Antenna Tuner
 

What antenna tuner (possibly with amp) for under...say a hundred bucks
do you folks like.
This would be for general coverage and DXing.

Thanks.

Antenna Tuner
 

On 7 Apr 2006 12:58:01 -0700, "coustanis" wrote:

What antenna tuner (possibly with amp) for under...say a hundred bucks
do you folks like.
This would be for general coverage and DXing.

Thanks.

http://www.mfjenterprises.com/produc...odid=MFJ-1020C

(Not a tuner, but a preselector, which is much better.)

Antenna Tuner
 

David wrote:
On 7 Apr 2006 12:58:01 -0700, "coustanis" wrote:

What antenna tuner (possibly with amp) for under...say a hundred bucks
do you folks like.
This would be for general coverage and DXing.

Thanks.

http://www.mfjenterprises.com/produc...odid=MFJ-1020C

(Not a tuner, but a preselector, which is much better.)

There's also the 1045C which is not designed as an active antenna.

http://www.mfjenterprises.com/produc...odid=MFJ-1045C

According to one of the techs I talked to at MFJ, this unit is to be
preferred over the 1020C, if your main concern is preselection. Of
course, it comes with no whip antenna. Runs off of a 9V battery as
well as from a wall wart (just like the 1020C). The description says
the 1045C accomodates 2 antennae and 2 receivers: not true; it's for
one antenna and one receiver, although it does have both a UHF and an
RCA connector for your antenna connection and the same for connection
to your receiver.

junius

Antenna Tuner
 

junius wrote:
David wrote:
On 7 Apr 2006 12:58:01 -0700, "coustanis" wrote:

What antenna tuner (possibly with amp) for under...say a hundred bucks
do you folks like.
This would be for general coverage and DXing.

Thanks.

http://www.mfjenterprises.com/produc...odid=MFJ-1020C

(Not a tuner, but a preselector, which is much better.)

There's also the 1045C which is not designed as an active antenna.

http://www.mfjenterprises.com/produc...odid=MFJ-1045C

According to one of the techs I talked to at MFJ, this unit is to be
preferred over the 1020C, if your main concern is preselection. Of
course, it comes with no whip antenna. Runs off of a 9V battery as
well as from a wall wart (just like the 1020C). The description says
the 1045C accomodates 2 antennae and 2 receivers: not true; it's for
one antenna and one receiver, although it does have both a UHF and an
RCA connector for your antenna connection and the same for connection
to your receiver.

junius

Although I will google this, I'll continue the thread by asking;
What's the difference between a tuner and a preslector?

Antenna Tuner
 

See Telamon's explanation at the link below:

http://groups.google.com/group/rec.r...ab82bf7784f6df


coustanis wrote:
junius wrote:
David wrote:
On 7 Apr 2006 12:58:01 -0700, "coustanis" wrote:

What antenna tuner (possibly with amp) for under...say a hundred bucks
do you folks like.
This would be for general coverage and DXing.

Thanks.

http://www.mfjenterprises.com/produc...odid=MFJ-1020C

(Not a tuner, but a preselector, which is much better.)

There's also the 1045C which is not designed as an active antenna.

http://www.mfjenterprises.com/produc...odid=MFJ-1045C

According to one of the techs I talked to at MFJ, this unit is to be
preferred over the 1020C, if your main concern is preselection. Of
course, it comes with no whip antenna. Runs off of a 9V battery as
well as from a wall wart (just like the 1020C). The description says
the 1045C accomodates 2 antennae and 2 receivers: not true; it's for
one antenna and one receiver, although it does have both a UHF and an
RCA connector for your antenna connection and the same for connection
to your receiver.

junius

Although I will google this, I'll continue the thread by asking;
What's the difference between a tuner and a preslector?

Antenna Tuner
 

John S. wrote:
coustanis wrote:
junius wrote:
David wrote:
On 7 Apr 2006 12:58:01 -0700, "coustanis" wrote:

What antenna tuner (possibly with amp) for under...say a hundred bucks
do you folks like.
This would be for general coverage and DXing.

