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| Reviews Summary for Turbo Tuner |
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Reviews: 108
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Average rating: 4.8/5
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MSRP: $269. USD
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Description: Automatic Screwdriver Antenna Controller for Icom, Kenwood, and Yaesu. Handles antenna motor currents up to 2 amps. Firmware is user upgradeable using a computer. Controller is powered by the radio. Plug and play with no calibration required. Works with all models of screwdriver antennas. Tarheel, High Sierra and others. RF bullet proof with extensive RFI filtering. Full 30 day money back satisfaction guarantee and 2 year no questions asked parts and labor warranty. We stand behind our products.
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More info: http://WWW.N2VZ.COM
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write your own review of the Turbo Tuner.
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W8NYY
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Rating: 3/5
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Jun 25, 2008 08:16
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Service an Issue
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I've been using Bill's Turbo Tuners for a while (about 3 years) now and on my 3rd one. I have to agree though with some of the others that the workmanship could be better. I had to send my current one back after using it only 2 months. The data line is wired directly to the board with no support and the wires pulled right off the board. I sent the unit back to Bill in the 3rd week of May. Here it is nearly July and I've yet to get it back and no ETA. Now phone calls to his number go unanswered and apparently into a full voicemail box. All you get is beeps. And of the dozen or so emails I sent him, he only answered one and that didn't include the status I was looking for. I think business is so good for Bill that his service is suffering. He's behind on shipping new units according to WB0W and 5 weeks to get one fixed with no end in sight is unacceptable. I'm being generous with a 3 rating.
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KD7UFF
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Rating: 5/5
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Jun 16, 2008 00:44
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OUT STANDING
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Time owned: 3 to 6 months
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I got my Turbo Tuner from Bill to run my Tarheel 2 antenna with my 706MIIG.. It took me about 15 mins to get it set-up correct. I can say I love running HF mobile now more than ever. Bill was very friendly when I ordered my Turbo Tuner. I have yet to have one bit of trouble with it. Thanks again Bill for taking the time to help me get my Turbo Tuner. I would advise anyone that has a screwdriver antenna that will work with the Turbo Tuner to get one. It sure makes tuning your antenna MUCH safer & faster.
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WV4L
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Rating: 5/5
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May 25, 2008 19:55
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Great Tuner!
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Time owned: 3 to 6 months
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Bought mine used. Running it with an Icom 706MkIIG and a HS 1800 Pro. Works great! I really like the convenience of letting the TT do the work. One short glance at the final SWR upon notification tuning is done and I'm confidently on the band chosen.
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W4RVN
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Rating: 5/5
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Apr 30, 2008 11:07
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Great support
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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Have had mine for 2 months. Works Great on my Icom 746Pro and High Sierra HS-1800Pro. Had similar problem with baud rate(300 only) when I recently installed a SCS pactor modem. Needed 1200 baud or better. Sent an email and got a response in less than a day with new firmware attached. Now supports 9600 baud. Great Service.
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WA9PIE
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Rating: 2/5
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Apr 29, 2008 22:40
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Best on the market - falls short
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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Simply put, I think this is the best auto-tuner for a screw-driver antenna available.
That said, there are a few signficant issues that I have with it.
First issue - no matter where you set the dip switches, you can never be completely sure if the tuner will direct the antenna in the proper direction. From a low position that supports 20m, you can change the band to 10m and the tuner will go UP all the way and finally reverse direction and tune it to a resonate spot low on the antenna. (1 point deducted)
Second issue - maybe I'm strange, but my truck has the IC-706MkIIG, Tarheel Model 100, the turbo tuner, AND a laptop with a rig control program on it. The tuner only supports 300 baud. (You can put a Y-connector on the rig's com port and multiple com devices use it - so long as the baud rates are the same) The rig-control (and logging) program I use doesn't support anything lower than 1200 baud. So changing bands is a major pain in the tail. I mentioned this to N2VZ and the reaction I got was not encouraging and seemed to place the blame on the rig control program. I'm asking the makers of the rig control program to support 300 baud and they think I'm nuts (and rightfully so). (1 more point deducted)
Third issue is - (others have mentioned this) the tuner needs to have a manual "trim" or "fine tuning" capability. I mentioned this too - no reaction. (1 more point deducted)
That said...
I really don't think you can get a better one than this (as an auto-tuner). I just wish these things above were resolved.
Mike, WA9PIE
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W5UV
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Rating: 5/5
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Apr 14, 2008 13:52
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No Fear of Power!
