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Reviews For: Ten-Tec Model 229 / 229B

Category: Antenna Tuners/Matching Networks

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Review Summary For : Ten-Tec Model 229 / 229B
Reviews: 21MSRP: 175 - 225 used as of 2/2002
Description:
Antenna Tuner
Product is in production
More Info:
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00214.8
SV2BWM Rating: 2008-04-19
One of the BEST! Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I got it second-handed and the first impression was: IT'S REALLY BIG! I have worked it with 1KW CW amplifier and it didn't even had a single sparkle from inside. It tunes my vertical & dipole antennas from 80-10m easily, but it needs that extra external capacitor to tune for 160m. The instrument is pretty aquarate all over the HF band. The quality is very good, too. Well done, TEN-TEC!!
N7ING Rating: 2007-07-18
Awesome Tuner Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have tried many tuners but I keep going back to this sweet little gem. The 229 out performs the Nye Viking and the rest. I will never part with my 229B. By the way, the improvement one can make for normal bulb burn out/replace, is to replace them with the LED types now availible. You'll probably never crack the box open again!
W0SWR Rating: 2007-04-29
easy to use and works! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Bought my 229B 8 years ago at a Ham Fest and have used it ever since. It is well built, and works as it should. I have used it on long wires and verticals with good results. I have run a KW through it with no problems. It is easy to use and the watt meter seems to be accurate to boot! One of the classics from a solid company. If you can find one reasonable, get it. You won't be disappointed.

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Earlier 5-star review posted by W0SWR on 2005-05-29

I bought my 229B four years ago on ebay for under two bills and it arrived in the original box with book. After a good read of the manual I hooked it up and its been in service since. These are built well, with good quality parts and can take legal limit with ease. It is easy to use and can match anything I have connected to it. I read in others reviews about the bulb behind the swr meter, I am still using the one it came with and can't say anything about them. The only comparison I have is a mfj I used for several years which was harder to adjust with high swr at legal limit and a BW-1500 which was also good, but not as easy to use as the 229B. I have matched trapped dipoles, long wires, several vee wires even matched my tower for 40 mtrs. These are getting a little hard to find now, but if you want a well made tuner, one that's easy to use, and will match just about anything you can connect it to, then this is a good choice. Since the case is aluminum, well built, and light, it could be used for field work, if you don't mind the size. I think I have found a tuner that's a 'keeper'.
SFD301 Rating: 2007-04-13
Awesome Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Not much else can be said for the Ten Tec line of tuners. Built well, excellent service, and they work. Recently picked one up to go with me AL-811H amp and it tunes my wire flat 10-80m. Solid construction, nice looks and feel.
WK9L Rating: 2006-07-22
Awesome !! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
The best tuner I have ever used. Takes 1500 watts and dont even break a sweat. Tunes everything I have to tune very easily. Built like a tank. A oldie but goody.
K9PX Rating: 2004-09-03
Stands the test of time. Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've had my 229-B since 1988 and haven't found anything it can't match. Other than the normal bulb replacement it's been trouble free. Even the dial string is still going strong.
K4TOR Rating: 2004-07-13
Good Tuner Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Have had this tuner (229B) for a little over a year. No problems whatsoever. Only complain is that the bulbs in the dial burns out pretty fast, by putting 13.8 volts on them. When tuning to a specific frequency, the tuner stays tuned over a very broad frequency band, compared to many other tuners, due to the low loss L-section.
No arcs, coughs or anything else while giving it full legal limit.
KE4EX Rating: 2004-01-31
$ 4 $ # 4 # :>) Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I picked up this little jewel in North Carolina at a hamfest and have never been sorry.
I ordered a box for Ten Tec. I changed the lights to Blue, I LOVE IT....
73
de ke4ex
K9YC Rating: 2003-09-24
Great tuner! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I picked up this vintage KW tuner at a hamfest for $160, and I'm awfully glad that I did. It's an L-section tuner, which, as the manual explains, provides the match with the lowest possible Q for any given antenna/feedline combination.

A major advantage of the L-section configuration is that compared to another very nice tuner, the Drake MN7, the Ten Tec 229 provides a match over a much broader frequency range. As a result, I can operate the entire width of most ham bands without retuning, or with only slight retuning, even with antennas that aren't cut for the bands in question. This is quite convenient for a contest, or when switching from CW to phone.

Electrically, this tuner is quite similar (identical) to the later model 238 reviewed in QST several years ago, and my assessment is the same as theirs. A terminal is provided on the rear panel so that an external capacitor can be added to match very low impedances on 160. Like the QST reviewer, I needed to add 2200 pf to match my 80/40 trap dipole on 160 meters, but when I did, the match was quite good.

I don't have the instrumentation to confirm the ARRL reviewer's efficiency numbers, which were quite good. And although the tuner I bought includes a balun, I don't currently have an antenna that needs it. It does look like a very nice balun.

The tuner is rated for 1 KW, and I'm using it with 100 watt rigs. A nice side benefit of the power rating is slightly better efficiencey. The tuner has four coaxial inputs switched to a single transceiver. The fourth input also connects to balanced feeders via the balun (of course, you can't use the #4 coax input at the same time).

This tuner is well built, and is a real winner.

Jim Brown K9YC (ex-W9NEC)

KA5N Rating: 2002-02-06
TOP NOTCH TUNER! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I bought my Ten Tec 229 at a swapfest for $100. It had broken SWR pushbutton switches. Ten Tec supplied these for less than $5! This tuner will load anything to any band and give a low SWR. Of course it won't magically improve the effiency of short antennas. Great repeatability. I plan to keep mine forever.
Allen KA5N