945 antenna tuner and it will tune it down to about 1.5 to 1.0. I it also a differential tuner, but much lower power and way less precise in tuning. Thinking about getting an IC-7300, or perhaps an FT-DX 3000 and do need a better antenna. The Paltor antenna tuners are much more expensive than the MFJ tuners, but also can handle much more power. But, doesn't an antenna tuner user just tune the transceiver to a 1.0 to 1.0 match to the antenna tuner input, but isn't there is still a mismatch from the antenna tuner to the antenna. Or does all the power now get to the antenna? Would a remote antenna tuner at the base of the antenna be better as it would also tune the antenna transmission line up to the base of the antenna. They are more expensive yet. Sorry for the long post. Thanks again, Vee W7IBB (Utah).
Dear Vee, glad to see you getting back into the hobby :). Indeed, an antenna tuner doesn't improve station efficiency, it just allows the transceiver to produce its full rated power output. So it does increase the total radiated signal, but not the percentage of power wasted as heat. That said, a remote antenna tuner located at the antenna will indeed improve efficiency - sometimes significantly - because the feed line is now also being operated at its optimal impedance. The downside to the remote antenna tuners is that generally speaking they don't handle the same power levels, and that they can only be connected to one antenna. A good shack located tuner usually comes with 3-4 output ports, and so long as you're not trying to tune up something wildly inappropriate the loss will be pretty insignificant anyway. 73, Jarrad VK3BL :)
Dear Carl, thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts - I really appreciate it. Here is to many more videos with better production! 73, Jarrad VK3BL :)
Nice video. My only operational critique would be: You should actually check the SWR on the given antenna in "DIRECT" first (particularly in a first/initial go-around) to determine just how far out of "resonance" your antenna is, then switch over to the "TUNED" position to make the actual match. I'm assuming, of course, that you already knew that the antenna you were using was high in SWR and needed matching. However, for a new user, always start with direct, to establish your baseline SWR.
Can the differential capacitor have max capacitance on both sides, or when one side is max the other is at a minimum? In a T configuration, is it not a series capacitor, followed by a shunt inductor to ground, with another series capacitor?
Excellent video man. Thanks! This is gonna really improve my use of manual tuners as I was kinda doing it wrong on my at2kd. I'm gonna look to see if you have a vid on t match tuners like this. If you dont, please make one! -Tyler.
I just happened to watch this video via my home theater TV , hooked to a hi-fi sound system. So, I can comment about the microphone …. audio is superb . The video was very instructive, thank you. I'm a little puzzled by the term "differential" in this regard , I take that term to imply some ability to differentiate between two (or more ) things. Not sure how it applies to this device.
The term differential relates to the variable capcitor. As the knob turns, capcitance is increased on one half and decreased on the other half,hence, the term. The separate 'halves' are electrically isolated but mechanically one. One side is connected to ouput and the other to input.
Dear Andrew, I understand your thoughts regarding the term 'differential' in this context; I feel in some ways is goes against the way the term is used in broader scientific and engineering usage, but I must confess I just accepted the fact that style of 'twin capacitor' as it were was labelled as such in Ham Radio circles. 73, Jarrad VK3BL :)
