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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
K4ASZ Rating: 2014-06-27
LDG 600 PRO II Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I have been meaning to write a review on this a a few weeks after getting the tuner .
I am still working on a Antron 99 10-12 meter vertical antenna because that's what I had up when I got my tech ticket , I do have a mosley 53A to put up and in the process of putting up a G5RV 10-80 meter wire .
But this tuner has allowed me to work dx all over using 10 - 12 - 17 - 20 meters , I have made 15 mtr contacts but seems as though the tuner has a hard time keeping up with the 15 mtr band .
I have tried 40 meter but SWR low but only running 100 watts limits me there but the tuner does not struggle even though its tuning it down to like a 16th wave length .
But I have no problems with mine and keeps me on the air until I het my tower up and will still need it with the G5RV wire but Im sure it wont work near as hard as it does with a 10 mtr 1/2 wave dipole verticle..
Thanks 73s
KF7VXA Rating: 2014-05-27
Very Pleased Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
This antenna tuner works great with my Yaesu FT-450 AT and an Ameritron 600 watt amplifier. It has tuned all of my antennas with zero problems. It has more memories than one could ever need and is really fast once it's tuned on a frequency it has been tuned to before.
The one person complained about a 1.7 to 1 SWR on 160 meters.
160 Meters is not an easy band for any tuner. I think many make far more of SWR than is necessary.
A full size tuner might get slightly better SWR on 160, but that's why I bought an auto tuner, so I didn't have to bother tuning and watching meters every time I changed bands or frequency's
I'm on 160 meters little anyway. If you are a dedicated Low Bander, a full size tuner might be a better choice, but as little as I use 160, it's perfect. I doubt I've ever missed a QSO because it tuned to 1.7 to 1 on the 160 meter band.

I'm looking forward to getting the meter that goes with it. For the price I paid $300.00, I find it far easier to use and just as good in the SWR department as the MFJ tuner it replaced.
The small size is great also. It fits right in with my other equipment without needing a large separate space like full size tuners do.
I'd buy another without reservation. It works as advertised.
W4ETR Rating: 2014-04-26
Nice Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I love this tuner, it's a bit noisy, but not a big deal to me. I am certain this thing would Tuna fish if you hooked it up :) Works great with the AL-811, and all my homebrew antennas.
N0YXE Rating: 2014-02-16
VERY NICE Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
The only time it stopped working was when the plug got loose. It is a nice addition to any station and appears to be accurate enough to get a lot of use out of it.
WB0WQS Rating: 2013-12-15
Working great here Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Added the LDG-600proII to my station after buying a new Ameritron ALS-600 amplifier. The Antenna is a 135' center fed Inverted-L fed with ladder line to a 4:1 balun and short run of coax to the tuner. Tunes up great on all bands 10-80 and running up to 600w is not a problem.
Had originally bought the mfj-994b to go with the ALS-600, and had a bad experience with it (review here on eham). The LDG is working great. Using the LDG cable to go with my Icom 756proII. It makes the whole tuning process easy and fast. I Would recommend it.
VA2DV Rating: 2013-10-27
Quality and fair pricing Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I bought this tuner as a companion to my newly acquired linear amplifier.I had lost confidence
in LDG in the past due to my recuring problems with a Z11pro :continuous retuning,instability.Never had problems with any other brands.Si I was a little anxioux when I took the plunge and crossed my fingers hoping that theses issues were model related.After all, the market offer for 600w autotuners is somehow limited (Unless MF... is enough for you)

First I must says that the internal construction is first rate with beefy parts and quality relays.

I made my initial testing with my bareboof rig on many bands and the operation went smooth with no retuning and instant memory recall.I then added the amplifier (AL-84,500w PEP) and restested everything.Same good results.I checked for heated components after long ragchews and found nothing anormal.

They've done there job on this one.
I ordered the companion analog meter (M600) and the Icom interconnection cable so I now have a completely integrated 600w tuner.

I would recomment it to anyone with a small amplifier.
N6MYA Rating: 2013-10-12
Excellent Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I purchased this antenna tuner with the anticipation of going to a 600 watt solid state amplifier in the near future. This unit replaces my LDG Z-100PROII that will be going into my mobile station. Both of these tuners work flawlessly with my antenna system. Both of these tuners handle my antenna system on 20 meters, where an Elecraft 500 watt autotuner could not.

I have had LDG tuners going back to the AT-11MP kit that i put together way back when.

