I have been using MFJ tuners outside (MFJ-927) on a 43' vertical in southwest Florida for many years. The only complaint I have is that they don't get along with thunderstorms. I've probably gone through half dozen of these over the years. However, it's worth it to me because when they work, they work well. Outside in Florida sun and summer rains and salt air is probably one of the most hostile environments for any electronics. And I don't protect them in any way so I'm amazed they work as long as they do. The only mod I make is to replace the ground lug with stainless steel hardware.
When there is a threat of lightning, I ground the antenna (I have a large wing nut for that) and disconnect the tuner. If I forget, I might have to buy a new one ;) I love the idea of remote tuners - avoids the losses associated with coax and high SWR. 73, Chris On Tue, Feb 13, 2018 at 10:55 AM, Frank Stein <fst...@ieee.org> wrote: > I was thinking of a similar remote setup, wondering which remote autotuner > is recommended? > Thanks, > Frank w4tg > > On Feb 13, 2018 8:56 AM, "Chris Hallinan" <challi...@gmail.com> wrote: > >> I have a very similar setup. K3 -> KPA500 -> MFJ 994BRT 600W autotuner >> mounted remote -> Balun Designs 4:1 -> 600 Ohm open wire line to 80 m >> doublet. >> >> It works fantastic on 80-20, but will not tune better than about 2:1 on >> 17. I cannot use the KPA500 on 17 because the SWR is too high. Nothing >> I've tried works. I'm wondering if it is simply the tuning >> range/resolution of the MFJ-994BRT? I like the idea of remote mounting, >> as >> I have only a couple feet of coax between the tuner and the balun, thus >> minimizing SWR-related feedline loss. >> >> Any suggestions for how to get it to tune on 17? >> >> 73 >> Chris - K1AY >> Punta Gorda, FL >> >> >> On Mon, Feb 12, 2018 at 12:16 PM, John W2XS <jm...@optonline.net> wrote: >> >> > I replaced my Johnson Matchbox with a Balun Designs tuner balun. The >> > biggest >> > benefit is that the K3 ATU remembers the settings from band to band so >> the >> > QSY is very rapid. I love watching the DX spots come rolling through on >> my >> > N3FJP logging program and clicking on them to QSY to that frequency and >> not >> > have to tune up again. I use it on 80 through 6 meters with an 80m >> doublet >> > fed with KW ladder line (300 ohm). >> > >> > My recommendation is to keep the piece of coax from the balun to the >> rig as >> > short as possible. This is to minimize loss since that line will most >> > likely be highly mis-matched on most bands. There was a QST article not >> > that >> > long ago which detailed the losses in that situation and I was >> surprised at >> > how high they were. >> > >> > I once had an MFJ balanced RF Ammeter and made measurements of the JMB >> vs. >> > the balun and they compared favorably. DJ0IP (referenced earlier) has >> > kindly put those measurements on his website. (This is in the FWIW >> > category!) >> > >> > I have not tried to substitute the tuner balun with another type but >> that >> > might be a future experiment. >> > >> > 73, John W2XS >> > >> > >> > >> > -- >> > Sent from: http://elecraft.365791.n2.nabble.com/ >> > ______________________________________________________________ >> > Elecraft mailing list >> > Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft >> > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm >> > Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net >> > >> > This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net >> > Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html >> > Message delivered to challi...@gmail.com >> > >> >> >> >> -- >> Life is like Linux - it never stands still. >> ______________________________________________________________ >> Elecraft mailing list >> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft >> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm >> Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net >> >> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net >> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html >> Message delivered to fst...@ieee.org >> > -- Life is like Linux - it never stands still. ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
