Ham Radio - Manually tweaking your auto tuner for the best possible tune

[@JT-py9lv]

Great tutorial. I just won a LDG ZII Pro II Tuner at a club raffle. Glad to hear that your health is on the mend.

[@loughkb]

Good prize. It's my favorite auto tuner. Just be sure to drop your power down low when tuning to protect your finals from spikes while it ratchets through settings looking for a match.

[@KX4UL]

Perfect timing! I am just getting back in to the hobby and purchased an LDG AT-10ProII. I have had both the original one button tune LDG Z-100 and Z-100 Plus tuners in the past. I mainly got the AT-100ProII this time because it has the ability to fine tune, switch between two antennas and has the bar graph for SWR and Power. I have not used the tuner yet but will this week as I finally have my station wired and antennas almost up. This was an excellent tutorial on how the fine tuning works. Thanks!

[@W7LDT]

This was very helpful. Before life on the road. I really enjoyed your radio repair videos.

[@suburban404]

Convinced me to stay with my manual tuner. N2FMH

[@allanmacuser]

thank you for the video l was considering buying a auto tuner but now l think l will go for a manual one regards alllan G6TMO

[@DD-gd3fr]

Thanks 👍 cleared that up for me got the same tumer

[@stevepatterson2290]

fantastic , I just ordered this tuner so this helps me a lot

[@GeneraleRus]

I just recently got the same LDG Z-11 and because i knew that the previous ATU i had (LDG Z-100) never tuned right to the best, i infact already installed in the system a SWR/wattmeter, just to get to the absolute best i can get from my antennas. Mostly because i have only homemade antennas that aren't made as well as yours Kevin! HI One thing i noticed tho, for the FT817, when i got it used, it came together with the Elecraft T1, and that tuner is a bit slow, but it always check for lowest SWR before stopping the tuning. It can be set to stop tuning at a higher threshold, but so far i haven't needed to do such thing. Is still an expensive piece of equipment the T1 tho, can't really say is a good bang for your buck.

[@DonDegidio]

Hi Kevin, I have the LDG AT600Pro and it's front scale goes down to 1.1:1. Will have to try an inline watt meter to check it's accuracy. I was surprised your tuner did not store that manual adjustment. I'll have to check that on mine. 73 WB3BJU

[@loughkb]

I've noticed that on other auto tuners in the past. I'll be interested in hearing what you observe on yours.

[@DonDegidio]

Hi Kevin, Ran your test about manually adjusting the L and C and found that when the tuner indicated 1.1:1 the SWR meter showed 1.4:1. Adjusted L and the SWR meter came down to 1.2:1, then adjusted C and had it down to 1:1 with the tuner showing a 2:1. Would not store the manual setting and readjusted back to it's 1.1:1 setting when pressing the Tune button. What I did notice was the output power from the radio went down after the manual tuning of the auto tuner. When I let the auto tuner do it's thing, the Watt meter agreed with the radios watt meter. I also discovered that my FT450 has an output of 75W into a dummy load. It should be 100W. 73 WB3BJU

[@loughkb]

The output power going down might have been misleading. Depending on how the power measurement is being made. If, in power mode, the meter is not distinguishing forward power, rather just indicating power, reflected power will be additive to the reading. If you were reading power on the cross needle meter, then forward power going down slightly would be accurate. What I should do, is to put an outdoor sensor on my field strength meter and see if the RF field from the antenna increases or decreases with the manual tweak.

[@DonDegidio]

Hi Kevin, Don't have cross needle meters. I am building a watt meter using Bird components. Just need to finish the cable from the line unit to the meter head. I wanted to place the line unit at the wall where the rf feed enters the room. I had wanted to build two to monitor forward and reflected power at the same time, but currently in a money crunch. :-( 73 WB3BJU

[@loughkb]

You'll dig part two of this exploration where I measure radiated power from the antenna while tweaking the tuner. :-)

[@Ron_C]

Awesome info! Thanks for sharing...I have this tuner. 73

[@tomsmall2479]

Your presentation was much appreciated ... great job and thanks 73 N1TOV

[@glynnhm0lsg308]

I had that tuner but just sold it,I'm going back to a manual tuner

[@АндрейДенисюк-ш7п]

Actually you don't have to turn off Auto in order to make manual adjustments. Many thanks for your great videos! 73 RA0UFF

[@loughkb]

That's right, you don't. However, if you don't turn off auto, the tuner is likely to jump back into an auto-tune cycle while you're trying to adjust it manually. It's best to turn off auto before tweaking it.