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Time owned: 3 to 6 months
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I've been using the Turbo Tuner at 200 watts output (Kenwood TS-480HX) with no issues. Recently added an amp to boost the output to 500 watts and the Turbo Tuner hasn't missed a beat at the higher power levels. Bill has done a great job providing this to the mobile ham communnity!
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K5BJM
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Rating: 5/5
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Apr 14, 2008 13:35
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Works Perfect !!!!!!!
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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This is the best way to go! Works perfectly from 3.5 through 75 meters with my Tarheel and my YAESU 857D. Best thing since the invention of the light bulb!
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W9WO
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Rating: 3/5
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Apr 8, 2008 12:01
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Could Use Some Improvments
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Time owned: 3 to 6 months
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I purchased my Turbo Tuner at Dayton 2007. First off I'll say it does work as claimed. A few times it did send the antenna in the wrong direction. For example if I was on 20 meters and switched to 40 meters it would send the antenna down instead of up in which the antenna would go all the way to the bottom and then move in the proper direction passing 20 and finally finding it's match on 40. I was using it with a IC-706MKII and a High Sierra 1800PRO antenna. When I first installed everything I set the internal dip switch settings as described in the manual for the antenna being used and it would always go in the wrong direction. So I switched the switch that controlled the starting direction to the opposite setting and most times after that it would go in the right direction on the first try. Here's my problem with it though. Why don't it have a manual tune control to compliment the auto tune feature. It is either auto or nothing. In the case of the 706 you hit the tune button on the radio's face and off the antenna goes searching for the lowest SWR. Cool huh? Yea but all the while it's looking it is broadcasting a 10 watt cw tone for all to hear and into a non resonant antenna. Maybe a 10.0 to 1 SWR. Say your on 10 meters and switch to 80. It takes the antenna about 80-90 seconds to move from one to the other. That's 75-80 seconds of excessive QRM and besides that the radio get's extremely hot due to the long key down into a high SWR. I did not like causing that long of interference so I sold it. I'm really surprised that nobody else has commented about this. If it only had an up and down button so that you could receive tune by ear until you get close and the hit the auto tune button for eye's on the road matching that would be great.
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KC1Y
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Rating: 5/5
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Mar 26, 2008 10:52
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Works Great with Kenwoods
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I bought the Turbo Tuner model that works with the Kenwood TS-480. I use a Sidekick antenna. I had to get an updated program from Bill N2VZ and had a little problem updating the TT and almost gave up. But once I discovered the TT will send an error code (in morse code) even after the new program has downloaded properly to it, things came to life. If this happens to you, just power down your transceiver momentarily. Then the TT will quit sending the code after you power back up. This isn't mentioned in the manual (or my old eye balls missed it). The new software uses DIP switch position 6 to switch between the TS-480 and the TS-2000. Since I use a TS-480 in the truck, and have a TS-2000 in the fifth wheel RV, I didn't want to have to take the TT apart every time I needed to switch between the two rigs. And I sure didn't want to have to buy two of these things at $269! I simply drilled a hole in the plastic case and mounted a SPST sub-mini toggle switch. I then wired it across the two pins that represent position 6 of the DIP switch. Leave the DIP switch position 6 in the OFF position. Now I can switch between the two transceivers instantly. In my installation, the TS-2000 will operate the TT fine in the TS-480 position. But the reverse is not true - the TS-480 will not operate with the switch in the TS-2000 position. But I figure Bill put the switch position 6 in for a reason, so I use the external switch to select the appropriate transceiver even though they both work in the TS-480 position. In operation, the TT is flawless. Its pretty expensive (for example, the Better RF tuner for the IC-7000 is half the cost of the TT and operates about as well), but a friend went cheap with the Antenna Boss and wishes he had bought one of these. Email support from Bill was timely and helpful. Absolutely top notch. The unit is well built, but considering the parts inside the box, it is fully priced at $269! Flawless functionality is worth something, though. I would buy another one in a New York minute.
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K8ZZ
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Rating: 5/5
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Mar 13, 2008 04:19
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Great service
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I had not used my Turbo Tuner in over a year and had upgraded to a Icom 7000 and a Hi-Q 4/80RT antenna for the mobile. I e mailed Bill and asked if he would check it out, and he said send it in. In a week he called me back and said it was checked and upgraded with the latest firmware. That is GREAT product support. Tnx for a great product and support.. I had to insist that I at least pay the shipping.. 73 Ed K8ZZ
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