ICOM AH-705 Antenna Tuner Quick Look AND Setup!

[@dwainmanning9803]

Just purchased the 705 and tuner this morning. Can’t wait to get it

[@pale_2111]

I bought the Z-100plus tuner for my EFHW. It tunes up 10, 17, 75/80 with no problems.

[@Dusty_Ham]

That subscribe fade-in is amazing.

[@HamRadioCrashCourse]

Thank you!

[@tangoseal1]

That thing is freaking HUGE. I am beyond pleased I bought the Vibroplex MAT705 Plus tuner. Its way way smaller and can tune up to 1500 ohms at 30 watts PEP. Also HRCC and folks watching you can bind one of the two letter keys on your 705 hand mic to Tune, I used key A on the hand mic, that way you dont have to keep going through touch screen menus. Also Amazon sells touch screen protectors for your 705. Very expensive equipment, buy a screen protector for 9 bucks and you will be pleased.

[@walteredwards544]

I can't wait to get it when it arrives. I made a QSO with a station in Alaska from my QTH in Georgia with my 705 and a Wolf River Coils antenna but I believe I would have reached more DX stations if I had a nice little tuner that helps me squeeze out as many extra milliwatts as I can.

[@WH6FQE]

Just received my IC-705 yesterday so I went ahead and order the AH-705 for it, thanks.

[@CharlesHuse]

If you choose to run this tuner off a power supply, you need a power cable with the 2.1mm power connector, instead of the 2.5mm plug that is on the IC-705. The Powerwerx DC21RA cable with Powerpole connectors is available for the AH-705. It has a right angle plug going into the tuner. The Powerwerx DC25ST is the part number for the IC-705 power cable. Both are available at HRO for $8.

[@hamradioqrp-k0klb]

I just received a ic705 this past week.. I can see now I’m a gunna need this tuner.. very nice unit.. thanks for the demo.. much appreciated.. 73. Kevin ~ k0klb

[@Scif64]

I got mine today and it is a very good quality atu. So far it has tuned any vertical or wire i have connected to it. Also you only have to key the mic once you tune to a different band.

[@HamRadioCrashCourse]

Very good performing tuner. I dod notice o could trick the 705 into not entering the tuning cycle after a band change. It was some order of buttons I pressed. Works well though, all things considered!

[@timlc]

Perfect review, straight to the point, no unnecessary pre-amble!

[@KM4ACK]

Cool review but that thing looks to be as big as the radio. 😳

[@BenWoodall41]

I just got mine in. It is super big, but at just less than a pound, not too bad. IMO it should have just been included in the 705 to begin with.

[@oofradio-michaeliafrato-kd5691]

It's such a large tuner compared to the MAT705plus. Any idea how they compare?

[@HamRadioCrashCourse]

I need a few “will it antenna?” Videos under its belt to say for sure.

[@1337flite]

waterstanton did a video where he tried a number of different bands and antennas and they all tuned, even those that were out of spec (too short - 5m compared to the 7m recommneded in teh manual and end fend halfwaves, which the manuals says to avoid). I think they all tuned. On the other hand Ive seen videos with the 705 where the MAT has faiulked to tune and the same with the elecraft T1. I'd really love to see a like for like comparison too - I'm about to order my first rig,m which will be a 705 and I'm happy to spend the money - as long as it is worth it - i.e. it can do soemthing useful the other tuners can't. Just looking at the size of it and the specs, I kinda wonder if it is just an AH-4 board that has been put into a different case.

[@Bkdilley]

New to amateur radio and interested in field operations QRP. I haven't bought any equipment yet but been watching your videos. my question is would one use the AH-705 with a magnetic loop antenna that has a manual tuner knob already? Is there any benefit or not really needed? Thanks for your work and videos. I've been learning a lot from them.

[@jtlerch]

I dig it. That thing seems a bit big if your going QRP like the radio is designed for. No shade towards it just not sure about that size. I get that it is an awesome tuner. I'm new still to this though so what do I Know ... lol

[@RSwrightMD]

Once set up, you should be able to get the tuner to tune by keying the PTT switch on the microphone.

[@joedidit3233]

So you don't have to individually hit tune, as you do on the 7300's internal tuner every time you move to another band or frequency?

[@bhamptonkc7]

I have an old icom 706mkiig will this adapt to it. I use the tune button on the front of the 706 for tuning.

[@HammockRadio]

Compared to the MAT-705, this thing is massive. For that size, I wish it was RF-sensing instead of needing a control cable. Me personally, I'd rather spend the extra dollars and just get the Xiegu XPA-125B so I can have 100W and a tuner in the same kit.

