On Jun 19, 11:28�am, Michael Coslo wrote:
Jim Lux wrote:
Mike Coslo wrote:
wrote:

Sure, there are losses with the balun used in most tuners, but I
consider that a price to pay for a multi band antenna.

Chiming in late on this one...

Mythical attributes aside, I believe the real reason that ladder line
has become more popular is:

1. Almost all rigs are All HF band these days.

2. Many people have just one antenna they can put up at any given
time. Whether it is space considerations, �maintaining a low profile
or keeping the XYL happy I remember the discussions with my wife when
I wanted to put up the HF vertical. "Why do you need two antennas?"
"Are you going to transmit two signals at the same time?". Twasn't
easy, and a lot of Hams might lose that argument.

So assuming it is a doublet, and I wanted to run 80 to 10 meters, I'd
put up much wire as I could, not mess with coax, just run ladder line
to a window panel, then into the house, into a tuner that can handle
balanced line. And pay attention to the lengths that might make for
trouble in matching.

Or, put up as much wire as you can, put an autotuner at the feedpoint,
and run coax back to the shack.

probably a six of one, half dozen of the other, depending on what you
already have, what kind of support structures you have (if you are
putting up an inverted V, then supporting the weight of the tuner isn't
an issue..), etc.

Speaking of autotuners, �I just got my MFJ933, and have been working
with it this last week. MFJ has an interesting reputation, but I have to
say they pretty much got this one right. For $224, it is one impressive
piece of hardware/programming.

I run my window line directly to the tuner, which was a big selling
point. NOt many other auto tuners have that feature.

Construction was quite acceptable, performance has been fine so far, and
appearance good with only one exception. One of the front panel's
letters had a little rub mark on it. No biggie, just cleaned it with an
eraser.

The analog meter is a little small, but the whole unit would have to be
made bigger to put in a larger one, so that was a tradeoff. It also has
the digital readout, so I find myself looking at the analog meter for
initial reference on a frequency, then at the readout after that. It has
a lot of other features that I'm still learning.

I give the unit an A, at least on my experience so far.

� � � � - 73 de Mike N3LI- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

The MFJ-933 is a manual loop tuner according to their catalog. Which
ever one you are using sounds nice, and is worth a look, but I don't
think it is a MFJ-933.

Gary N4AST