ICOM Remote Antenna Tuner
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I am looking at remote antenna tuners. I have seen several controllers for
the ICOM AH-4 tuner. My questions are about operation with a K3s. 1. Is there a limit to the time that 10w of RF can be sent to the AH-4 via the K3s Tune button? 2. All circuits specify a momentary switch, but does momentary mean 0.1sec, 1.0sec or 5seconds? Does the time matter? 3. When the complete signal returns from the AH-4 should the Tune RF or the momentary be terminated immediately? 4. Is there a combination of momentary or Tune RF that will damage the AH-4? I have an AH-4 which worked with a home built controller for some months, and then became operationally intermittent and final fails to work at all. That makes me gun-shy, about buying another even though the AH-4 gets excellent reviews on eHam, almost all of which are based on an ICOM rig control. John, AD2F ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to [hidden email] |
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John, I have used both MFJ 993 and 998 successfully. I have 12v for them and send one coax to them. I don't rely on anything but sending 10 watts via K3, etc., to the tuner and await the OK SWR to reflect on my W2 wattmeter. I currently only have the 998 in service. I prefer the 993 as it takes less power to tune. I am going to sell my 993 as it handles only 300 watts. I send out 500 so cannot use it. Hope this helps.
73, Bill K9YEQ -----Original Message----- From: Elecraft [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of John Pierce Sent: Saturday, April 8, 2017 4:22 PM To: [hidden email] Subject: [Elecraft] ICOM Remote Antenna Tuner I am looking at remote antenna tuners. I have seen several controllers for the ICOM AH-4 tuner. My questions are about operation with a K3s. 1. Is there a limit to the time that 10w of RF can be sent to the AH-4 via the K3s Tune button? 2. All circuits specify a momentary switch, but does momentary mean 0.1sec, 1.0sec or 5seconds? Does the time matter? 3. When the complete signal returns from the AH-4 should the Tune RF or the momentary be terminated immediately? 4. Is there a combination of momentary or Tune RF that will damage the AH-4? I have an AH-4 which worked with a home built controller for some months, and then became operationally intermittent and final fails to work at all. That makes me gun-shy, about buying another even though the AH-4 gets excellent reviews on eHam, almost all of which are based on an ICOM rig control. John, AD2F ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to [hidden email] ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to [hidden email] |
Re: ICOM Remote Antenna Tuner
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In reply to this post by johnpierce
I used to run the SGC-230 tuner at the base of my antenna.
As I recall it has a auto mode that does not require a tuning circuit From: John Pierce <[hidden email]> To: [hidden email] Sent: Saturday, April 8, 2017 5:24 PM Subject: [Elecraft] ICOM Remote Antenna Tuner I am looking at remote antenna tuners. I have seen several controllers for the ICOM AH-4 tuner. My questions are about operation with a K3s. 1. Is there a limit to the time that 10w of RF can be sent to the AH-4 via the K3s Tune button? 2. All circuits specify a momentary switch, but does momentary mean 0.1sec, 1.0sec or 5seconds? Does the time matter? 3. When the complete signal returns from the AH-4 should the Tune RF or the momentary be terminated immediately? 4. Is there a combination of momentary or Tune RF that will damage the AH-4? I have an AH-4 which worked with a home built controller for some months, and then became operationally intermittent and final fails to work at all. That makes me gun-shy, about buying another even though the AH-4 gets excellent reviews on eHam, almost all of which are based on an ICOM rig control. John, AD2F ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to [hidden email] |
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In reply to this post by johnpierce
> I am looking at remote antenna tuners. I have seen several controllers for the ICOM AH-4 tuner. My questions are about operation with a K3s.