[@samglaim4274]

Interesting video.... many thanks. 73

[@rlmillr]

Good video, Thanks

[@glenngoodale1709]

Nice job

[@thormusique]

Great video, as always, Kevin, thanks very much! Ok, so I can't help but address the elephant in the room. (Please forgive what's probably a dumb question, but I'm just a lowly Technician with not a lot of experience.) Why not just use a manual tuner? Honestly, I was actually disappointed when I first heard about the excitement surrounding auto tuners. But then, I'm an inveterate knob-twiddler. Even though I'm much more computer-literate than anyone has a right to be, and I happen to love it when certain process are automated, I happen to love the idea of working for a good signal. And especially with the tweak you're suggesting here, that really makes me think "Why bother? Just do the whole process yourself and be done with it!" My thinking's probably naive and misguided, but I'm sure you can set me straight. On the off chance that you DO like the idea of using a manual tuner, I'd love it if you could demonstrate the process of using one. Thanks again! :-)

[@rlmillr]

Speed, auto tuners are fast and manual tuners are slow. I know where to set my manual tuner for most freq's with my antenna's but I still need to do final tweaks and you have to transmit for several seconds or more. You need to move a few kc off of the freq you are on as not to interfere. An automatic tuner with memory is almost instant and you are ready to go. I personally most often use the manual tuner but appreciate the auto tuner when I am all over the bands. As Kevin stated, I use my automatic almost the exact way he described and I would bet most people do also. As he mentioned you don't need to, it is typically close enough.

[@KX4UL]

thormusique - I can relate to your logic. I have 3 LDG auto tuners, but just recently purchased a used MFJ-949E manual tuner in like new condition. The MFJ-949D was my first tuner back in 1993 and the included dummy load came in handy to tune my Kenwood TS-520S transmitter. I am a knob-twiddler as well...lol! I like using both manual and auto tuners. But as "rlmillr" pointed out, speed is the big advantage when you are bouncing about the bands.

[@thormusique]

Yes, what you both say makes a lot of sense. I do like the idea of having a dummy load built into the manual tuner. I might need to find me one of those units.... Thanks so much!

[@mikemcdonald5147]

Hi Kevin is there a way I can save money??? I have a radio and a 811h amp and I need and want a tuner. Can I get a lower watt tuner tune the antenna then click on the amp? or do I need an 800 watt tuner?

[@loughkb]

No, you need a tuner that can handle the power you're running. If the tuner can't handle that level of power, it will arc and burn the relays, capacitors and inductors.

[@mikemcdonald5147]

dang ok so just gotta save my pennies then LOL thanks for the fast response ;)

[@alessandrozax]

Why there is this differences about SWR reading between MFJ analog and LDG auto-tuner..!? Who show the true !?

[@loughkb]

The analogue meters that indicate reflected power won't indicate anything if there's no voltage coming from the H-bridge. So I trust the analogue meters. Plus, as I mentioned in the video, the meter on the radio was agreeing with the external meter.

[@matthewdavies2057]

Wish I could do that with my LDG Z100. :(

[@richarde735]

damn it, I just ordered this for pota. I’d be better off with a manual tuner.

[@lc4746]

So I buy an automatic tuner just to have to buy an analog meter so I can now manually tune my automatic tuner when I can manually tune my manual tuner with a built in meter. 🤔

[@dougcollinge6424]

I think that thing must just be broken.

[@marylouiseacebedo706]

Hmm is someone's OCD kicking in.

[@stickycricket2]

Why does it matter if it's perfect? It doesn't change the SWR of your feed line or antenna, it just matches to your transceiver. Once you get below the threshold that your transceiver wants to see, it will transmit at full power. You're still going to lose transmitting power after the tuner. Most of your videos I like, but this one makes no sense.

[@loughkb]

Well, there are Persnickety people out there that want the absolute perfect match. So this is more of a tip for the tuners and tweakers.

[@stickycricket2]

@@loughkb If you're transmitting into an antenna that's not even close to resonant and you have a tuner on it, all your power is being reflected back at the tuner, nothing is getting out. The antenna tuner doesn't fix the antenna, it just fakes a 1:1 match for your rig's sake. Persnickety or not, it doesn't do any good. Ham Radio Concepts has a great video on just this subject: kzbin.info/www/bejne/ppWydpyDgZeLfc0 Shows all his power from his non-resonant at 160M antenna being reflected right back to the tuner, his inline watter meter shows no power is getting to the antenna.

[@Pioneer936]

@@stickycricket2 you have a total misunderstanding of what a tuner is doing, may I suggest the ARRL HANDBOOK and REFLECTIONS they go into great detail to explain what's happening

[@pilot7200able]

Thanks, nice video