Thanks.

http://www.mfjenterprises.com/produc...odid=MFJ-1020C

(Not a tuner, but a preselector, which is much better.)

There's also the 1045C which is not designed as an active antenna.

http://www.mfjenterprises.com/produc...odid=MFJ-1045C

According to one of the techs I talked to at MFJ, this unit is to be
preferred over the 1020C, if your main concern is preselection. Of
course, it comes with no whip antenna. Runs off of a 9V battery as
well as from a wall wart (just like the 1020C). The description says
the 1045C accomodates 2 antennae and 2 receivers: not true; it's for
one antenna and one receiver, although it does have both a UHF and an
RCA connector for your antenna connection and the same for connection
to your receiver.

junius

Although I will google this, I'll continue the thread by asking;
What's the difference between a tuner and a preslector?

What kind of radio and antenna are you using. Unless you are using
something really old I don't think a preselector or an antenna tuner
will do you much good at all. They will end up being another set of
knobs to twiddle and twist. You will find the tuner in particular will
raise the signal level, but it will raise everything and no new signals
will magically appear from the ether.

An R-1000 with an indoor random longwire. Eventually I'll set up an
outdoor dipole
or something similar.

Antenna Tuner
 

If you buy an MFJ,dont forget what they say,,,, Be sure to tighten up
the nuts and bolts and screws.
cuhulin

Antenna Tuner
 

Antenna Tuner
 

blitz wrote:

I've got two hi-fi tuners that overload on the outdoor long-wire (on
AM, of course). Is there a way to tune, preselect, detune, balun,
resist, or whatever the antenna so I can use it?

It depends on what's overloading the receiver. Are you located close to
a strong AM station? In general, a passive pre-selector should help but
you might need just a frequency 'trap' to reduce the strength of the
offending station. Are you using coax for the antenna lead-in or just a
single wire?

Antenna Tuner
 

On Fri, 07 Apr 2006 23:34:37 -0400, blitz @. wrote:

HFguy writes...

blitz wrote:

I've got two hi-fi tuners that overload on the outdoor long-wire (on
AM, of course). Is there a way to tune, preselect, detune, balun,
resist, or whatever the antenna so I can use it?

It depends on what's overloading the receiver. Are you located close to
a strong AM station? In general, a passive pre-selector should help but
you might need just a frequency 'trap' to reduce the strength of the
offending station. Are you using coax for the antenna lead-in or just a
single wire?

Yeah, I'm close to some 'strong' AM stations. Strong in signal
strength, at least. The worst only runs ~350 watts at night, but there
are several that intrude at points on the dial, w/the outside antenna.

I'm using coax from the tuners, about a hundred feet out to the
antenna, grounded at the house and the outside connection point with
buried 8' copper rods. The grounding kills most of the noise- it's
very quiet on the Yamaha T-1 (could stand a little more signal,
actually). But the Yamaha TX-950 and the Onkyo T-4711 get station
harmonics like crazy.
HiFi AM tuners suck.

Antenna Tuner
 

blitz wrote:
John S. writes...
coustanis wrote:

Although I will google this, I'll continue the thread by asking;
What's the difference between a tuner and a preslector?

What kind of radio and antenna are you using. Unless you are using
something really old I don't think a preselector or an antenna tuner
will do you much good at all. They will end up being another set of
knobs to twiddle and twist. You will find the tuner in particular will
raise the signal level, but it will raise everything and no new signals
will magically appear from the ether.

I've got two hi-fi tuners that overload on the outdoor long-wire (on
AM, of course). Is there a way to tune, preselect, detune, balun,
resist, or whatever the antenna so I can use it?

The simplest solution is to reduce the signal strength. cut back on
the gain control or switch in the attenuator if your radio has one.

Antenna Tuner
 

coustanis wrote:
John S. wrote:
coustanis wrote:
junius wrote:
David wrote:
On 7 Apr 2006 12:58:01 -0700, "coustanis" wrote:

What antenna tuner (possibly with amp) for under...say a hundred bucks
do you folks like.
This would be for general coverage and DXing.

Thanks.

http://www.mfjenterprises.com/produc...odid=MFJ-1020C

(Not a tuner, but a preselector, which is much better.)

