| GW4PJQ |
Rating:  |
2017-01-05 | |
| Complete junk |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| How anyone can give this load of junk 5 is beyond me. I have owned this for over twelve months and it is the most temperamental thing I have owned. Sometimes it loads up my 130ft end fed against a good earth fine other times it doesn't want to know. I tried to load up 3.757 to no avail but I was able to sneak up to 3.757 by loading up on 3.600 first then going to 3.757. I was in QSO on 1.933 once and all of a sudden having loaded up just fine it decided to have another go whilst on the air! This is a trick it does quite often. Oh I could go on but you would think LDG would have tested this more thoroughly. I replaced this perambulating disaster with a Stock Corner model from the Netherlands which really works. DONT BUY THIS! |
|
| G0UOO |
Rating:     |
2016-10-11 | |
| Works as Advertised |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
My antenna is a 120ft doublet, fed with 30ft of 300 Ohm slotted line. The feeder is connected to the tuner via a choke BALUN. Then I have about 30ft of co-ax buried back to the house.
With this arrangement the unit finds a match on all bands 80M thru 10M (including 60M), with a low VSWR indicated at the rig. I tune at around 20W and run 100W SSB/CW.
On the air I get reports that are in line with what I'd expect with my antenna setup. In fact reports around the UK are excellent on 40 and 80M, with a spot of DX at times on the higher bands. I guess what I'm saying is that there doesn't appear to be any noticeable loss introduced by the tuner.
No issues noted other than it seems to lock up very occasionally. This is easily fixed by cycling the power. If it weren't for that I'd give it a five. |
|
| NT4MM |
Rating:      |
2016-02-10 | |
| Works as described for me |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
Admittedly, I haven't had this thing terribly long. If it has a problem after a few months, I'll come back and update, but in the meantime, I figured I'd give my thoughts on this.
The short version is this: I went ahead and took the plunge despite some less than stellar reviews of this, based solely on my own past experiences with LDG being very positive. I have not been disappointed - there are some "quirks" to this tuner, but the manual actually does describe these issues, or at least, to me, made it apparent how to deal with them.
This tuner is installed at the base of my S9v43 vertical (about 42' main element) with 500' or so of radial wire down in lengths of 20-40 feet. (I'm adding about 8 50-60 foot radials this spring, but I digress...). That antenna is used occasionally for 20m, but primarily for 17m, 30m, 40m, and 80m. I run very close to the power limit of the tuner, as I use a KPA-500 amplifier with it. I have chosen to leave, for now, by Balun Designs 4:1 unun installed at the base (between the tuner and antenna). The antenna itself is mounted in an atypical configuration - it is mounted 7' in the air so that the center element and fee point clear a nearby wire mesh on my fence. A wire runs down from the unun to the ground radials. I've found through a lot of experimenting (on-air reports in close in time field meters, checking current at various points, etc.) at different heights that this has no discernable difference on 40m and 80m, and only a small difference on 20m and 17m (didn't test 30m that much) - it had more of a difference on higher frequencies, where the 7' length approached a quarter wavelength.
So that's the setup. I installed the tuner, and at low power (20-30 watts) went through the various bands and did initial tuning - no problems at low power. I then reconfirmed at 100W - all bands worked as described, except that on 75/80m, the tuner would sometimes want to retune if I moved frequency even the slightest bit. Having worked with other remote tuners before and understanding the high voltage present on a shortened vertical element near the base on 80m, I figured that what was happening was that when I tuned at the lower power setting, and then went higher to 100W, the voltage increase was increasing the effective SWR reading at the tuner, even though the shack reading was only marginally increased if at all (this is because, more than likely, some of that increase is lost to ground even though I'm using 9913 coax with a 70' run, including an isolation coil or 2).
To fix this initially, I went out to the base of the antenna and connected the ground lug on the tuner directly to my radial plate. This lowered SWR and improved the situation (the instructions, as far as I can tell, do not include this step, but again, past experience told me this may be necessary). This meant that both the tuner's ground lug and the unun's ground-side lug are connected to the radial plate. However, in some instances it still wanted to retune at 100W if I tuned with low power. So, I went out and moved the coax between the tuner and the unun so it was secured away from the main element of the antenna and was physically 90 degrees perpendicular for most of the short 5' length - this improved the situation further. At this point, 90% of the time it will stay on its lock on 80m. I imagine this will improve this spring when more radials of an appropriate length are added.
