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Reviews For: LDG AT-600ProII Autotuner with M-600 Meter

Category: Antenna Tuners/Matching Networks

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Review Summary For : LDG AT-600ProII Autotuner with M-600 Meter
Reviews: 29MSRP: 369.99/129.99
Description:
The LDG AT-600ProII Autotuner is an addition to the LDG processor-controlled Switched-L tuner family providing two antenna ports (each with their own memory bank) and an interface for the new M-600 meter, supporting up to 600W SSB and CW.
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.ldgelectronics.com/index.php
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
10293.8
N3HSH Rating: 2023-02-25
Couldn't Return This Garbage Fast Enough Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
As others have stated, this tuner never seemed to memorize a match. It failed to match my antenna on three out of six bands whereas my Mat tuner matched all bands with ease.

It is extremely noisy and always took an eternity to match when it could manage to find one. The led meters for power and swr are nice, but that's the only positive I found in operating this tuner. I found the operation of this meter to be rather clumsy and non-intuitive.

I packed it up for return the same day I received it. I expected a lot better performance for the money. This is my first experience with an LDG product and I have no plans to try them again after this experience.
K7FD Rating: 2022-08-26
Irritating Time Owned: more than 12 months.
After several years of use I’ve put my ‘600ProII out to pasture. Never failed but never failed to find it an irritating device to use either. First off, it’s noisy as it searches for a match or memory. That’s to be expected. But if it ever memorized a frequency setting it wasn’t apparent to this op. Fine tuning was always required and that wasn’t any fun either.

Antennas matched were always typical: 3 el Mosley TA-33, 80 and 40m inverted vees, etc. No bed springs.

I’ve recently returned to a manual tuner.

John K7FD
W0DT Rating: 2022-04-26
Many years of use, almost daily and it works flawlessly .. Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Great Tuner.
N8FVJ Rating: 2022-04-10
It works Perfectly Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I read other reviews of poor performance, but I have not experienced any issues. One reported does not tune 80 meters, but it tunes my Zero 5 ground plane antenna on all bands. It also tuned a 10 to 1 SWR no problem. It always tunes to around 1.3 to 1 or less SWR on all bands. After using the memory mode after tuning a band, when changing bands simply push the Tune button and in about .2 seconds the tuner provides a good match from memory of that band tuner from the previous settings.

My Yaesu FTDX10 will not tune anything near 10 to 1. It flashes high SWR. I plan to use the LDG tuner with a 600 watt PEP out Ameritron AL-811. It is a good tuner and has better reports vs the MFJ 994B 600 watt tuner on eHam Reviews.
KG5JJ Rating: 2022-03-15
LDG AT-600 ProII Autotuner Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Works as advertised. LED coarse power and VSWR indicators are adequate for the job intended, and are reasonably accurate with indicated values.

An external Watt/VSWR meter may be desirable for OCD ops. Not necessary and will make no real-world difference in operation. That said, I do use a Daiwa CN-901 with it because it's there.

Of course, it's noisy. Autotuners with robust relays and a metal case sounding board next to you make their presence known.

I have had no hiccups or burps in operation, with up to 300 watts on digital modes when needed, and it handles 500 watts PEP with ease. It keeps my solid-state amp happy (and cool), and for that purpose, it nicely excels.

I've used many autotuners, both remote and in the shack over the years, and this LDG does what it is supposed to. No real complaints. YMMV
EA7EE Rating: 2020-10-18
Good but reliability problems Time Owned: more than 12 months.
The tuner works but it is very noisy. I only use it from 80m to 10m and with 300W maximum. Lately the tuner failed to show power and ROE in the bar graph although it works and makes a match without problem.

I left a message to LDG Support on the web. I waited for more than 48 hours to get an answer. So as They do not have contacted me yet I put my review here stating so. Then after I put the review they contacted me. To be fair I need to change my remarks here. They asked me to send the tuner so they can repair it. But for me it's difficult and expensive to send the tuner from Europe to the States.

The tuner behaves as if the function button was pressed as soon as I go to transmit. I opened the tuner and found a short circuit between pin 24 and 25 of de mcu. Pin 24 comes from the F button and pin 25 from the RF detector. I get out the mcu from the socket and re-socket it again. Now the Short Circuit disappears and the tuner starts to work again. I guess moisture and dust can create a short-circuit between pins.

