Thanks Steve, think I will do some messing with the dipole and 
raise it a few feet and also check out the vertical again.  
Thanks, Jim WA6EKS


 ----- Original Message -----
From: Steve Forst <[log in to unmask]
To: [log in to unmask]
Date sent: Fri, 28 Aug 2015 22:04:04 -0400
Subject: Re: Question about accessible antenna tuners

The 998 is $600.    The Palstar may be much better, but is 3 
times the
price.   The 998 is rated  at legal limit.  I've put a KW to it 
with no
problems in 7 years.

It's as blind usable as any other piece of gear that doesn't 
talk, and
easier to use than a lot of other gear, especially with the 
interface to
the radio.

I would love to have antennas that are resonant on all bands and 
all
portions of  all bands, but  I'm not that lucky, so I use a 
tuner.

I have a solid state amp in the shack, and like yours, it is very
sensitive to  high swr.

If you only operate on a few bands, and your antennas are good at 
the
parts of the band you use, save your money.  If you need an 
external
tuner, this one should suit your needs.   Just hope you don't get 
one
that was built on a Monday, or during Mardi Gras.

73, Steve KW3A


On 8/28/2015 9:40 PM, Jim Gammon wrote:
 So how much are these MFJ critters and you really find that 
blind
 folks can use them? I'm still on the fence about getting or or
 not.  I mean if your amp and rig are happy feeding into a tuner
 that feeds into a relatively non-resonant antenna, then what's
 the point? I think the focus should be to get your antenna's
 resonant where you want them to be right? Jim WA6EKS

   ----- Original Message -----
 From: Steve Forst <[log in to unmask]
 To: [log in to unmask]
 Date sent: Fri, 28 Aug 2015 21:36:56 -0400
 Subject: Re: Question about accessible antenna tuners

 This thread was from  a week or so ago, and I gave some bad info
 I want
 to correct.

 For Tom and anyone else using or thinking of the MFJ-998 auto
 tuner.

 It turns out the mode button is only for getting into the setup
 menus.

 To change between auto and semi-auto modes:  Press both the 
"ant"
 and
 "tune" buttons at the same time.  Ant is top row leftmost, and
 tune is
 top row rightmost buttons.

 Single beep for auto mode and 2 beeps for semi-auto.

 I don't use this setting very often, and don't know where I got
 the bum
 info from.     It seems that using the word  "mode" to refer to
 both the
 menus, and also to refer to the types of tuner operation is a 
bit
 much.

 Sorry for the bad info.  Hope nobody  smoked any gear.

 73, Steve KW3A