Of course, running an amp, I absolutely do not want the tuner to start hunting for a match randomly at all (even though the KPA-500 has very excellent protection circuits). Fortunately, the manual provided the final solution. You can cycle the power of the remote control unit 3 times (1 second intervals to fully power up/down) to force the tuner into "manual" mode once you get the original match. For those that have used shack-based LDG tuners, this is equivalent to the semi-automatic mode until you press the tune control again - meaning it won't try to retune. While perhaps not the most elegant solution (I imagine a third button could probably have been added to the remote), this solution has worked perfectly. I have not had the amplifier trip or any anomalous operation on 80m when I tune at power around 50-75W now, then lower the drive to a level the amp needs and switch it in - I can run the KPA-500 to its max output.
Operation on all other bands is exactly as described in the manual and does not require this (although I have not used it on 160m - it does not tune my vertical there, nor would I expect it to). It "can" tune my vertical on 15, 12, 10, and even 6m, but I have other antennas that are more efficient for my uses on those bands. I use it extensively on 40m, and sometimes on 20m when some stations are ocassionally stronger on the vertical than the rotatable dipole. Unlike some other reviews, I DO find that the memories work, and that the tuner seems to retain them when the power is off. For instance, as a check to confirm again I'm right on this, I just reached over, turned the system and radio on, and checked tuning on 40m. I've had it powered off for over a day, and it took under a half second to find the match - immediately accessing the memory (It was last used on 80m).
I have a concern of reliability based solely on reviews on here. The unit appears well built and came properly assembled and sealed. Instruction manual could be a little better, and it would be nice to have a few more of the usual LDG tuner controls on the remote - especially the ability to change it to manual/smei-auto and back with a single button push. Also, somehow my remote 300W tuner used up to 300W from another brand on 80m is able to operate without the desire to retune in its automatic mode on this configuration, but it also has a different set of specs and can't handle 600W (that maker's 600W remote tuner is NOT as good as the LDG in my opinion).
Again, if my experience changes, or I have a serious problem or failure, I'll report back here. I have a very recent revision of this product, so it may be that LDG has been revising it bit by bit to make a better product, or maybe I'm just lucky or have a setup it likes better than some of the other reviewers. Operator error is always a possibility too (we've all been there), but I don't presume to know if that is the case in any review on here. With the quirks I've described, I would give it a 4.5/5 but will round up because of good experiences I've personally had with the manufacturer over the years.
This is one of the more detailed reviews I've written here, but I felt from reading the other reviews a detailed explanation of how I use it could be helpful to other purchasers. Keep your initial tuning power low, read the manual, and do the power-cycling if needed to lock in a tuning value, and hopefully your experience will be as good as mine has been so far. |
|
| K9AAN |
Rating:  |
2016-02-10 | |
| It didn't last long |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
Bought it from HRO and it worked for about 3 - 4 months then, according to my TS-2000 SWR meter, it would search and find a match but wouldn't lock on to it. Finally it just gave up and ended with the same SWR it started with. I sent it to LDG. After a MONTH without hearing a peep from them, I emailed to ask about it. The guy at LDG then insulted me. When I responded back, he told me my future emails would be automatically trashed. I asked HRO to look into it.
THEN LDG told me I had put too much power into it. It's supposed to handle 600 Watts. My MAX output is 500 Watts, at best, but I usually run 200-300 Watts. Somehow, though, I just knew it would be my fault. They did offer to sell me another one at a reduced cost though.
IMHO, if I had put too much power to it, how did the RF circuits work to find a match but the logic circuits wouldn't lock on to it?
IMHO, that tuition was expensive but I learned my lesson, I am going to stay away from LDG from now on. |
|
| NN4BJ |
Rating:    |
2015-08-03 | |
| Full Disclosure Not |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
Waited a long time for LDG to develop this remote 600W tuner and I bought one. It works great BUT with one MAJOR drawback or FLAW. LDG RT-600 claims to have 2000 memories and that maybe correct, but the RT-600 Autotuner does not retain any of those 2000 settings once the power is removed. This I am informed by LDG Repair is because the RT-600 does not have any latching relays. Minor oversight - but this LIMITATION should really have been made clear and included in their advertisements. I was expecting an autotuner with 2000 memory locations to work like every other autotuner with memories and retain those memory settings for each frequency. Definitely lowered my opinion of LDG on the whole. So if you will be content to RETUNE every time you use this tuner on different frequencies because you removed power from the RT-600 then it works great. I would be hesitant to recommend the RT-600 for this reason.
|
|
| OE8UWW |
Rating:     |
2015-07-12 | |
| Good but could be better. |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
The RT-600 comes in a plastic case which does not look like it would withstand bad weather conditions so I mounted the tuner inside a standard stainless post box. Does have a lock with key now! I am using a 2x20 meter G5RV antenna with ladder line and a 1:2 or 1:4 balun. Standard antenna lenght would be 2x 19.5 meters. The RT-600 does not tune all bands well, depending on the length of the ladder line. Now I am using a switchable coiled piece of ladder line to change the overall ladder line length, but have not yet finished optimization. The tuner does not memorize tuning settings if the SWR is over 1.4, which is very annoying. Have to re-tune all times when switching to certain bands which don't work so well. Also there is a considerable noise increase as soon as the power is switched on at the controller unit. This should not happen. Have not yet identified the noise source. Could be bad cable grounding or the like.
