Marvin Rosen wrote:

I'm considering the purchase of an Icom-
AH-4 auto tuner. I am planning to use it
with a 100 watt output rig. My questions
are as follows:

1. I suspect because of the numerous
components within the tuner there is
more to go wrong than a manual tuner?

True! But unlikely. Reliability is a function of design, stress and
derating. A poorly designed manual tuner will fail just as easily as a
poorly design auto tuner.

2. The only advantage of an auto tuner
is convenience?

The AH-4 mounts at the antenna, not in the shack, and provides a matched
line from the antenna to the shack.

Speed. My AH-4 will tune any band in under 2 seconds. In my base station
I may need 10 to 20 seconds to adjust my 2KW manual tuner.

With my IC706MKIIg setup I just key the mike when I change bands and it
tunes autoamtically!!

3. Distant lightning, snow & heavy wind can
cause static which may ruin the tuner?

Are you kidding?? The AH-4 is 100% weather sealed. The output circuits
are rugged [100 watts at high VSWR/high load impedance can produce
significant rf voltage at the connector.


Any worthwhile comments would be appreciated.