There's also the 1045C which is not designed as an active antenna.

http://www.mfjenterprises.com/produc...odid=MFJ-1045C

According to one of the techs I talked to at MFJ, this unit is to be
preferred over the 1020C, if your main concern is preselection. Of
course, it comes with no whip antenna. Runs off of a 9V battery as
well as from a wall wart (just like the 1020C). The description says
the 1045C accomodates 2 antennae and 2 receivers: not true; it's for
one antenna and one receiver, although it does have both a UHF and an
RCA connector for your antenna connection and the same for connection
to your receiver.

junius

Although I will google this, I'll continue the thread by asking;
What's the difference between a tuner and a preslector?

What kind of radio and antenna are you using. Unless you are using
something really old I don't think a preselector or an antenna tuner
will do you much good at all. They will end up being another set of
knobs to twiddle and twist. You will find the tuner in particular will
raise the signal level, but it will raise everything and no new signals
will magically appear from the ether.

An R-1000 with an indoor random longwire. Eventually I'll set up an
outdoor dipole
or something similar.

Unless you are experiencing problems I would not look for a solution.
An R1000 will do just fine on a simple longwire. believe the radio
has an attenuator and an rf gain, and both can be used to minimize
strong signal effects.

Congrats on owning a classic.

Antenna Tuner
 

John S. wrote:
coustanis wrote:
John S. wrote:
coustanis wrote:
junius wrote:
David wrote:
On 7 Apr 2006 12:58:01 -0700, "coustanis" wrote:

What antenna tuner (possibly with amp) for under...say a hundred bucks
do you folks like.
This would be for general coverage and DXing.

Thanks.

http://www.mfjenterprises.com/produc...odid=MFJ-1020C

(Not a tuner, but a preselector, which is much better.)

There's also the 1045C which is not designed as an active antenna.

http://www.mfjenterprises.com/produc...odid=MFJ-1045C

According to one of the techs I talked to at MFJ, this unit is to be
preferred over the 1020C, if your main concern is preselection. Of
course, it comes with no whip antenna. Runs off of a 9V battery as
well as from a wall wart (just like the 1020C). The description says
the 1045C accomodates 2 antennae and 2 receivers: not true; it's for
one antenna and one receiver, although it does have both a UHF and an
RCA connector for your antenna connection and the same for connection
to your receiver.

junius

Although I will google this, I'll continue the thread by asking;
What's the difference between a tuner and a preslector?

What kind of radio and antenna are you using. Unless you are using
something really old I don't think a preselector or an antenna tuner
will do you much good at all. They will end up being another set of
knobs to twiddle and twist. You will find the tuner in particular will
raise the signal level, but it will raise everything and no new signals
will magically appear from the ether.

An R-1000 with an indoor random longwire. Eventually I'll set up an
outdoor dipole
or something similar.

Unless you are experiencing problems I would not look for a solution.
An R1000 will do just fine on a simple longwire. believe the radio
has an attenuator and an rf gain, and both can be used to minimize
strong signal effects.

Congrats on owning a classic.

It's a really nice radio. Got it off eBay a while ago. First
non-portable I've had in many many years. Should have done it long
ago. Blows the portables away.

Antenna Tuner
 

On 7 Apr 2006 12:58:01 -0700, "coustanis" wrote:

What antenna tuner (possibly with amp) for under...say a hundred bucks
do you folks like.
This would be for general coverage and DXing.

Thanks.

If you're tuning an unbalanced, random-length wire, the MFJ 16010
L-circuit tuner is fine, and is only 49.95

For a balanced antenna, a dipole, say, the MFJ 901B Versa Tuner would
work -- it's 79.99

The MFJ 956 preselector/tuner is another possibility

bob
k5qwg

Antenna Tuner
 

On Sat, 08 Apr 2006 13:32:01 GMT, Bob Miller
wrote:

On 7 Apr 2006 12:58:01 -0700, "coustanis" wrote:

What antenna tuner (possibly with amp) for under...say a hundred bucks
do you folks like.
This would be for general coverage and DXing.

