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| Reviews Summary for LDG Z-11 Automatic Antenna Tuner |
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Reviews: 39
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Average rating: 4.9/5
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MSRP: $179.00
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Description: QRP (30W Max) Automatic Antenna Tuner with latching relays for zero power draw once tuned.
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Product is in production.
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More info: http://www.ldgelectronics.com
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write your own review of the LDG Z-11 Automatic Antenna Tuner.
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KC2GYP
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Rating: 5/5
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Dec 3, 2004 23:13
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Great Tuner
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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What can I say that hasn't been said. This tuner (particularly with W4RT's One Touch Tune option) is one amazing tuner. You switch bands. Touch the little button. Listen to the chickita chackita of the latching relays do their thing and voila! you're tuned to a totally resonant antenna. What could be better? Perfect for low wattage rigs like the Yaesu 817 or the Ten Tec Argonaut.
Highly recommended (if you can find one)
73
Peter
KC2GYP
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KD5ALU
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Rating: 4/5
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Oct 27, 2004 12:00
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Great Tuner
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Time owned: 6 to 12 months
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I am using the Z-11 with an SG-2020 mobile. Love the setup and is easy to operate while driving. Easily tunes Hamsticks 1 band above/below antenna band. The tuner tunes within 2 seconds and the noise is not objectionable as some claim. I would by LDG products in the future. I say a 4 rating because nothing is perfect.
KD5ALU
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SV1ENS
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Rating: 5/5
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May 17, 2004 06:34
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Nice companion to my FT-817
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Time owned: 6 to 12 months
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Works well, fits nicely under my FT-817, I'm very happy working QRP DIGI with it...
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LNXAUTHOR
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Rating: 5/5
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Mar 30, 2004 16:37
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Z-11 + Upgrade = New Tuner!
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Time owned: 6 to 12 months
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- just finished installing and testing my 'new' LDG Z-11 autotuner with the LDG Electronics CPU upgrade..
- the upgrade is inexpensive, and is accomplished in a few simple steps:
1, remove cover of tuner and remove folded ribbon from front panel and main board (the ribbon is held by pinned connectors, and is not the flimsy mylar ribbon, so it's pretty sturdy)
2. remove old CPU (i used a paperclip with bent edges)
3. insert new CPU (just pop in and push gently to seat)
4. tack-solder an electrolytic cap to one leg of a disc cap and a diode next to the CPU... then reassemble!
- upon powerup, you'll immediately notice that the old 'flashing' of the LEDs has been replaced by a left-to-right cycling of the LEDs...
- tuning works as before, but now your Z-11 has 200 tuning memories! you can also force a full tune cycle by pressing the CAP/IND switches up simultaneously...
- the result? a great little tuner made even better! you can send your Z-11 in for the upgrade, but heck, i'm pretty 'ham fisted,' so anyone should be able to do the upgrade without a problem!
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W3ZV
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Rating: 5/5
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Nov 26, 2003 19:23
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Nice little tuner
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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Great tuner especially when coupled with the FT817 and W4RT One Touch Tune. Too bad LDG is replacing it with the Z-100. But there is good news. LDG has an upgrade for the Z-11 CPU that adds memory tuning and supposedly speeds up tuning greatly.
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KG0WX
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Rating: 5/5
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Oct 21, 2003 11:14
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Great but......
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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There is little I can add to what is posted here about this great little tuner except for 3 things:
1) The noise from the relays is louder than I expected - I'm getting used to it but man - it's loud! How loud? Cricket loud - rattlesnake loud (almost).
2) When I first got the unit the tune button didn't work - I looked at the schematic and came up with no ideas so I called LDG - they suggested I short out the pins on the bottom of the switch with a coin. It worked! Turns out the switch is a relativley low end unit and the contacts needed to be broken in. With hard pressure the switch worked and now, 2 months later, it works just fine.
The only other thing I wish it had is a ground lug. I'll probably install one someday (I'm using the SO-239 bulkhead mounting screws now)....
