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 Which ATU? advice required please...... 
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Post Which ATU? advice required please......
Hi guys and gals,

I am not sure which way to go, I want to start using my FT817nd portable with an EFHW with 9:1 balun multi band 40m-6m and tuner, I have advertised for an auto tuner on these fine boards the LDG Z817 but it seems hard to find other than buying new which I may have to do if you advise it's the better one :good:

I am open to advice on any tuner that would work well with that radio but needs to be similar in size certainly not bigger and light, so start yelling out. I don't really want to take more than one wire antenna and not interested in the Atas or buddi pole type.

I would prefer an auto tuner but would listen to easy to use manual tuner, this all needs to be quite light due to disability with limited mobility and loss of strength. So if you use or have used the 817 which tuner do you prefer?

If this is in the wrong section please excuse me and either delete or move whichever you think is best :beg:

73's, Wayne.

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Sat Oct 28, 2017 1:32 am
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 Which ATU? advice required please...... 
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Post Re: Which ATU? advice required please......
You can buy a kit on ebay usually that is under £10, they work well.

There are lots of ideas to build if you want to build one, and ready built Emtech ones come up quite often.

The LDG tuners are superb and easy to use. Surprised you are not able to buy one.
They are available new on ebay for around £140 (they have come down a lot it seems), but don't expect to get one for a lot less second hand, the usual price seems to be around £120, and £100 would be very good.

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Sat Oct 28, 2017 4:30 am
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 Which ATU? advice required please...... 
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Post Re: Which ATU? advice required please......
Well a quick scan of eBay throws up more manual tuners than I could count. Any one of which would do. As Steve says though, a kit build would be fun for.you I'm sure.

You say you don't want to carry more than one wire but are willing to carry an ldg auto tuner. Franklly, three or four sota halfwave and Pico tuners would weigh less. As would one sota multibamd dipole.

Hth

D

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Sat Oct 28, 2017 5:07 am
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 Which ATU? advice required please...... 
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G4YVM wrote:
Well a quick scan of eBay throws up more manual tuners than I could count. Any one of which would do. As Steve says though, a kit build would be fun for.you I'm sure.

You say you don't want to carry more than one wire but are willing to carry an ldg auto tuner. Franklly, three or four sota halfwave and Pico tuners would weigh less. As would one sota multibamd dipole.

Hth

D

The EFHW I have can do 80 through 6m using my LDG IT100 with my Icom ic7000 and I was thinking a qrp tuner would be lighter than an extra 6 or 7 wires to get the same amount of bands, I don't want to be out and only have access to 2 or 3 bands if it's a quiet time then I can switch around all the bands for possible QSO. The LDG Z817 only weighs 9.3 ounces not sure what 4 aa batteries would add.

Thanks for advice so far.

73's

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Sat Oct 28, 2017 12:05 pm
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 Which ATU? advice required please...... 
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You sound like an American, measuring the last half ounce of this and that. Are you so adventurous that the last half ounce really matters? I wonder how well your random wire performs on 6m?? Its not really an end fed half wave is it...by definition it cannot be (not on all bands anyway). A good dipole / doublet would be as good if not better than your random wire, and genuine half waves better still. A few coils of wire and pico tuners or pico baluns would weigh mere grammes / ounces. I know, Ive carried them far and wide.

6m on an hf wire...not sure about that. Havent really tried it but I have a deep suspicion it's snake oil from random wire sellers.

In my experience you do only need two or three bands for good /p work. I used to carry only 80, 40 and sometimes 20m gear and by are large the ONLY band that I needed EVER was 40m. 20m end fed / dipole / verticals can be good fun mind you.

However, 66ft of wire and a simple tuner will do all you want I am sure.

D

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Sat Oct 28, 2017 1:38 pm
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 Which ATU? advice required please...... 
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G4YVM wrote:
You sound like an American, measuring the last half ounce of this and that. Are you so adventurous that the last half ounce really matters? I wonder how well your random wire performs on 6m?? Its not really an end fed half wave is it...by definition it cannot be (not on all bands anyway). A good dipole / doublet would be as good if not better than your random wire, and genuine half waves better still. A few coils of wire and pico tuners or pico baluns would weigh mere grammes / ounces. I know, Ive carried them far and wide.

