| N9KGF |
Rating:      |
2009-12-17 | |
| Works Great - Matches anything! |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| Another fine LDG product! Although I used the Pathfinder for only a couple of weeks, I found that it was able to match ANY antenna I connected to it - including a balanced "open-wire" antenna. I bet it would even let you tune-up and use a screen door as an antenna! Typical SWR was 1.1:1 for ANY antenna! Handles 200 watts and tunes any frequency from 1.8-30 MHz, plus 6 meters. Has two SO-239 Antenna connectors on rear (ANTENNA 1 & ANTENNA 2), two "thumb-screw" connectors for a balanced antenna, one Ground terminal, one SO-239 connector for connection to transceiver/transmitter, one 12 VDC power connection, plus an optional Radio Interface connector. The Radio Interface connector allows you to use the "tune" button on your ICOM or Alinco transceiver to have the radio & tuner work together to tune at reduced power and automatically return to your previous mode and power. Sweet! If my finances had been stronger, I would have kept this little jewel! A word of advice, make sure you at least ground the Pathfinder to your HF rig, as a poor or missing ground is not just poor operating practice, it can cause your equipment to not tune properly (that's true with any tuner/rig). |
|
| F5RRS |
Rating:      |
2004-07-28 | |
| Ideal companion of the kenwood TS-480HX |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
The Alpha Delta PathFinder Digital Automatic Antenna Tuner is the ideal companion of the kenwood TS-480HX. It is fully compatible with TS-480HX's power rate and frequencies.
Good autotuner. |
|
| KC4EOE |
Rating:      |
2003-12-29 | |
| Works For Me !!! |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| I live in an upstairs apartment. I use a stealth 75 foot 22 guage wire from the tuner out the window and weaved through a large oak tree. The Pathfinder tunes it perfectly in a matter of seconds. I get good signal reports and the oak tree has yet to catch fire. I think the manual could have been better written and a few illustrations added. I have noticed a few lockups, but were quickly cleared with a power reboot of the tuner. I only use an indoor counterpoise (ground) that is a heavy guage wire ran the entire circumference of the ceiling, and have not seen any apparent RF problems. My MFJ tuner sits in the corner now, lonely and unused. See my profile for a photo of the tuner in use. |
|
| N1IG |
Rating:     |
2003-12-13 | |
| Great Tuner |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
I bought the tuner to use with the 20m Inverted V I have in the attic above my garage. It tunes 6m, 10m, 12m, 17m, 20m, & 30m very well. It tunes 40m ok, but that's because of my lousy antenna setup, not because of the tuner. It tuned everything in a few seconds. I've used it with a long wire on all bands and it works very well.
The only problem I ran into was with the K-OTT interface unit. It would not work properly with the autotune button on my kenwood. When I pushed the autotune button on the radio, the radio would TX then immediately go into RX and the tuner would display "low power".
I called LDG and the people were very friendly. After a little troubleshooting, they had me send both the tuner and interface back to LDG for repair. They were great! They fixed the problem and got it back to me quickly. The tuning is a little loud, but it works. I'd buy one again! |
|
| AA2T |
Rating:     |
2003-12-03 | |
| ok - few bugs |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| Did a pretty good job on matching several antennas. Sometimes the power readings were off (both high and low). I set the rig for 25W out (into 50 ohms) and sometimes the starting SWR was so high that the rig RF output backed off so low it would not start to auto tune. Would manually bump the L or C to kick start it. Occasionally it would match and some RF @ 100W level got into the display and messed it up. At 25W, was ok. |
|
| K7AAF |
Rating:      |
2003-11-26 | |
| Works Great, if you let it ! |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
| Matches wet noodles to Icoms if you bother to ground the darn thing first. I wonder if a lot of "problems" aren't from folks who don't have a good station ground to attach the tuner (and rig) to before they try to match their rigs and antennas? It ain't all plug-and-play, folks... ground the things and give them a chance. Works great, highly recommended. G5RV will match anywhere, any time. You rock, W8AD/LDG!! |
|
| WV4ED |
Rating:  |
2003-07-12 | |
| No good |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
Does not perform within specs. on the 6 meter band. Just does not tune an SWR that starts above 1.9 on six. Very slow to tune and requires at least 4 tries before it brings in a 1:1 SWR.