I'm happy with the tuner. To be fair they contacted me to repair the tuner, so good for the LDG support. Although it's working well, it isn't so reliable.
W0ZS Rating: 2019-12-10
Great Tuner Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've had my 600 Pro II for several years and haven't had many issues with it. I use it with a Flex 6400 and it works very well. I have a classic doublet 132 feet long at approximately 40 feet fed with 300 ohm feedline terminated to a Balun Designs 1171 4:1 balun . It tunes all bands 80-10 with no problems. This balun is optimized for the lower bands but still works fine on the higher hf bands as well. I also have a classic hexbeam at 40 feet, but don't need to use the tuner for it since it is resonant on 20 through 10 meters. The M600 meter is nice except for the cable to the tuner. The connector is prone to coming out of the back of the meter if you move it. My lamp is also out in it, but I don't really need a lit lamp to read the meter. I am giving this tuner a 5 star rating because it works. I did have a problem and sent it into LDG. I contacted them via e-mail and they sent me instructions on where to send it to. They fixed it, upgraded the firmware and returned it free of charge. They will have me for a return customer in the event that anything happens to it. I am very satisfied!
K3TCR Rating: 2019-04-02
Very pleased Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Tunes well up to 800 ohms. That is their claim and it does just that. There are wider range tuners available, but not at this price. I am very pleased with it. I'm a plug and play person, but I needed to read the manuals to fully understand operation. I have the M-600 meter with it and it is accurate, bright, and large so it is easy to see. If you run an AL-811 or smaller amplifier this tuner/meter setup is perfect (if you can find one, as the meters are no longer made).
KE4ZUN Rating: 2018-12-15
Tuner struggles on some bands Time Owned: more than 12 months.
The tuner works just ok. This tuner is advertised to tune 1.8 to 54, but it struggles to tune on 80m & 10m and when it does tune on these bands, it doesn't retain the setting in memory. When calling their technical/customer support number, no one answers the phone. If I leave a message for someone to call me, no one ever calls back. When I update my tuner, it will not be an LDG.
W5IDX Rating: 2018-04-19
Highly Impressed Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
First off, I have had (2) LDG tuners in the past I used mobile. One on a IC-706 MK2G and one on a IC-7000. Usually they were used with a Hamstick. I was not very impressed with them at that time. I also used them on Field Day.

So I was reluctant to purchase one of these again.

I use a 330' Loop on a IC-756 Pro II with an Ameritron ALS-600 and have a Roller Tuner.

I wanted to automate the system some and have been looking at Auto Tuners.
I can tune the loop on 160 with the Roller tuner but did not expect the Auto Tuner to make the match.
I ran across this tuner and meter new in the box at a local hamfest.
The price was very fair. So I took the plunge knowing I may not like it. Well I have to say.

I am impressed. After hooking it up with the appropriate cables. It went thru a learning process; where as, the tune times are long.

Once it figured out the match. This thing is amazing. I use it with the amp on 80 thru 10 meters hopping bands and its done in milliseconds and ready to transmit.
I didn't expect it to work on 160 and it does not. The antenna is way to short. If my antenna was closer to resonate on 160 I am sure it would tune it. I still use the manual tuner on 160 for now.

My amp does not go up to 6 meters so I don't need it there. If you have a proper antenna this will tune it no problem.

If you have had issues with this tuner I would think you had a highly non resonate antenna. The problem was probably the antenna not the tuner.
I wish I had made this purchase sooner. It's so fast now to change bands. Using this loop from 160 thru 6 meters is so much easier now.

Looking back at my experience with the other LDG tuners that I used mobile. I now understand that what I was expecting the tuner to do for me mobile was nearly impossible because I was using Hamsticks and constantly changing antennas. The tuner was always trying to learn the new antenna change.

So put up a decent antenna that is not a dummy load and if the match is reasonable 6 to 1K ohms this tuner will perform beyond expectations.

The meter is also outstanding, Accurate, Easy to read and the scales are perfect at 100 and 600 watts for the rig and ALS-600 Amp.

Kudos to LDG!
W5IDX