On Fri, 27 Apr 2007 08:12:26 -0400, Bob D. wrote:

Can the Barker & Williamson's BWD-90 really be used without an antenna
tuner?

Good afternoon, Bob.

I agree with Chuck and Cecil. The B&Ws are radiating dummy loads, nothing
more.

One time, I was on a 75-meter net with another station about 15 miles from
me, and several other stations elsewhere in the state, as far as 150 miles
away. The other station (the one 15 miles away) was running 100 watts and
a B&W at 25 feet. I was running a grand total of FIVE (5) watts and a cut
dipole at 20 feet. My 5 watts was reported as stronger than the other
station's 100 watts.

I read another report in this newsgroup from another amateur who said
pretty much the same thing except in his case it was a MARS net, I think,
somewhere above the top end of 75 meters.

For the price of a B&W, or perhaps just a bit more, you can buy
the materials to make an 80-meter dipole fed with ladder line, and an
autotuner e.g. from LDG that will let you run that antenna on 80 through
10.

That's what I would recommend if you want easy and relatively inexpensive
multiband operation.