When the RT-60 starts tuning there is a sound like machine guns in my garden amplified by the metal case of the post box. Very funny indeed. |
|
| WB9JOX |
Rating:      |
2015-07-01 | |
| Wonderful tuner |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
| Installed tuner early spring this year.Using 3/8 wave inverted L antenna and tuner works just fine on 160'80,60,40,30,.Im sure tuner will work on rest of bands but I use a beam for the rest of higher bands..Will also handle up to 650 watts no problem.well worth the cost.Very satisfied with tuner.Might purchase another for Zero 5 ground plane later,but no hurry.A honest review from me. |
|
| KQ0J |
Rating:    |
2015-06-25 | |
| Quirky |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| I purchased this unit to put at the base of a vertical antenna. Antenna is a 24 ft vertical wire and counterpoise is 32 radials out from a 6'ground rod. Antenna is fed with a 4:1 UNUN, Input is a MFJ-915 RF isolator to 190' of RG-213 to the shack. First tuner I returned as it would never tune the wire but on 1 or 2 bands and blew the 12V 1A fuse that I had in the power cord. Second tuner was a bit better behaved but still quirky - for example if I switch to 15M 21.300 I can never get it to tune, if I go to 21.050 it will tune in a snap and if I move back to 21.300 the solution is fine - under 2:1. It struggles tuning 12M even though the SWR with it off is only 2.4:1. Best operation I have found is that when I first start up, I start tuning at 30M then work down to 10M - it seems to find the matches more quickly and then tune better that way. I have tried it with the MFJ 915 removed, with no UNUN wire direct to the center pin, and with a 1:1 Balun and no difference. I made the antenna 32 feet long and it would only tune 60, 40,30M. LDG tech support was of no help - they told me to change the length of my coax ( wth? ) to try get it to tune better I arrived at 24 feet because 29-25 feet were no luck in matching. Another help was to put a separate 1A supply for just this box and leave it on all the time so it does not lose its memory. I have learned to use it and if the MFJ 600w remote tuner was a better box I would not have kept this unit. The good news is my antenna setup is working great (plenty of DX - works best 30M-15M ) but its a pain in the rear to get the tuner to tune sometimes. I have run up to 300W CW and 400W SSB into it and it seems to handle the power well - nothing noticed. Perhaps this unit is better at matching balanced loads? I really would not recommend it at this price point unless you really need it and can put up with its quirks. If you have any ideas of what my problem is other than the tuner please email me direct! |
|
| KB5RU |
Rating:  |
2015-05-30 | |
| Won't tune 160 and unlocks |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| I bought this thing to use my 160 ant on 80 and 40 meters and to cover the entire 160 band. It will not tune a resonate 160 ant and un-locks at 200 watts on other bands. LDG tech support emailed me asking why I wanted the tuner since my ant is resonate. |
|
| N5MJ |
Rating:      |
2015-04-07 | |
| Remote transmatch |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
The LDG RT-600 arrived in early March from Cheapham.com, and included the RC-600 controller, which has a bias-tee inside to power the remote tuner over the feedline.
Installed the next day at the end of the vertical downlead part of a Carolina Windom-80 OCF dipole. The RT600 has PL-259 input/output connectors, a perfect match for the antenna.
The OCF would measure 2:1 and up at any freq with 70' RG-213 without the RT-600. With it, tuning solutions are 1.4:1 max, most solutions are pretty much flat. The tuner does work well in my installation fom 80-6m, and once it arrives at a tuning solution, it will recall it with the slightest tickle of transmit power.
The station here is a TS-590 driving an AL-80B, with max output north of 600W. Initial tune at a new frequency is done with low power (10w or less), usually the RT600 will arrive at a tuning solution (minimum reflected power) in less than 2 seconds.
Once the RT-600 is happy, it's safe to QRO. There isn't an indication on the RC600 controller that tuning is complete, but a simple check of the SWR meter reveals whether it's tuning (SWR stepping around) or not (stable, low reflected power).
Putting the RT600 at the feedpoint of the antenna eliminates any high current/voltage nodes on the feedline, thus obviating the Kenwood's internal tuner for the OCF.
The RT-600 works FB in this setup. I don't expect any problems. The unit is made in Taiwan (not the PRC), a positive. Cheapham quickly shipped the unit double-boxed with styrofoam peanuts.
Both vendor and RT600 are recommended, two thumbs up.
73 de N5MJ |
|