> 1. Is there a limit to the time that 10w of RF can be sent to the AH-4 via the K3s Tune button? > 2. All circuits specify a momentary switch, but does momentary mean 0.1sec, 1.0sec or 5seconds? Does the time matter? > 3. When the complete signal returns from the AH-4 should the Tune RF or the momentary be terminated immediately? > 4. Is there a combination of momentary or Tune RF that will damage the AH-4? > I have an AH-4 which worked with a home built controller for some months, and then became operationally intermittent and final fails to work at all. That makes me gun-shy, about buying another even though the AH-4 gets excellent reviews on eHam, almost all of which are based on an ICOM rig control. I have used an AH-4 for many years, with a 706MKIIG and with various other manufacturer's radios, including now a K2. Other than the limitation to ~125 watts, these are excellent. I only run 5 watts so it is not an issue. I do not recall a situation where the AH-4 would not give a useable match, provided I provided it a plausible antenna. I use a separate SWR/watt meter that shows it working. The momentary switch is push on, release off, no time specified. Pushing the button signals the AH-4 to run through its paces for a match. Most often, it is very quick. Occasionally, when you have gone from, say, 15M to 80M, it might take a little longer, but never more than several seconds. If no match can be found, it just stops. Either way, you stop the power. I wouldn't let it just run like that, but have never heard of damage because of it. You need to reduce power with non-Icom rigs that don't do it automatically. You might join the Icom tuner Yahoo group, if you can stand Yahoo. Lots of user experience there. I've never seen a store bought controller for the AH-4. Where have you seen them? 73 Jim Allen W6OGC Sent from my iPad ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to [hidden email] |
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In reply to this post by Elecraft mailing list
Yes, that is correct. Just feed it some RF and if the SWR is above
1.5:1, if memory serves, it starts to find a solution that yields a low SWR. 73, Barry K3NDM ------ Original Message ------ From: "Harry Yingst via Elecraft" <[hidden email]> To: "John Pierce" <[hidden email]>; "[hidden email]" <[hidden email]> Sent: 4/8/2017 7:30:50 PM Subject: Re: [Elecraft] ICOM Remote Antenna Tuner >I used to run the SGC-230 tuner at the base of my antenna. > >As I recall it has a auto mode that does not require a tuning circuit > > > > > > > From: John Pierce <[hidden email]> > To: [hidden email] > Sent: Saturday, April 8, 2017 5:24 PM > Subject: [Elecraft] ICOM Remote Antenna Tuner > >I am looking at remote antenna tuners. I have seen several controllers >for >the ICOM AH-4 tuner. My questions are about operation with a K3s. >1. Is there a limit to the time that 10w of RF can be sent to the >AH-4 >via the K3s Tune button? >2. All circuits specify a momentary switch, but does momentary mean >0.1sec, 1.0sec or 5seconds? Does the time matter? >3. When the complete signal returns from the AH-4 should the Tune RF >or >the momentary be terminated immediately? >4. Is there a combination of momentary or Tune RF that will damage >the >AH-4? > >I have an AH-4 which worked with a home built controller for some >months, >and then became operationally intermittent and final fails to work at >all. >That makes me gun-shy, about buying another even though the AH-4 gets >excellent reviews on eHam, almost all of which are based on an ICOM rig >control. > >John, AD2F > > >______________________________________________________________ >Elecraft mailing list >Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft >Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm >Post: mailto:[hidden email] > >This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net >Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html >Message delivered to [hidden email] ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to [hidden email] |
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In reply to this post by Jim Allen
You may want to also look at the SGC Tuners. Far superior to the Icom.
You can just send it an low power AM signal and it will tune. I have used them in cars and many temporary installations and they 'just work'. http://www.sgcworld.com/ Mike On Sat, Apr 8, 2017 at 8:36 PM, Jim Allen <[hidden email]> wrote: > > I am looking at remote antenna tuners. I have seen several controllers > for the ICOM AH-4 tuner. My questions are about operation with a K3s. > > 1. Is there a limit to the time that 10w of RF can be sent to the > AH-4 via the K3s Tune button? > > 2. All circuits specify a momentary switch, but does momentary mean > 0.1sec, 1.0sec or 5seconds? Does the time matter? > > 3. When the complete signal returns from the AH-4 should the Tune RF > or the momentary be terminated immediately? > > 4. Is there a combination of momentary or Tune RF that will damage > the AH-4? > > I have an AH-4 which worked with a home built controller for some > months, and then became operationally intermittent and final fails to work > at all. That makes me gun-shy, about buying another even though the AH-4 > gets excellent reviews on eHam, almost all of which are based on an ICOM > rig control. > I have used an AH-4 for many years, with a 706MKIIG and with various other > manufacturer's radios, including now a K2. Other than the limitation to > ~125 watts, these are excellent. I only run 5 watts so it is not an > issue. I do not recall a situation where the AH-4 would not give a useable > match, provided I provided it a plausible antenna. I use a separate > SWR/watt meter that shows it working. > > The momentary switch is push on, release off, no time specified. Pushing > the button signals the AH-4 to run through its paces for a match. Most > often, it is very quick. Occasionally, when you have gone from, say, 15M > to 80M, it might take a little longer, but never more than several > seconds. If no match can be found, it just stops. Either way, you stop > the power. I wouldn't let it just run like that, but have never heard of > damage because of it. You need to reduce power with non-Icom rigs that > don't do it automatically. > > You might join the Icom tuner Yahoo group, if you can stand Yahoo. Lots > of user experience there. > > I've never seen a store bought controller for the AH-4. Where have you > seen them? > 73 Jim Allen W6OGC > > Sent from my iPad > ______________________________________________________________ > Elecraft mailing list > Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm > Post: mailto:[hidden email] > > This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net > Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html > Message delivered to [hidden email] > Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to [hidden email] |
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It is all automatic. AM, RTTY or CW. Any constant carrier mode. It will
also tune on SSB voice if you wish, but that isn't the best. The processor does a frequency analysis and tunes accordingly. It is well outlined here on SGC's web site. http://www.sgcworld.com/SideAd06.html and http://www.sgcworld.com/generalsmartFAQ.html These are not hobby grade tuners like ham ones we use (Icom, Kenwood, Yaesu or even LDG). These are commercial and military grade tuners. I have used 4 of them on and off over the years when I need a tuner. However, today, I only use resonant antennas and eliminate the need for a tuner. I have 1 SGC259 as a spare in case I need it for an emergency. It is on my 2nd antenna port on my flex radio at my remote base. http://www.eham.net/reviews/detail/1509 http://www.sgcworld.com/239ProductPage.html There is an SGC user group you can join. Most of the Marine guys use them as well. Mike va3mw On Sun, Apr 9, 2017 at 10:11 AM, Jim Allen <[hidden email]> wrote: > How does the SGC tuner know whether you are sending a signal to tune or to > radiate? > > Why must it be AM? > > 73 Jim Allen W6OGC > > > Sent from my iPad > > On Apr 9, 2017, at 06:16, Michael Walker <[hidden email]> wrote: > > You may want to also look at the SGC Tuners. Far superior to the Icom. > You can just send it an low power AM signal and it will tune. > > I have used them in cars and many temporary installations and they 'just > work'. > > http://www.sgcworld.com/ > > Mike > > On Sat, Apr 8, 2017 at 8:36 PM, Jim Allen <[hidden email]> wrote: > >> > I am looking at remote antenna tuners. I have seen several controllers >> for the ICOM AH-4 tuner. My questions are about operation with a K3s. >> > 1. Is there a limit to the time that 10w of RF can be sent to the >> AH-4 via the K3s Tune button? >> > 2. All circuits specify a momentary switch, but does momentary mean >> 0.1sec, 1.0sec or 5seconds? Does the time matter? >> > 3. When the complete signal returns from the AH-4 should the Tune RF >> or the momentary be terminated immediately? >> > 4. Is there a combination of momentary or Tune RF that will damage >> the AH-4? >> > I have an AH-4 which worked with a home built controller for some >> months, and then became operationally intermittent and final fails to work >> at all. That makes me gun-shy, about buying another even though the AH-4 >> gets excellent reviews on eHam, almost all of which are based on an ICOM >> rig control. >> I have used an AH-4 for many years, with a 706MKIIG and with various >> other manufacturer's radios, including now a K2. Other than the limitation >> to ~125 watts, these are excellent. I only run 5 watts so it is not an >> issue. I do not recall a situation where the AH-4 would not give a useable >> match, provided I provided it a plausible antenna. I use a separate >> SWR/watt meter that shows it working. >> >> The momentary switch is push on, release off, no time specified. >> Pushing the button signals the AH-4 to run through its paces for a match. >> Most often, it is very quick. Occasionally, when you have gone from, say, >> 15M to 80M, it might take a little longer, but never more than several >> seconds. If no match can be found, it just stops. Either way, you stop >> the power. I wouldn't let it just run like that, but have never heard of >> damage because of it. You need to reduce power with non-Icom rigs that >> don't do it automatically. >> >> You might join the Icom tuner Yahoo group, if you can stand Yahoo. Lots >> of user experience there. >> >> I've never seen a store bought controller for the AH-4. Where have you >> seen them? >> 73 Jim Allen W6OGC >> >> Sent from my iPad >> ______________________________________________________________ >> Elecraft mailing list >> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft >> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm >> Post: mailto:[hidden email] >> >> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net >> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html >> Message delivered to [hidden email] >> > > Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to [hidden email] |
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In reply to this post by johnpierce
I have an AH-4 that I have been considering interfacing with my K3s. This website has lots of good information regarding the signalling to/from it:
https://www.hamoperator.com/Hamoperator/AH-4_General_Information.html I have used my AH-4 pretty hard for 8-years (with an IC-7000). It seems to tune practically anything & never misses a beat - I really like it. 73, Rob - AE7AP |
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