[@HamRadioCrashCourse]

True. The xpa-125 is big and very heavy though.

[@HammockRadio]

@@HamRadioCrashCourse True, but it'd be a good alternative combo for a base station setup. 100W at home or in the field. Still cheaper than an Elecraft KX3+KPA+PX3. 😉

[@mikemurphy1940]

Maybe I’m missing something, but why didn’t Icom just reverse engineer the tuner from the Elecraft KX3? It’s very small and would have easily fit inside the 705. I’m not a hater, but Icom really missed the boat on this one. - KI8R

[@HamRadioCrashCourse]

Different capability. Likely higher matching capability. I'll put it through further testing and I'll post an update.

[@kchaney56]

Will this work with none ICOM radios?

[@bruhzooka]

Do they sell a hitch mount trailer to drag this thing around? Small radio but mondo tuner.

[@EnuffsEnuff318]

Wow that's nice. What is a tuner for? What does it do? How do you know you want a tuner or don't want a tuner?

[@CharlesHuse]

It electrically matches the antenna to the tranceiver based on the frequency the tranceiver is tuned to. Speaking in terms of the actual physical antenna, long wire antenna, for example. The lower the frequency you transmit on, the longer the wire would need to be. Some frequencies, that wire would be 160 feet or longer. And the longer the wire, the higher the impedence. The tuner matches the frequency to the antenna to maintain an impedence of around 50ohms, and allows you to work with a much shorter section of wire. A 30 or 60 foot wire antenna is more resonant to many frequencies in terms of wavelength, and is easier to pack for remote operations in the field. Ideally, your antenna should be cut to be a quarter or half of the wavelength. So, on the 40 meter band, an end fed half wave antenna should be 20 meters in physical length. An antenna tuner helps with the fine tuning. This is the rough and dirty version, but I hope it helps.

[@kemalerbay]

Do we need a balun after the AH 705?

[@HamRadioCrashCourse]

Possibly. Try it both ways and let me know how it goes.

[@Woodbend]

Nice fast vid and very informative, I am seriously considering the AH, are you sure about using rechargeable cells? No possible damage to the tuner? Thanks, really enjoy your channel. Vic

[@HamRadioCrashCourse]

I've only put rechargeables in mine, working great!

[@bobp6698]

When I go to function 2 my tuner bottom won't let me access it

[@JarOfRats]

What the heck is inside that thing? It's bigger than the radio!

[@donmorgan3873]

nice presentation!

[@HamRadioCrashCourse]

Thank you!

[@frankwc0o]

If you already have a functioning end fed half wave antenna, would you be able to squeeze any more dB's?

[@HamRadioCrashCourse]

It’s possible.

[@andrewhamop6665]

With the XPA amp, and this tuner, it's basically a 7300 with 2m & 70cm lol. Damn I want this radio, but I don't even have a job yet hahaha. As for the tuner it's self IMHO. For a 10w $350 tuner, ouch. At that point, unless you really want to have the matching tuner, it would probably just be more worth it to get an LDG. Which you could use for other radios too, or maybe just get an MFJ pocket manual tuner. Don't get me wrong, it is a very nice tuner, but for that price I'd rather get a fancy HT, or 300ft of LMR400 coax and a bag of connectors. Still, it is a *very* nice tuner. Thanks for your unbasied review as always Josh, 73 de W8IJC.

[@mauricecraft890]

Any idea what size external DC plug is required to connect to the DC input socket on the AH-705?

[@SJHJeep]

5.5x2.5

[@Darth_Sicarious]

Sir my 705 is not recognizing the AC 705 tuner, I got it hooked right can you help me trouble shoot this thank you

[@HamRadioCrashCourse]

Batteries, check cables and make sure it’s activated on the 705.

[@Darth_Sicarious]

@@HamRadioCrashCourse Rodger I will double check all those things, Does the antanna make a difference? what antanna do you recommend with the 705 for QRP purpoaes?

[@OrbitalBurn1]

Mine did not require software setup. It was completely plug n play

[@KE6DOA]

I’ve never really gotten into QRP I do think this is a very nice set up but I can’t justify the price of it may be if it had put out 20 W that might be a little incentive

[@CharlesHuse]

A small amp that would double the output power to 20 or maybe even 25 watts would be sweet.

[@J4ckieD]

Off topic question but how concerned should I be about an antenna on 2m tripping a GFCI outlet on the other side of my house?

[@HamRadioCrashCourse]

Maybe a bit. Best idea is to get an antenna outside the house.