6m on an hf wire...not sure about that. Havent really tried it but I have a deep suspicion it's snake oil from random wire sellers.

In my experience you do only need two or three bands for good /p work. I used to carry only 80, 40 and sometimes 20m gear and by are large the ONLY band that I needed EVER was 40m. 20m end fed / dipole / verticals can be good fun mind you.

However, 66ft of wire and a simple tuner will do all you want I am sure.

D


I have just purchased 2 of those Sotabeam Pico tuners to try with a 40m and 20m wire and I'll see how they work out, I bought them with the enclosures they looked quite neat and tidy £24 and odd pence, I want to keep to end fed wire because I have seen how some use a catapult to fire one end into a tree and the tuner end fixed to my 10m light weight portable pole.

I do have to keep it all as light and compact as I can, my mind wants to be able to do it but the body won't let me :shock:

73's

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Sat Oct 28, 2017 4:41 pm
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Just a thought on the ldg 817 tuners, I have two, one with the plastic case ans one the square metal case.
The plastic one is better in many ways than the metal one for portable use.


I made a light but strong end fed, weighs very little

I put the feed point at the bottom of a 30' pole, and then secure the other end as high as possible, Works well

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Sat Oct 28, 2017 5:29 pm
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 Which ATU? advice required please...... 
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Sangoma wrote:
Just a thought on the ldg 817 tuners, I have two, one with the plastic case ans one the square metal case.
The plastic one is better in many ways than the metal one for portable use.


I made a light but strong end fed, weighs very little

I put the feed point at the bottom of a 30' pole, and then secure the other end as high as possible, Works well


Thanks for info I have decided to go for the Z 817 on your referral they are £129.00 plus p+p from one of the radio shops online, the square shaped tuner is the LDG Z 817H up to 75w I think and the plastic cased one is the 10 or 20w max with lots more memory locations.

I was leaning towards that one and just needed the one push I think :good:

Thanks for all the good advice guys a credit to these fine boards.....

73's Wayne,
2e0wnm.

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Sat Oct 28, 2017 6:26 pm
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 Which ATU? advice required please...... 
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Post Re: Which ATU? advice required please......
Sangoma wrote:
Just a thought on the ldg 817 tuners, I have two, one with the plastic case ans one the square metal case.
The plastic one is better in many ways than the metal one for portable use.


I made a light but strong end fed, weighs very little

I put the feed point at the bottom of a 30' pole, and then secure the other end as high as possible, Works well


I bought the LDG Z 817 the model you suggested and should be here next week, can't wait to try it all out next weekend. I have also built the pico tuners for 40m and 20m and will keep them in the kit just in case they are needed. Thank you for all the advice given.

73's Wayne.....

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Fri Nov 03, 2017 1:21 pm
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Post Re: Which ATU? advice required please......
Bin the balun and use one of the portable battery powered SGC antenna couplers. Couple of counterpoise wires, a fishing pole with a bit of wire up it and you're good to go.

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Sun Nov 05, 2017 1:24 pm
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 Which ATU? advice required please...... 
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M0GVZ wrote:
Bin the balun and use one of the portable battery powered SGC antenna couplers. Couple of counterpoise wires, a fishing pole with a bit of wire up it and you're good to go.

They do have a decent write up from the 2 or 3 adverts I have seen but I went with the LDG Z 817 for my long wire with 9:1 UNUN and I have a wire dipole, I then have the two Pico tuners that I have set for 40m and 20m just need to get some new wire for those as the wire I have is a bit too big for them. I also found my MINI DIPOLE. 40 mtr from Sandpiper that I have never used.

I intend to get some type of bag or case that this will all fit in and fix it to my scooter then the weight won't be a problem lol, I wonder if the mini dipole will fit to my scooter some how so I can go up and down the beach front now that will be worthy of a youtube video :yahoo: :unsure:

73's Wayne......

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Sun Nov 05, 2017 6:58 pm
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