The LDG tuners you can get an interface for and have for a long time, so you
can hook it to the radio and use the tune button and it will drop the power
and all.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Steve Forst" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Friday, September 17, 2010 11:10 AM
Subject: Re: auto antenna tuner
> Steve,
>
> Well I did take a deep breath before ordering. While I have never had
> a lot of MFJ stuff, the stuff I've had over the years has all worked
> fine. I know others haven't been so lucky, but I've had this one over
> 2 years with no problems.
>
> I can't compare to the LDG since I've never owned one. At the time of
> purchase I did compare the specs for both. The LDG had 6 meter
> coverage, but I work very little 6M and no amp, so no big deal. The
> MFJ offered higher power (1.5K vs. 1K) as well as the ability to
> automatically lower rf drive and change to cw for tuning, while the LDG
> required you to do all that manually. The MFJ also had the amp relay
> connections. Of course LDG may have something out today with more
> features.
>
> Truth is, I've switched the MFJ and the Palstar manual tuner in and out
> of the system a number of times over the past 2 years. Each has it's
> benefits. I would have loved a Palstar auto tuner, but too rich for
> me. The Palstar auto had a motor driven roller inductor and either 1
> or 2 moter driven caps. It just went out of production, but a new one
> is coming soon, although I've not seen any specs on it.
>
> 73, Steve KW3A
>
> On 9/17/2010 10:25 AM, Steve Dresser wrote:
>> Steve,
>>
>> How do you think your MFJ auto-tuner stacks up against LDG's AT-1000?
>> I'm
>> sure the MFJ is cheaper, but based on things I've heard about other MFJ
>> tuners, I wonder how reliable the internal components are.
>>
>> Steve
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Steve Forst"<[log in to unmask]>
>> To:<[log in to unmask]>
>> Sent: Friday, September 17, 2010 10:05
>> Subject: Re: auto antenna tuner
>>
>>
>>> Butch,
>>>
>>> I have a MFJ-998 in the shack. I'd give it a 4 out of 5 rating. It
>>> will handle 1500 watts, which is more then my AL-80B or THP solid state
>>> amp will put out. The problem I think you will find with auto tuners
>>> including the ones built into the radio is limited matching range due to
>>> the fixed values of L and C. You won't be able to load your
>>> grandmother's walker on 40 meters.
>>> It has a ton of memories and up and down L and C buttons so you can find
>>> a match manually if the auto function can't. An optional 20$ cable
>>> will interface to many rigs, and when connected this way hitting the
>>> auto tune button on the rig bypasses the internal tuner, puts the rig
>>> into cw mode at low power for the tune process, then returns to
>>> original mode and power when tuning is complete. If the amp relay
>>> jacks on the tuner are connected between the amp and radio, the amp
>>> will be bypassed during tune up. This relay is also supposed to
>>> prevent the amp from keying in the event of a high swr, but I can't say
>>> that I've really tested this function fully.
>>>
>>> There are some menus for which sighted help would be needed, but they
>>> are the set it and forget it type of stuff. Things like swr point at
>>> which it should start looking for a better match, and swr point for the
>>> amp relay to bypass the amp.
>>>
>>> 73, Steve KW3A
>>>
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