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NE1RD
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Rating: 5/5
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Oct 6, 2003 20:31
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Solid and great support
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Time owned: 6 to 12 months
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Sometimes you can look at something and feel the elegance. The Z11 is a simple, elegant, and rock-solid piece of engineering. I've been using the tuner with my FT-817 for over 6 months where it has performed flawlessly. Yesterday, I packed up the radio and the tuner and accidentally damaged some of the switches on the front of the unit. A call to LDG support went something like this (paraphrased):
Me: "I did something stupid. I screwed up the switches."
LDG: "That's OK. Drop me an email and I'll send you a new front panel assembly right away."
Me: "But, this was kind of my fault. Are you sure?"
LDG: "That's OK. Let's just get it fixed."
OK, I took a bunch of liberties in the above transcript but the thrust of it was there: they wanted to make it right, whatever that took. How refreshing!
Great product. Great support. Need a QRP tuner? This is it. Period.
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KL7AC
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Rating: 5/5
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Sep 1, 2003 23:40
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Outstanding Tuner
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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My little tuner has been through a lot and tuned many an antenna. From a simple G5RV or longwire to a 4 element quad it has been flawless.
The tuner coupled with my 817 and Hy Power amp have made for many a QSO, highly recommended!
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LNXAUTHOR
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Rating: 5/5
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Aug 17, 2003 14:44
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Quick and Effective!
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Time owned: 3 to 6 months
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- the Z-11 makes my life a lot easier... the unit works quickly and efficiently... its buttons and controls are rapidly mastered - you can't ask for easier tuning operation!
- i use my Z-11 with an FT-817... the Z-11 is powered by two 9V alkaline batteries, hooked up using a custom battery adapter as per instructions on the LDG Web site...
- LDG is very good with phone support - my one phone call to them was answered with a live, friendly human and my question was answered right away...
- LDG thoughtfully includes a DC plug adapter AND a spare DC plug adapter sans wire so you can make your own battery adapter (as i did with the two 9Vs)...
- get a Z-11 if you want a great 30W max antenna tuner for your QRP rig...
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5R8GQ
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Rating: 4/5
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Jul 1, 2003 23:54
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Good Tuner that you can improve
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Time owned: 3 to 6 months
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I bought the Z-11 tuner kit to use with my PSK31
boards from SWL and the HF Packer Amp I built
from the HF Projects Group. I had some problems
with RF getting into the tuner, so I made the following mods:
1) Added a ground lug. I did this by exposing
the ground plane on the underside of the PC board,
and running 1/4 solder braid to a bolt and wing nut through the hole in the back middle of the enclosure.
2) Isolated the DC Ground with it's own wire, instead of it being part of the jumper from the screw of the RF input SO-239. I made 6 turns around an FT37-43 ferrite torroid as a choke.
3) Used another 6 turns on an FT37-43 torroid as an RF choke on the Positive DC input.
4)Used #20 Silver Teflon wire with 3 ferrite
beads on it to replace the enamaled wire jumpers
from the SO-239's to the PC board.
5) I replaced all capacitors in the tuning stage
with Silver Mica caps for lower loss, and added a
higher value cap (2000pf) at the high end of the capacitance range to increase range of the tuner.
6) While purely cosmetic, I replaced the tuning
LED's with clear state high brightness LED's.
This required a change of resistors on the front panel board, check whatever LED's you buy for required current.
Now I am extremely satisfied with the tuner,
tunes most anything, including long wires
connected directly to the center of the antenna
SO-239, without use of the overpriced optional balun. I was able to tune a 16 foot long wire on 40m.
I suggest you do these mods if you buy the kit version. If you have an assembled version, I do not suggest you change the capacitors unless you have experience removing components from double sided through-hole plated PC boards. But by all
means put chokes on the DC input and ground.
Quick and dirty you could put chokes on the DC
cable outside the tuner (as the manual suggests!)
but I think my method is cleaner.
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