How much did these Palstars go for?  I remember my tuner in my 440, it 
was actually motor driven, not like all the relay driven stuff you see 
these days.  I think my 690 was the same, not so with the 2000.
73
Butch Bussen
wa0vjr
open Node 3148
Las Vegas


On Fri, 17 
Sep 2010, Steve Dresser wrote:

> Steve,
>
> Interesting.  You've given me more info than I had, and maybe even a third
> option:  Somebody somewhere may be looking to get rid of the Palstar for
> less than the original price.  I like the idea of the motor-driven roller
> inductors.
>
> Steve
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Steve Forst" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Friday, September 17, 2010 11:10
> 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
>>>>
>>
>
>