Thanks.

If you're tuning an unbalanced, random-length wire, the MFJ 16010
L-circuit tuner is fine, and is only 49.95

For a balanced antenna, a dipole, say, the MFJ 901B Versa Tuner would
work -- it's 79.99

The MFJ 956 preselector/tuner is another possibility

bob
k5qwg
Anybody can build an LC tuner for under $20 in about 15 minutes. You
need a tapped air core coil, a variable cap, a few clip leads and a
slab of peg-board. Excellent first project.

Antenna Tuner
 

On 2006-04-07 22:23:08 -0400, Mark Shernan said:

wrote:
If you buy an MFJ,dont forget what they say,,,, Be sure to tighten up
the nuts and bolts and screws.
cuhulin

Huh??



MFJ are not well known for their quality control. They have good stuff
but their QC sucks out loud. It's a well know fact among hams
everywhere.

Antenna Tuner
 

"Bob Miller" wrote in message
...
On 7 Apr 2006 12:58:01 -0700, "coustanis" wrote:

What antenna tuner (possibly with amp) for under...say a hundred bucks
do you folks like.
This would be for general coverage and DXing.

Thanks.

If you're tuning an unbalanced, random-length wire, the MFJ 16010
L-circuit tuner is fine, and is only 49.95

For a balanced antenna, a dipole, say, the MFJ 901B Versa Tuner would
work -- it's 79.99

The MFJ 956 preselector/tuner is another possibility

I have found the 956 to be useless on my DX394 w/Eavesdropper antenna, does
absolutely nothing for or against reception/signal.

Antenna Tuner
 

On Sat, 08 Apr 2006 10:37:21 -0400, blitz @. wrote:


HiFi AM tuners suck.

Compared to what?

Real radios.

They usually just throw in a single IC chip tuner that brick-walls the
high frequncies at around 4500 Hertz. If you try to use anything
other than the 6 feet of wire on a loop that comes with the receiver
the things will overload like crazy.

Antenna Tuner
 

On Sat, 08 Apr 2006 10:37:37 -0400, blitz @. wrote:

John S. writes...
blitz wrote:
John S. writes...
coustanis wrote:

Although I will google this, I'll continue the thread by asking;
What's the difference between a tuner and a preslector?

What kind of radio and antenna are you using. Unless you are using
something really old I don't think a preselector or an antenna tuner
will do you much good at all. They will end up being another set of
knobs to twiddle and twist. You will find the tuner in particular will
raise the signal level, but it will raise everything and no new signals
will magically appear from the ether.

I've got two hi-fi tuners that overload on the outdoor long-wire (on
AM, of course). Is there a way to tune, preselect, detune, balun,
resist, or whatever the antenna so I can use it?

The simplest solution is to reduce the signal strength. cut back on
the gain control or switch in the attenuator if your radio has one.

No gots. That's why the questions about add-ons.
Radio Shack sells Type F attenuators.

Antenna Tuner
 

On Sat, 08 Apr 2006 14:38:19 GMT, Johnny Borborigmi
wrote:

On 2006-04-07 22:23:08 -0400, Mark Shernan said:

wrote:
If you buy an MFJ,dont forget what they say,,,, Be sure to tighten up
the nuts and bolts and screws.
cuhulin

Huh??



MFJ are not well known for their quality control. They have good stuff
but their QC sucks out loud. It's a well know fact among hams
everywhere.


They are very nice on the phone. One good thing about them is they
encourage you to take their stuff apart. Hams are full of it.

Antenna Tuner
 

Maybe them MFJ (Mighty Fine Junk) folks like to have a few beers once in
a while? After all,they are Mississippians and us Mississippians like to
do our thingys our way. www.thecarthaginian.com
cuhulin,Proud to be a natural born Mississippian

Antenna Tuner
 

Radio Shack sells batteries and cell phones. www.bugsweeps.com
cuhulin

Antenna Tuner
 

On Sat, 08 Apr 2006 15:39:54 GMT, David wrote:

On Sat, 08 Apr 2006 14:38:19 GMT, Johnny Borborigmi
wrote:

On 2006-04-07 22:23:08 -0400, Mark Shernan said:

wrote:
If you buy an MFJ,dont forget what they say,,,, Be sure to tighten up
the nuts and bolts and screws.
cuhulin

Huh??