[@Lastaii]

Lol it's huge! Why would they make a tuner for a portable QRP rig that's almost bigger than the radio? Also, the thing weighs 450g/1lb, that's not really suitable for carrying on long trecks. Seems wierd, especially when there's cheaper, smaller & lighter competition out there like the Elecraft T1-A.

[@scarpad]

I bought the elecraft T1 it works great and for most it’s a reasonable size what were they thinking

[@Gm1vla]

Hi whats the maximum power the tuner will handle please.

[@HamRadioCrashCourse]

Its for the 705, so 10 watts.

[@arikjohnson412]

Quick and dirty 😎🙏🎈

[@THESPORTINGCAMP]

Greetings earthlings. 🏆🐗

[@UltimateDoomer1]

Too big for portable operations. I'm going to stick with the MAT705PLUS.

[@HamRadioCrashCourse]

I’d argue it’s fine for portable, but I’m inclined to go resonant antennas all the time.

[@bruehlt]

Holy hell that thing is overly expensive! $350!? NFW. Hard pass. MAT Tuner it is, I guess...

[@andrewhamop6665]

You can buy an FT-3DR for that price!! Jesus

[@503Nick]

Thumbs up 👍!

[@joecuppko40uh29]

Veddy Interesitingk. Nice

[@W9HJBill]

Too big, too expensive, according to other KZbinrs, isn't designed to work with EFHW's, and according to iCOM's documentation, only covers a 1:2.0 VSWR and you aren't supposed to use rechargeable battery. Personally for $200 less money ... LDG Z-100PLUS/IC-705. Bigger tuning range and smaller.

[@HamRadioCrashCourse]

Why wouldn't it work with EFHW? Rechargables worked fine.

[@W9HJBill]

@@HamRadioCrashCourse I'm referring to the watersstanton video he just did at the 4:22 mark and said that "you should avoid end fed half wave I guess that's because they are high impedance". I'm not sure why he or apparently iCOM said that.

[@chetmystery]

@@W9HJBill What it recommends is not feeding an end-fed half wave of wire DIRECTLY into the tuner (using the provided PL-259-to-wire adaptor), because the internal impedance matching range is not sufficient for that. However, you can absolutely attach an EFHW that uses a 49:1 transformer to this tuner, as there the 49:1 is doing most of the impedance correction before the tuner comes into play.

[@W9HJBill]

@@chetmystery I guess it's just an odd way of saying that. To me, unless you are putting the 49:1 toroid in, then it's just a random length of wire.

[@krikka1]

too big and expensive in my opinion, at that price I think that people can buy a much smaller mAT-705 plus tuner + an EFHW antenna, the only advantage I see it that this one can tune random wires

[@haramanggapuja]

Well, I did tell my wife I didn't need to buy a lens for it but now, well, maybe I do have to buy a lens ;-) 73 de W8IJN

[@daveN2MXX]

Is this an April fools joke? It is designed to be paired with a QRP radio...it's larger than the radio! And is it really more than $300????

[@HamRadioCrashCourse]

Lol, its not larger than the radio.

[@daveN2MXX]

@@HamRadioCrashCourse Maybe it's your camera angle....several other comments appear to agree with me.

[@HamRadioCrashCourse]

@@daveN2MXX What do you want me to say, its not bigger. Why would I lie about that? Check my Instagram, there are images up there now.

[@daveN2MXX]

@@HamRadioCrashCourse Maybe there is a reason for the size compared to other options? Is there lower RF loss compared to other, much smaller ATUs? I'm just saying, this video was unhelpful, other than to show that it is big and it tunes. Thanks.

[@thedmutz]

The tuner is on top of the box most of the video so it's closer than the radio which is on the desk which is probably why it looks bigger. When they're on the same level the tuner looks like it's slightly smaller than the radio

[@hardwired3640]

The radio is already way too deep. I want a tuner that’s the same size as the battery pack

[@HamRadioCrashCourse]

Look into tuners that are the size of a battery pack and how well they tune long wire antennas. Note, I mean long wire, not a long wire running an unun, etc.

[@hardwired3640]

@@HamRadioCrashCourse I was thinking about an Elecraft T1 ATU. I think it would be about perfect for this radios size. I’ve run my LDG z817 with a 500’ spool of thhn and a banana plug pushed into the SO-239. Worked great!

[@jonathanp906]

My goodness it looks massive... thats a really big turn off, I was looking forward to this being released too... oh well

[@davequick3373]

Not very good having to jump to menu every time you want to tune. Better to use an rf sensing tuner.

[@HamRadioCrashCourse]

It does both.

[@LepseudoAlakon]

@@HamRadioCrashCourse I'm looking to buy this tuner to match with my 705, I can't find anywhere that this tuner also works by RF sensing, do you confirm ?