The device is also slow on the HF bands and requires the same multiple tries in order to get acceptable results.
I have disconnected the device and no longer seek help from LDG. This one is tailgate material.
Ed, WV4ED |
|
| N7KME |
Rating:      |
2003-07-12 | |
| I love it! |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
| I run a simple station of an Icom 706MK II G with an inverted vee cut to resonance at 3.965 (give or take) mounted at about 30 feet at the top, and a Butternut HF6V vertical out in the back corner of the yard. I have had absolutely no problems with this tuner in the year that I have owned it. Yes, I have had to cycle the power a time or two, but that was usually something that was my own fault. It tunes either antenna in a matter of 3 to 6 seconds with the touch of one button, with very little trouble. It sure beats the MFJ that I had before that normally took several tries, both hands, and almost always close to a minute to tune anything that wasn't already nearly resonant without sizzling and popping. I will absolutely NEVER buy another MFJ ANYTHING! I love my Pathfinder. |
|
| AG4XH |
Rating:  |
2003-03-29 | |
| Great Idea, Poor Execution |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
I've had this for a month now and think the feature list is great. Execution leaves something to be desired.
SLOW! Tuning with ladder line is painfully slow - far longer than 3 or 4 seconds as advertised.
BUGGY! When trying to tune said ladder line on 80 meters it will mysteriously declare a power value of 255 and swr of 1.1, then lockup; requiring a power cycle to restore. This is with 40 watts going into the tuner. Firmware version 1.4 is what shipped with the tuner.
Tuning on 6 meters is pure excitement...NOT. Reducing power makes no difference in performance, it loves to lock up and the display goes nuts displaying garbage on the screen. It simply will not tune on 6 meters.
Finally, the manual was poorly written and you have to search to find information...if you can find it.
The idea is a great one and when it decides to function it does it well. I wish I could send it back and get my cash back! This is done by LDG for Alpha Delta and I have an LDG Z11 which works alright. A few more firmware revisions will probably get this product into shape. Until then find something else |
|
| K8ML |
Rating:      |
2003-03-24 | |
| Works flawlessly |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
I have been using my PathFINDER autotuner for nearly a year now, and it's absolutely great.
Also, this is a clarification for the person who thought he had wattmeter or tuning problems.
Any wattmeter, even the famous BIRD Model 43, maintains its accuracy only at its design impedance (typically 50 ohms). When you move far off of 50 ohms, the accuracy is lessened. I have compared my PathFINDER wattmeter with my Bird 43 at 50 ohms and it is exactly the same, watt for watt. Feeding and tuning a long wire gets into the most complex set of impedances. However, feeding my "almost" 50 ohm beam and dipole, the BIRD and PathFINDER wattmeter readouts are excellent.
For my long wire, it is not uncommon to hit the tune button a couple of times. I think that's normal.
Unless DC power is removed, there is a slight background glow on the readout. It draws a few mills waiting for the next command.
My PathFINDER tunes slopers, large loops, long wires, etc with no problem. I have a variety of wires around my backyard here in Ohio and they stretch and contract with the weather, but I can always get a good tune.
Mark, K8ML
----------------------
Earlier 5-star review posted by K8ML on 2002-05-06
At K8ML, I have used a variety of tuners over the years from manual ones to built-in transceiver tuners and I can say this one is by far the neatest one I have ever used (just got it today). I like the wide tuning range which allows me to go from band edge to band edge even on 80 meters. My transceiver tuner won't do that. Also, I can cover 80 thru 10 meters on my 40 meter dipole. Switching from my coax fed beam (C3S) to my ladder line 40 meter dipole is really handy. No external balun needed.
I love the digital readout. It shows RF watts, VSWR, which antenna is selected and shows both a bargraph and numeric readout. It also shows when the sound feedback is on. It's like having an autotuner, digital wattmeter and balun all in one box.
I notice in the manual that it was custom made by LDG to Alpha Delta specs. Now I know where it came from. Right on! Good product. |
|