MFJ are not well known for their quality control. They have good stuff
but their QC sucks out loud. It's a well know fact among hams
everywhere.


They are very nice on the phone. One good thing about them is they
encourage you to take their stuff apart. Hams are full of it.

MFJ products are hit and miss as far as quality and functionality.
Their tuners are the most functional of their products based on user
comments. As to their customer service - I'd prefer to speak to
somebody in India, my experiences with them have been very poor and I
was even a decent accomodating customer from the get-go. And yes,
many hams are full of it.........as are many SWL'ers and most folks in
general.

Three MFJ Shortwave Listening (SWL) Antenna Pre-Selectors {Tuners?} + "Mini-Size" Shortwave Listener (SWL) Antennas + "Micro-Size" SWL Active Antennas
 

In article .com,
"RHF" wrote:

Snip

I wish you would stop posting with non-standard characters at the end of
your post. It's bad etiquette. It screws up the news reader display.

--
Telamon
Ventura, California

AM/MW Antenna Tuner-Coupler for common AM/FM Radios and Tuners
 

Blitz,

AM/MW Antenna Tuner-Coupler for common AM/FM Radios
and AM/FM/Stereo Tuners

To 'couple' a simple LongWire Antenna to a so-called
HiFi Tuner {AM/FM Radio} :

* Use the simple {small} basic AM Loop Antenna that
comes with most modern AM/FM/Stereo/CD/Tape/Aux
Sound Systems and the many of AM/FM Radios.

* Then get a Select-A-Tenna Model 541-M and use
the 1/8" Mono-Jack on it as an Input for the LongWire
Antenna and Ground. The Select-A-Tenna becomes
the AM/MW Tuner-Coupler for the LongWire Antenna.

Place the Radio's basic AM Loop Antenna close to
the Select-A-Tenna and move it In-and-Out to vary
the Coupling between the two Loops.

TIP - The Select-A-Tenna can also be 'Positioned'
{Rotated} to : Peak a Weak Signal -or- Null-Out a
Strong {Interferring} Signal.

FWIW - The Terk AM Advantage 1000 Loop Antenna
and the RadioShack AM/MW Loop Antenna both have
1/8" Mono Input/Output Jacks and can do the same
basic job as a AM/MW Tuner-Coupler with most modern
AM/FM Radio's and AM/FM/Stereo Tuners.


hope this helps - iane ~ RHF

Antenna Tuner
 

My DX-394 was getting killed on SW by WABC at 50,000 watts, and several
other local AM stations. I bought on ebay an I.C.E. Model 402 SWL -
receive only BCB Filter. Non-polarized, 50 ohm Highpass design, for use
from 1.8 MHz and up. It is wonderful for eliminating the AM overload.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=9703432607

HFguy wrote:
blitz wrote:

I've got two hi-fi tuners that overload on the outdoor long-wire (on
AM, of course). Is there a way to tune, preselect, detune, balun,
resist, or whatever the antenna so I can use it?

It depends on what's overloading the receiver. Are you located close to
a strong AM station? In general, a passive pre-selector should help but
you might need just a frequency 'trap' to reduce the strength of the
offending station. Are you using coax for the antenna lead-in or just a
single wire?

Antenna Tuner
 

& on that note, anybody want to buy a relatively new, little used MFJ-956?

"Lisa Simpson" wrote in message
...
"John S." wrote in message
oups.com...

Lisa Simpson wrote:
"Bob Miller" wrote in message
...
On 7 Apr 2006 12:58:01 -0700, "coustanis"
wrote:

What antenna tuner (possibly with amp) for under...say a hundred
bucks
do you folks like.
This would be for general coverage and DXing.

Thanks.

If you're tuning an unbalanced, random-length wire, the MFJ 16010
L-circuit tuner is fine, and is only 49.95

For a balanced antenna, a dipole, say, the MFJ 901B Versa Tuner
would
work -- it's 79.99

The MFJ 956 preselector/tuner is another possibility

I have found the 956 to be useless on my DX394 w/Eavesdropper antenna,
does
absolutely nothing for or against reception/signal.