I have always found that LDG goes the extra mile to help out their customers when needed.

'nuf said except thank-you.

N6MYA
K5DSQ Rating: 2013-03-06
OK, but not Great Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I recently purchased the LDG AT-600ProII without the M-600 Meter. It was purchased specifically to operate with my Ameritron ALS-600 amp feeding either a Mosley TA-33 WARC or an Alpha Delta 160-10 meter dipole. I like most watched the YouTube videos that are provided by LDG concerning the 600ProII and figured since they use an ALS-600 in the demonstration it must be the way to go. I do find the operation on the most common bands to be very easy and the unit performs very well under most loading situations. It's not a full size manual tuner and I did not expect it to be. However, I did expect it to handle most common loading problems (<2.5-3.0 SWR) on 160-10 meters.
My Alpha-Delta Dipole is a short limited-space antenna on 160 and therefore has a very narrow bandwidth. At resonance (1.890) the SWR is 1.7-1 (MFJ-259B) which is certainly within the tuning capacity of most transceivers like my FT-950 which has an internal tuner. My FT-950's internal tuner handles this 1.7-1 miss match and easily tames the SWR back to 1 to 1. Unlike the FT-950's internal tuner, attempting a tune on the same 160 meter antenna (same frequency) the AT-600ProII fails to improve the SWR below 1.6-1.7 to 1. I quickly figured out that the FT-950's internal tuner has a far greater range than the AT-600ProII, at least on 160 meters.
Concerned I emailed LDG describing the problem and received a very prompt reply. They suggested manually adjusting the up/down buttons on the unit to adjust capacitance and inductance. I had already tried adjusting the up/down buttons so I again emailed them and asked for more suggestions. Here is the response I received: "This is normal for the tuner. While the tuner always tries to find the best match, we count that if it finds a 1.5, then it succeeded.
6M and 160M are a little tougher and the 1.7 is pretty close. If you added a 3, 5 or 10 foot length of coax to your feedline right at the tuner on the antenna side, it may change the SWR that is shown by the tuner a little."
This normal?? 1.7 is pretty close?? Needless to say I was very disappointed with LDG response. If that is the best that this tuner can do on 160 with a 1.7 SWR then they should list it as a 80-10 meter tuner. I had hoped that this tuner would give me some flexibility operating on 160 with my ALS-600 amp but such is not the case. Any departure away from the resonate frequency (1.7 SWR) on 160 and the AT-600ProII fails to correct any SWR imbalance. I don't know about 6 meters, but if you plan to work 160 with this unit and your medium powered amp I would suggest you look elsewhere for a tuner that has far more capacity otherwise you will be sorely disappointed.
AB3QB Rating: 2012-10-18
Provides automatic tuning with your favorite transceiver. Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Working with medical facility computer systems in the military service, I frequently encountered turnkey systems that packaged matching critical components. When I retired this Spring, I decided to return to amateur radio - having originally been a shortwave listener in the 60s, via a Hallicrafters S-120.

My first attempt this Summer at a rig was an ICOM 7000 with the LDG IT-100 tuner. Due to restrictive homeowner's covenants, I had to mount my Alpha Delta DX-EE dipole antenna as 'guy wires' to a 2 meter vertical. This less than optimum antenna system made it difficult to reach out through the clutter. As I couldn't improve my antenna system, I decided to advance to a higher power level. After careful research, I choose to marry my ICOM 7000 with a 600W Ameritron AL-811Y amplifier as the power level was within the limits of the DX-EE and it had an optional ARB-704IC ICOM relay buffer interface box to protect my transceiver. In searching for a replacement for the LDG IT-100 tuner, I discovered that LDG was coming out with the AT-600ProII Autotuner soon, that was to add an optional meter (not available on the preceeding AT600Pro), and offering a cable interface for the ICOM 7000 for automatic tuning. I received the AT-600ProII yesterday and began assembling my rig - fortunately there are videos available on U-Tube for the tuner, meter, and amplifier that walk you through the installation process. I am really glad that I waited, as the M-600 provides the external meter necessary to fine tune the AL-811 amplifier for maximum power. This morning I tested my new system. A contact in Norman Oklahoma could barely hear me at 100W, but when I took the amplifier off of Standby, my signal was 5/9. The advancement of components such as the AT-600ProII, with transceiver specific interfaces, make it much easier for us relative 'newbees' to marry them together into a turnkey system.