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| Reviews Summary for Alinco EDX-2 |
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Reviews: 18
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Average rating: 4.6/5
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MSRP: $230
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Description: Automatic wire antenna tuner
3.5-30MHz with 8 ft whip
1.6-30 MHz with 40' wire
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Product is not in production.
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More info: http://www.alinco.com
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N7RRB
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Rating: 4/5
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Jan 16, 2012 17:24
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Great Tuner - except in the cold
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Time owned: 6 to 12 months
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I think this thing would tune a garbage can or a chain link fence! (haven't tried that yet though)
I've got it tuning about 66' of wire and have made contacts all over the world with my humble DX-70. The only reason it's not getting a 5 from me is that it just refuses to tune when the temp is below ~20f. Unfortunately that happens a lot in WY. I'm currently making plans to build it a doghouse with a light bulb or reptile heater to keep it cozy.
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KG4LOV
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Rating: 5/5
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May 15, 2011 14:39
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Used as a base station antenna
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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Due to antenna restrictions and a small lot, I use this tuner for my base station. It is mounted on the ceiling of the front porch and feeds aprx 70 or 80 feet of wire strung along the eaves of the house. Works well on all bands, especially 75 and 40 meters.
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G0OTT
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Rating: 5/5
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Oct 30, 2010 19:25
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Excellent
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I use this with my dx-70t portable when I take the family caravaning.
With a 10m roachpole and 45 feet inverted L radiator with 3 10m radials on the ground I get outstanding results on 40m and up.
It works on 80m and topband but results are down, keep meaning to add another 40feet to the L and see how it works then on 160/80m.
Still need to try it mobile which I am sure it will work out fine also.
Highly recommended tuner.
Regards Darren g0ott/p
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W7LPN
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Rating: 5/5
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Mar 21, 2010 21:37
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Mobile
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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My current mobile set-up consists of an auto coupler, a 4' mast, a stainless pizza pan "Pizza-Hat" and a stainless whip. My vehicle is very well grounded in multiple places, to frame, body, exhaust and engine. This set-up works excellent from 40m up, and passably below 40m with favorable conditions. I had 4 contacts during a 160m contest last night. It is very simple and convenient. It will not outperform a large coil screwdriver, but when mobile, with a cap hat, the take-off angle improves the amount of radiation at the horizon. One contact I made on 20m with 10 watts mobile had me at +10 over in S. Central Texas from Boise. That station was pushing 400 watts and his signal was +20 from a full size dipole. So their are situations when things are better than maybe they should be & the engineers can't explain away everything. There are a lot of tweaks one can do to improve your mobile signal and at times people will swear you are using an amp at a base station. Have fun and learn all you can. A compact auto tuner and a whip, if your vehicle is well grounded can give you lots of fun on the higher HF bands 10-20m and even 40m passably. The 857D can be triggered to send a 10Watt CW carrier by shorting the leads on the ACC 3.5mm jack page 35 item #4 of the 857 op manual. This accessory cable is cross wired so you can't use a common 3.5mm cable. You must have the Yaesu acc cable, or wire one yourself. It's been a couple years so....I bought a black box at Radio Shack and 2 push button momentary switches (1.to trigger the tuning cycle)(2. to short to ground the green wire to clear memory), a simple on-off low profile red-lighted toggle (Power), and a female 3.5mm receiver plug. The green EDX wire contacts the tip of the YC (Yaesu) cable, the white contacts the base ring. RED & Black to the on-off switch. I have not found a way to make high SWR trigger a new tuning cycle. I still must clear memory manually and re-tune when the primary tuning cycle is faulted by ie: a semi driving past or being parked next to a metal building. When you move away from the object your SWR will rise because it was part of the tuning parameters. When you push the trigger button, it shorts the YC cable ends and the Yaesu sends it's 10 Watt carrier which triggers a tuning cycle in the EDX. Even when you must clear and re-tune, the cycle is fairly quick so it is a minor inconvenience. This is not usually a consideration when using it in a fixed location. A quick look around you mobile before tuning can prevent any faulty solutions. As long as you haven't cleared the memory you may return to any previously tuned frequency and start talking, but when cleared, all memories are cleared. If you need some clarification as you start to build it write me at w7lpn.hamradio@gmail.com
http://fraziersleeveddipoles.wetpaint.com/page/MOBILEERING
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NY4D
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Rating: 5/5
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Feb 17, 2010 05:17
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Gem
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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With an 85 foot inverted L and wire fence ground the EDX-2 tuned 160 - 10 though 30 and 17 were a little hairy. I am sure a different feedline length or a feedline choke would have fixed that but....
There was a bit too much receive noise on the L to suit me, so for a permanent setup used this with a ZS6BKW version of the classic G5RV. I am dropping the ladder line straight to the tuner, one side to antenna, one side to the "ground" connection, with coax to the rig. Result is that it tunes 80-10 effortlessly. And that is all the bands, including 60 meters and WARC.
I am using this with the DX-70T and qsying is a breeze. Tunes quickly and since it is outside (yes it is weatherproof) if there is any relay chatter I don't hear it.
If you have an Alinco DX70 or DX77 this is plug n play, and really makes band-hopping a snap. Haven't tried it yet but it should be possible to interface these with Icoms with just a connector change and to other brands with a little homework and ingenuity. Previous reviews discuss this. Haven't had mine long enough to try it.
Bought mine barely used for about half the price of a new one, and as such consider it one of the better antenna tuner buys out there.
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K8TJ
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Rating: 5/5
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Dec 29, 2009 18:17
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FANTASTIC !
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I am a used ham gear dealer and have seen many automatic tuners come and go but the EDX-2 winds hand done. I use one as my main station antenna tuner. Little has been written about using this tuner with other brand radios. All it requires is a couple of watts of RF and then you short the START terminal to ground and maintain it until tuning is complete. I added an SO-239 to the case and simply paralleled it with the random wire antenna terminal and of course added a ground. I use a foot pedal connected to the START terminal. Put the rig in tune with a little RF, stomp on the foot pedal and bingo it's tuned in a split second. Works just fantastic. I sold my LDG tuner and since I don't use amplifier's also sold mt MFJ-986 tuner and use the EDX-2 exclusively on a wide range of antennas. Beams, dipoles, half slopers, etc.
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N4FDG
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Rating: 5/5
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Dec 31, 2007 19:58
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Just keeps on ticking
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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Bought it off eBay 5 years ago. It just keeps on working. Mine is mounted outside in the weather. No adverse effects. Works great on the Alinco DX-70TH. Tunes most anywhere on an 80'wire. I recommend it if you are using Alinco rigs.
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G6XCJ
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Rating: 3/5
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May 28, 2006 09:52
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Fair
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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Have had my EDX-2 some years now. In operation it wakes the entire house, BUT, it seems to work very well. If the Imp is too high it just shuts down my DX77, so really it is saving me hassle. I use it with a long disguised aerial about 100ft long with a 7mhz trap (11t coax) midway. Sometimes when i tune up i am surprised by the reception. I revoke all previous critism and am glad i bought it.
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V73GOD
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Rating: 5/5
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Sep 29, 2005 17:04
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Used and Abused
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I put this thing through every type of mismatch possible and it took it in stride. great piece of equipment. A bit noisy but it beat the AH-4 every time. Just grounded it and used whips that were way off tune but made it work. Good job Alinco. Worked well with the 706 too.
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