For the bored swl they offer an opportunity to twirl some knobs, but
that's about all they do.

Completely agree.

Antenna Tuner
 

On Sun, 09 Apr 2006 15:41:56 GMT, "Lisa Simpson"
wrote:

& on that note, anybody want to buy a relatively new, little used MFJ-956?

It's handy for the Shorting Switch during thunderstorms, if nothing
else.

Antenna Tuner
 

On Sun, 09 Apr 2006 15:57:47 -0400, blitz @. wrote:

David writes...

On Sat, 08 Apr 2006 10:37:21 -0400, blitz @. wrote:


HiFi AM tuners suck.

Compared to what?

Real radios.

Humor me.

They usually just throw in a single IC chip tuner that brick-walls the
high frequncies at around 4500 Hertz. If you try to use anything
other than the 6 feet of wire on a loop that comes with the receiver
the things will overload like crazy.

So I noticed, except for one old Yamaha that doesn't.

I have a Sangean ATS-606A that's well matched to its cabinet that I
use when travelling. It will occasionally whistle so I know that it's
got some bandwidth (has a ''fine tuner'' so I can tune away from the
adjacent.)

At home the cheapest thing I listen to MW on is a Drake SW2 (kitchen).
I also have an ICOM R75 in the bedroom and a Drake R8B in my office.

I can't stand inferior AM radios.

Antenna Tuner
 

David wrote:
I can't stand inferior AM radios.

Whatever happened to Pete and his new design?

--
All relevant people are pertinent.
All rude people are impertinent.
Therefore, no rude people are relevant.
-- Solomon W. Golomb

Antenna Tuner
 

No.
If I want to buy anything from MFJ,I will step in my vehicle and drive
on up the road and check them out.
cuhulin

Antenna Tuner
 

Wait a minute,,, Well matched to it's cabinet?
cuhulin

AM/MW Antenna Tuner-Coupler for common AM/FM Radios and Tuners
 

On Sun, 09 Apr 2006 18:58:14 -0400, blitz @. wrote:

RHF writes...

Blitz,

AM/MW Antenna Tuner-Coupler for common AM/FM Radios
and AM/FM/Stereo Tuners

To 'couple' a simple LongWire Antenna to a so-called
HiFi Tuner {AM/FM Radio} :

* Use the simple {small} basic AM Loop Antenna that
comes with most modern AM/FM/Stereo/CD/Tape/Aux
Sound Systems and the many of AM/FM Radios.

* Then get a Select-A-Tenna Model 541-M and use
the 1/8" Mono-Jack on it as an Input for the LongWire
Antenna and Ground. The Select-A-Tenna becomes
the AM/MW Tuner-Coupler for the LongWire Antenna.

Place the Radio's basic AM Loop Antenna close to
the Select-A-Tenna and move it In-and-Out to vary
the Coupling between the two Loops.

TIP - The Select-A-Tenna can also be 'Positioned'
{Rotated} to : Peak a Weak Signal -or- Null-Out a
Strong {Interferring} Signal.

FWIW - The Terk AM Advantage 1000 Loop Antenna
and the RadioShack AM/MW Loop Antenna both have
1/8" Mono Input/Output Jacks and can do the same
basic job as a AM/MW Tuner-Coupler with most modern
AM/FM Radio's and AM/FM/Stereo Tuners.


hope this helps - iane ~ RHF

Yeah, thanks. I'd seen this option, but haven't tried the 541. I'm
trying to avoid inside antennas. The Select-A-Tenna website implies
you'll be amplifying at least some of the inside noise.

It can be rotated to null out both inside and outside noises. It works
extremely well on weak stations, but ONLY if they are well in the
clear, and not close to some station that is near in frequency and
direction to the station you're trying to receive. That's the main
downside of the critter, I've found. It probably works better in rural
locales where stations are sparse and spread out on the dial.

Also, the Select-a-tenna is AM only.

bob
k5qwg