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| Reviews Summary for LDG QRP Antenna Tuner |
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Reviews: 11
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Average rating: 4.6/5
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MSRP: $179.00, assembled and tested.
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Description: The QRP Automatic Antenna Tuner kit is based on the AT-11 design with attention paid to reducing size and power consumption. The tuner is a high efficiency, microprocessor controlled, switched "L" network designed to work with Dipoles, Verticals, Inverted Vees, Beams or any coax fed antenna in the 1.8 - 30.0 MHz range. It's small size and weight make it perfect for installing in existing QRP transmitters. There are approximately 150 parts and requires two to four hours for construction.
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More info: http://www.ldgelectronics.com/
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NN8K
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Rating: 5/5
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Apr 10, 2009 17:49
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great qrp tuner
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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Very easy kit to build. Went together in a couple evenings. Worked flawlessly the first time.
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WB5GYB
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Rating: 5/5
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Feb 27, 2005 02:21
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Works good
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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As others have suggested, first thing I did was take the cover off and inspect it internally. Everything looked OK. Hooked it up to a G5RV antenna and tuned it on all bands 80-10 and was able to get very close to a 1:1 on all bands including WARC bands. Roller inductor turns fairly smooth for me. So far I'm very pleased with this tuner considering what I paid for it.
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KE7MU
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Rating: 3/5
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Feb 17, 2004 15:46
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Has a Problem
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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The unit produces "Birdies" in the receiver. Well designed gear do not need "Work Arounds" to function. The quality is good, functionality is just OK.
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AC7WL
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Rating: 5/5
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Oct 14, 2003 13:37
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Excellent QRP Tuner!
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Time owned: 3 to 6 months
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Ordered this unit with the "One Quick Switch" and "One Touch Tune" for my Yaesu FT-817. Great little tuner. I match my 40 meter dipole on all HF bands except for 160. 80 meters requires some fine tuning but once I get it dialed in, I get out fine. I definately like the ability to manually adjust settings and I use the RBA-1 4:1 balun for my ladder line. What really sold me on this unit were the outstanding reports of customer service, you just can't beat it. I have had no problems with mine and look forward to many years of operation with it. One suggestion on this great product which is as close to perfect as you can get, would be for it to remember various settings for certain frequencies which would make tuning even easier, but I can't knock it for that. Highly recommended.
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N2EXU
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Rating: 5/5
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Mar 25, 2002 16:52
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Good tuner, Great Company
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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My unit is factory built. It works as advertised. A little slower than tuners that remember settings, but delivers a good match.
I usually leave it in the trunk between my coax to the rig and the coax to the mobile antenna (Ham-Stiks). Works fine with the SGC SG-2020.
About two months ago, I called LDG to ask if I could get a replacement for one of the switches that had gone bad. I had it in three days at NO CHARGE! When I've called with a question, the service has been very attentive.
It will match antennas of all kinds, but if the antenna is a dog, it still won't radiate.
73,
Lonnie N2EXU
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DL8BAG
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Rating: 5/5
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Mar 4, 2002 08:35
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vy nice kit
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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The Z11 is a very nice kit to build. The parts almost fell together to form the antenna tuner. It was very nice and quite easy to build.
As stated in another review, the manual is not as perfect as the Elecraft manuals but a lot better than some others I have seen. The errors in the manual that have been mentioned in an older review have been corrected. For the normal Elecraft kit builder, there have been far to few toroids to wind, hi!
By the way except from having fun to build the kit, the tuner works just fine!
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ON4CCP
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Rating: 5/5
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Jan 24, 2002 14:37
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What a nice thing !
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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Ordered the Z-11 together with the W4RT OTT. With my TS870 I never could tune a G5RV on 160m used as a dipole (you must transform it to a Marconi antenna). With the Z-11 I tuned a 1/2 G5RV directly on 80m. Just fantastic ! Automatic tuning when SWR > 3 works perfectly.
Very happy with it !! 73s Ken, ON4CCP
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G3VGR
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Rating: 5/5
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Sep 24, 2001 19:03
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Works extremely well
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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The QRP Tuner kit was easy to build, but has more discrete components than the AT11. It worked first time on powerup & I've used it with various longwires, doublets and a delta loop. All tune up quickly. I've fitted a balun & switch internally. Information about this mod is on my website http://www.qsl.net/g3vgr/ldgbalun.html
I had some problems when I built my AT11 kit & found the support from LDG to be absolutely first class - a nice company to do business with. I would definitely buy products from them again.
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G4AON
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Rating: 3/5
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Jul 28, 2001 17:54
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Tedious to build but OK
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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The "3" rating for the Z-11 is more to act as a caution to the less experienced contructors out there. Once built, it works as advertised and you can't ask for more than that.
Building the Z-11 is straight forward, but the print board wasn't designed with the average home contructor in mind. 52 pin "postage stamp" ic sockets need to be soldered with care! You need a very steady hand and an illuminated bench magnifying glass comes in handy. I would rate the construction as harder than building an Elecraft K2 (built one earlier this year). The manual includes all the necessary steps but isn't in the same league as Elecraft. There were a couple of changes to the components supplied with no explanation leaflet, the 4.5 MHz crystal had been replaced with an 8 MHz one and two 100 Ohm resistors on the front panel appear to be 150 Ohms now. The instructions don't describe how to wind torroids (each pass through the hole counts as one turn) and there is a lack of capacitor identification.
Maybe I expect too much of a kit, but there again I've been involved in building Elecraft kits and that's a hard act to follow.
In use the Z-11 copes well with my open wire fed doublet. The doublet is 100 foot long and fed with open wire feeder via a 4:1 balun. The tuner only struggles on the lower end of the 80m band, it will tune to better than a 2:1 SWR but not always on the first attempt. All the other higher bands tune perfectly. As with any ATU, there are some loads just a little too reactive to cope with.
Dave
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WB9BHH
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Rating: 5/5
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Dec 4, 2000 16:06
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Very Satisfied
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Time owned: 3 to 6 months
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I purchased the LDG QRP antenna Tuner to go with my Tentec QRP XCVR. The unit works flawlessly, except that I wound T-1 backwards (should have read KB8ASO's remarks). My only advice is you need steady hands and a good soldering iron, otherwise the difference in price for tha assembled kit is attractive. However, any ham with kit buiding experience should have no trouble with the unit. I would highly recommend it.
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