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| Reviews Summary for Turbo Tuner |
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Reviews: 113
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Average rating: 4.5/5
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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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K6IPM
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Rating: 0/5
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Dec 22, 2008 07:55
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Lack of Response
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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It has been over 2 months since I sent my Turbo Tuner back to N2VZ Enterprises. I have sent several emails asking if the Turbo Tuner was received. To date absolutely no reply from the manufacturer. I could never get the tuner to work and there is a "no questions asked" warantee on the website. After sales service is most important but making contact is essential. I don't expect any reply at this late date but hopefully the rest of you will. Best 73' de Alan, K6IPM
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KC7YCL
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Rating: 0/5
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Dec 21, 2008 19:11
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N2VZ Destroyed my Icom IC-7000
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I bought one of these used a couple of months ago. I used all the contact information Bill, N2VZ, has available to contact him to get a firmware update, since he doesn't publish it on his website. Actually, he doesn't publish anything useful on his website. It's been two months and I have not been able to contact him, so I tried to go it alone.
What little information is in the manual says that the firmware version can be determined by plugging it in to your radio, and that's what I did. It destroyed my Icom IC-7000 because (this is my favorite part) IT NEEDS A FIRMWARE UPDATE! Out of the box, it's only compatible with the IC-706 series of radios, and it has no warning labels saying that the product can destroy your radio. The only way to find out if it will destroy your radio is to actually go ahead and destroy your radio.
Bill, the maker of this device, apparently only responds to new sales orders - he won't talk to you for support. This thing sucks so bad that you can get it for half the new price if you can find someone with at toasted radio that is trying to get rid of it.
Now, I've seen a lot of bad reviews of good products done by people who can't follow instructions. But, I'm not one of those people. This product is dangerous to use simply because there's no information and no support available to help you use the product safely. You might as well try to land your airplane at an airport with air traffic controllers that refuse to speak to you. It's going to be risky!
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VE7SNC
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Rating: 0/5
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Dec 11, 2008 09:30
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beware!!!
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I feel absolutely terrible leaving this type of feedback, but I feel the need to help other hams.I owned one of these units before for my Icom 706MIIG, the things worked awesome for about yr. It melted together inside. I needed to replace it and here is where it went horribly bad. I ordered it in the first of Oct 2008.Th e lady I talked to assured me it would be at my address at the end of Oct when I return from my holiday back to NB canada. Well it is now the middle of Dec and still no tuner. I have been lied to at least 3 times so far and when confronted they assured me it would be sent soon, after they had told me that it was already shipped. Last week the lady said and I quote " it will be shipped tomorrow and I will call you tomorrow and give you a tracking number" guess what? still no call. Time to cancel the order. By the way I think I'll try the BETTER RF product next.
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K5ADF
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Rating: 5/5
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Nov 14, 2008 00:19
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Works
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Time owned: 3 to 6 months
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I bought my turbo tuner at Dayton last May to use with my new IC7000. The new purchase replaced an IC706MKIIG and Amcom tuner in my Ford Ranger pickup. I set the switches as advised and it works well with my High Sierra 1800 screwdriver antenna (blackhawk motor). I frequently switch between 20M and 40M on my 7000 and the antenna goes the correct direction every time. So far noise or RF has not been a problem with the turbo tuner using the basic installation (leads not protected).
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K6IPM
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Rating: 0/5
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Nov 13, 2008 17:03
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Turbo Tuner Support
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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As a follow up to my original report on the Turbo Tuner, I was unable to ever get mine working. However, worse than that is the support provided. I finally sent the Turbo Tuner back to N2VZ Enterprises. I have never received feedback whether or not the tuner arrived nor any answers to several emails. In disgust I told the manufacturer to keep the unit and perhaps it could be resold at a discount. I have never had such poor response to a piece of amateur radio equipment in over 50 years of operation. I would like to hear other responses to issues with their Turbo Tuners. I would never buy anything again from this vendor. He may have a great product as many of you have testified but no response to several emails is attrocious.
73 de Alan, K6IPM
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VK4VP
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Rating: 5/5
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Oct 30, 2008 03:15
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Works better than I expected
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I use a Turbo Tuner with a HS Sidekick and a Kenwood TS-480SAT. It is an excellent combination using the serial port of the TS-480 for comms. Once in a blue moon it goes the wrong way particularly if you retune within the same band but this is not an issue, let it go and it finds resonance pretty quickly. I would definately recommend it.
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KC1HD
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Rating: 5/5
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Aug 24, 2008 06:35
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Need to read the directions!!
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Time owned: 6 to 12 months
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Let me set the record straight and just say that I hardly ever post but I just had to after reading some of the posts below...
I have a yaesu 857D and several mobile antennas. I was using the Little Tarheel-II and the turbo tuner with no problems whatsoever. I upgraded my antenna to a Hi-Q 5/80 and just got it installed a couple of days ago. As I was trying everything out, I noticed, with my antenna analyzer, that the antenna has such narrow bandwidths on 40M and below. When I hooked the antenna to the turbo tuner and hit tune on the radio it tuned 20 meters just fine. When I changed to 40 meters and hit tune I noticed the swr meter on the radio would eventually show a match but the turbo tuner didn't stop and kept on going. This was also replicated on 80 meters. I came here and saw postings relevant to my issue and it seemed since I was experiencing the same problem that the turbo tuner must be a piece of junk. Needless to say I felt rather disappointed that I would need to go and seek another device to work with the Hi-Q antenna.
I then decided to read the manual over(after all who does that, right?) and made a couple of changes. I set the stall current to 1000ma as suggested in the manual for Hi-Q antennas and then I noticed there was a setting for SWR:
SWR Threshold – Keep this in the Normal position unless the controller has trouble finding a match on some bands. This option will allow the controller to accept a slightly higher SWR. With the option set to “Alternate” the controller will still search and find the lowest SWR.
I set it to the alternate position, hooked everything back up and it works perfectly!!!!
I moved along from 80M to 10M and it found resonance on all the bands.
I sympathize with all of you that had/have issues but a couple of switch changes resolved mine.
73
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KA3NXN
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Rating: 2/5
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Jul 28, 2008 12:36
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Needs Help
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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Especially on the lower bands. While trying to tune on 75 phone the spot on my HI-Q is so narrow that the tuner will blow right by it and either bottom out or top off the antenna several times before it decides it has found a resonant point.
needs help, how about a memory?
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K6IPM
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Rating: 0/5
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Jul 28, 2008 06:43
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do not purchase
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I give this tuner a 0. I have had it over one year and have not been able to make it work with my HI-Q-4/80 mobile antenna. It does not tune properly. I and my HAM friends have looked at it and we cannot seem to get it to work. I've added ferrite cores, long coax cable, etc. Furthermore, the mfg of the Turbo Tuner does not answer emails. Don't waste your money on this product.
73 de Alan, K6IPM
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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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