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Reviews Categories | Antenna Tuners | Kenwood AT230 Help


Reviews Summary for Kenwood AT230
Kenwood AT230 Reviews: 14 Average rating: 4.9/5 MSRP: $fc-301
Description: Manual Tuner. 160 to 10 MX.
Product is in production.
More info: http://
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WX4O Rating: 5/5 Jun 15, 2010 18:30 Send this review to a friend
Excellent  Time owned: more than 12 months
Owned one with my TS520 set up 15+ years ago. At 100 watts it worked perfectly everytime. Wish I hadn't sold it.
 
2E0SSQ Rating: 5/5 Jun 15, 2010 14:43 Send this review to a friend
Nice piece of kit  Time owned: 0 to 3 months
Just bought a second hand one of these from a G8 who had 3 of them, (Strange but true.) and I paid £100 for it, but it's like brand new.

Firstly I have to agree that they are very sensitive when using the dials, but once mastered they are a delight.

Secondly even though i got no instructions with mine, they are available online, but to be honest, it's very easy to use anyhow.

Thirdly it's typical Kenwood insofar as the quality of the product.

Theres not much more to add, other than a Palstar AT300 has made way for this, and judging by my experience so far, the AT230 won't be going anywhere.

 
G7WBB Rating: 5/5 Oct 10, 2009 14:44 Send this review to a friend
Top Notch  Time owned: more than 12 months
I have owned my faithfull 230 for more than 4 years now and can safely say its going nowhere!!!
It tunes anything from the odd bit of wire thru to my MA6V to "zero" even though its sensitive on adjustment the knack is soon learned and tuning becomes a doddle!!!!! If you want a good solid reliable tuner then this is the one to lookout for, although they are getting a little scarce on the market now they are well worth the money if you can find a good one....
 
KC9MLL Rating: 5/5 Feb 16, 2009 12:20 Send this review to a friend
SPOT ON!  Time owned: 0 to 3 months
I was at a friends house, and saw this little gem.
I convinced him that I needed it more than he did. hi hi
I was having a small problem with 80 meters.
Just couldn't get my 2000 to load up the upper half on that band. The antenna just wasn't quite right.
But now, it's a snap! Definately an oldie but a goodie!
Easy to operate. The manual was easy to understand! I am impressed!
If you can get one, do it!

 
G8LIK Rating: 5/5 Oct 30, 2007 07:45 Send this review to a friend
Golden oldie  Time owned: 0 to 3 months
Thanks to ebay I picked up a couple of these at good prices to give my TS120 series transceivers their own tuner needed for 20 metres.Despite the age of these -internally the one opened up looked as good as new,ideal for 100W type rigs and so much better build than my old MFJ 948 previously used with trepidation.Quite heavy,solid case and no riveted UHF sockets.A good looker too...though my wife may disagree :) A good buy!
 
M0ECZ Rating: 5/5 Nov 14, 2006 06:17 Send this review to a friend
A well built piece of kit  Time owned: 0 to 3 months
I picked up my AT-230 on ebay after reading reviews on it here on eham.
I paid over the odds for it at a Buy it Now price of £125, but I needed an ATU quickly and didn’t want to but new as I don’t think modern build quality can match the more “mature” models.
All in all, I am please with my purchase. I run a TS-2000 into a G5RV and there are parts of some of the bands that the TS-2000’s internal tuner just can’t tune (if it can’t get a good match, it just gives up and instead of giving the best match it can, it switches itself out of circuit!!). I have found that the AT-230 has been able to tune the G5RV well enough to enable me to transmit on most bands from 80m through 10m.
The AT-230 is a nice, well built piece of kit and I am pleased to own one.
 
G7WGX Rating: 5/5 Nov 4, 2006 10:28 Send this review to a friend
good tuner  Time owned: more than 12 months
I have had 3 Kenwood 230's and I keep selling them thinking I can find one better but I cant seem to find one any better for the low amount of money they are now second hand so I am going to keep this one hopefully as they are very good they are very sensitive when tuning but you cant have every thing this one is a keeper if you see one get it as some of the new ones are not as good.
 
G4RNW Rating: 4/5 Sep 29, 2006 08:12 Send this review to a friend
V good, but has limitations  Time owned: more than 12 months
I have owned this ATU since new in 1982. It is very satisfactory and easy to use, but the R & X adjusters are a bit sensitive. It is ideal for the TS830 which I bought at the same time and is still in use with it. It is not suitable for high power rigs i.e it is limited to 100w on 160 and 200 on all other bands. It wont match 'anything to anything' i.e wont cope with very high SWRs but it is rarely caught out. It is versatile, will run coax or end fed. I have a five band GP for 10 - 80 plus end fed 1/4 wave for 160 and it copes with little problem. It doesnt always hit SWR 1:1 but close enough not to matter. I would reccommend it to anyone using modest power
 
MM3PTS Rating: 5/5 Jun 14, 2005 03:55 Send this review to a friend
Easy  Time owned: 0 to 3 months
I've owned the AT-230 now for a few weeks .It's in line to tune my G5RV and does so without any problems .I find it very sensitive when tuning .I've also had the Daiwa atu which was also excellent but my preference is the Kenwood .Also owned MFJ and thought they were poor .In the UK the AT-230 sells used for between £90 --- £130 but well worth it .
 
W7DDD Rating: 5/5 Dec 10, 2004 20:27 Send this review to a friend
Wonderful Tuner  Time owned: 3 to 6 months
I bought one of these units on eBay to go with my Kenwood 830S. I knew I'd need it because of my potpouri of home-brew antennas. I now have 2 "store-bought" antennas, but my main all-bander was a Marconi long wire with 70 ft + 30 ft + 20 ft legs, crazy angles, kind of sloping from my roof to a fence post, with a 10-15 foot lead-in. The main part of the antenna is a 70 ft Radio Shack #14 copper wire. The feed line is an insulated piece of maybe #18 or 20 aircraft wire I bought on a spool by the pound from Boeing surplus. It's my main 40-80-160 meter antenna. I work all these bands.

The Kenwood tuner tames this "dog's breakfast" of a sky-wire pretty near down to flat (seems to depend somewhat on rain/temp.) I use it everyday; it's always operational. My signal reports are usually "very nice signal." I couldn't begin to explain what antenna I was using to my contacts. (They're always swinging their beams around in my direction!) It can tune my A-99 10M vertical easily onto 20 meters. I wonder if I shouldn't try for 80, or even 160! If it's a bad day, I have to struggle down to a SWR of 2.0, but usually, I can make anything a flat 1:1.

This is a wonderful tuner. It's big, rugged, heavy, dependable. I can't imagine being without it. Not ever. I'm sure it would tune my rain gutters or bedsprings; maybe even my water pipes or model train tracks.
 
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