Hello all,
thought I would share the results of some testing I just finished
with my LDG-QRP auto tuner. I just love to hear stories of how
people need 7000 watts and a quadruple stacked array a thousand
feet in the air to talk about 100 miles away. Well here is my side
of the story:
X-Treme Test
This is the kind of a story I live to tell. My goal in
building this auto-tuner was to be able to use it with a small
dipole I use when I am hiking. The antenna has been cut to be a
resonant dipole that covers the Twenty Meter band. I used a six by
six inch piece of Plexiglas as my center insulator (and wire
holder). I used small cloth wrapped stranded wired that tends to
be kink-resistant for the antenna. For the coax I used very small
RG178 coax. Both legs of the antenna and the coax wind nicely
around the Plexiglas while I am hiking and allow me to set up the
antenna very quickly when I arrive at my destination.
I took the antenna and set it up in the middle hall away
of my house. This is the worst in the house location I can think
of. The antenna was hung approximately four feet off the floor
with the wire just hung over two doors. I brought the coax into
the shack and hooked it up to my Ten Tec Argosy II. I powered the
Argosy with a small gel cell and was in QRP power range.
The weather here in Tennessee was awful Heavy rains and severe
thunders. The bands were horrible with lots of static crashes and
not many stations on. I went through the bands from 80-20. The
only stations I heard were on 40. I keyed the transmitter and in
less than one second the dipole was tuned. I looked around for a
while for a station calling CQ. I finally came across K9EUV, Dan,
in Mishawaka, Indiana. He was a 599, and gave me a 339 report. I
admit we didnt have a long QSO, and he did have trouble copying,
but we exchanged calls, names and QTHs. Considering the power I
was using and the antenna strung up in the middle of my house, I
still have no idea how I got out.
I checked the SWR on 20 Meters with my MFJ antenna analyzer. The
SWR in the house was over 5:1 to start with. The little QRP
automatic tuner had no problem tuning the wire on 10,20,30, or 40
meters. It tuned each of these bands in less than one second. I am
really looking forward to taking this tuner, my QRP+, and the
dipole hiking. I am sure I will have no problem once I get on top
of the mountain. The auto tuner is much smaller and lighter than
my manual tuner that I have used in the past.
Bottom line is I am very impressed and more than satisfied with
this tuner. The QRP tuner tunes quicker than the AT11 version in
all tests I have performed. It was a great kit to build and it
works fantastically.
72
Jeff, AC4HF
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