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Reviews For: SGC SG-239 Smartuner

Category: Antenna Tuners/Matching Networks

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Review Summary For : SGC SG-239 Smartuner
Reviews: 44MSRP: 199.95
Description:
Very small SG-239 Smartuner automatic microprocessor antenna coupler with 68HC711 microprocessor. Coupler can be used within its' power rating with any SSB in range of 1.8-30 MHz. Designed for base station, marine, mobile and ladder feed antenna applications. For antenna types 100ft or longer base or marine whip for full frequency range operation. Housed in an aluminum case.
• Number of channels: unlimited
• Frequency range: Minimum length of 9 feet (7-30 MHz @ 100W), 40 feet (3-30 MHz @ 200W) or 100 feet (1.8-30 MHz @ 100W).
• Power rating: 200 watts* PEP maximum: 12VDC. operation
• SWR: Less than 2:1
• Minimum tune power: 1.5 watts typical
• Supplied with manual.
• Over all dimensions 7.5 x 6 x 1.85 inches
• Under 2 pounds
* For antennas 100 feet or longer.
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.sgcworld.com/products/239/239.html
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00444.4
W8IJN Rating: 2002-10-28
I wish I had two of 'em Time Owned: more than 12 months.
My SG239 is about two years old. It's been sitting in a garden shed behind a chunk of panel metal & surrounded by a wooden box all that time. It's tuned vertical antennas, old pieces of wire hanging from a window ledge & a demented dipole fed with 300 Ohm TV twin-lead, 160m through 6m. Yeah, I know it isn't supposed to do 6m but so far it has . . . on a "kinda" dipole cut for that band and stapled to the shed roof rafters.

If I could talk myself into it, I'd buy another. Of course, by the time I got finished boxing it up (who would seriously put this ATU in a Tupperware dish?), I would probably have spent enough to get it's sneaky sibling (the "Stealth" model).

And I particularly like SGC's having put info on its website for connecting the IC-718/706 transceivers to this & other tuners in the SGC line.

Maybe I will buy another one . . . ask for it for Christmas . . .
N9PUZ Rating: 2002-06-14
Good quality, very versatile Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I purchased the SG-239 at the 2002 Dayton Hamvention. My main goal was to have an automatic tuner that was effective for all band HF operation with random wires, dipoles, etc. for my home station.

My primary radio is an Icom IC-718. Running 20-50 watts the SG-239 provides a good match and respectable performance with a 60 foot random wire and a 90+ foot counterpoise, both run out a second story window. The tuner quickly finds a match on every frequency I've tried in the 80-10 General Class portions of the bands. I've received good signal reports from both domestic and DX tations and rarely run my full 100 Watts.

My secondary radio is a Yaesu FT-817 QRP rig. With my particular home antenna I have to first let the SG-239 find a match on 20 or 10 Meters and then retune on the band where I intend to operate. This appears to be a quirk peculiar to my installation and it only occurs at low power levels when the tuner is first powered up. This never occurs when using 10 watts or more and it's only a once-a-day event. I did not see this behavior with a few tests using other portable, wire type antennas. Although a very minor inconvenience this is why I did not give the product a "5" rating.

This particular model really needs to mounted inside something for protection, which the manufacturer recommends. The main circuit board protrudes from both ends of the case and it would not withstand rough handling but it is not intended to either.

All in all SGC has a very fine product in the SG-239. If it were stolen or damaged I would not hesitate to buy another one.
G4ILO Rating: 2001-08-31
Works fine after CPU change Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
In my earlier review I lamented the fact that my SG-239 would not hold its tune, and that because I had bought direct from the USA, returning it to be fixed was going to be costly. On learning of my problem, SGC said they believed the problem could be due to a fault in the microprocessor. I was skeptical, even more so when the new chip arrived through the post bearing a label that declared it to be the same version as the old one. However, it did indeed solve the problem of retuning for me.

I don't know what was wrong with the old micro, nor whether there was any connection between the retuning problem I had and the occasional retuning reported by some other SG-239 users on Yahoo. Perhaps some clue is provided by the FWD LED on the SG-239. With the old micro, this would come on at the merest whiff of RF, and sometimes remain on after the radio had gone back to receive. Now, it takes a good holler into the mic of my 10W transceiver to get it to illuminate. The 239 seems to need at least a couple of watts of steady power to tune up, which is fine by me.

I have now installed the SG-239 in the attic where it tunes an approximately 5 metre square wire loop. The coupler is in the center of one leg, and the loop is in the horizontal plane. On some stations, the loop is outperformed by an MFJ magnetic loop. But the wire loop offers near-instant tune-up, and also gives me some coverage of the lower bands. The SG-239 will even match it on 160m. So far, I'm happy with it, and with the response of SGC to the problem I had.
K0BZV Rating: 2001-06-02
Great Tuner for the money Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Just got my '239 tuner and hooked it up. Because
I live in an apartment,I was forced to use a loop
antenna. Mine is 8.5 feet wide and 8 feet high.
The SGC tuned all frequencies of interest between
40 meters and 10 meters. The tuning was fast and
looked good on the Power/SWR meters and,in spite
of the crummy antenna,I made several contacts with
the loop. The ease of hook-up and operation of the
'239 has opened a whole new area of interest. Now,
if I can get some sort of a ground. The ductwork
of the air conditioner is looking interesting!!

Carl K0BZV