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Reviews For: Yaesu FC-30

Category: Antenna Tuners/Matching Networks

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Review Summary For : Yaesu FC-30
Reviews: 41MSRP: 200.00
Description:
Matching Tuner for FT897 - mounts on the side of the FT897
Product is in production
More Info: http://
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00413.2
KE6PID Rating: 2005-05-31
Limited Range Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
The Yeasu FC-30 works as advertised. It will match a 3:1 VSWR, although at first I had some problems with it matching a 1.8:1 load, connecting a good ground to the tuner's case cleared up all of the issues. Due to its small size the FC-30's range is limited. In my case I wanted a small tuner to go with the small radio to fit into my small car. Since the antennas I use with this radio (Hamstix) are already close enough match so the tuner, once grounded seems to work at least adequately if not well.

The good? It mounts right up next to your 897; it�s controlled by the radio.
The not so good? It has a limited tuning range, but I knew this when I purchased the tuner.
Its capabilities are well spelled out in the manual, which can be downloaded before you purchase the tuner.

So, you can do better. My suggestion to you is that you might do better with the LDG if size is not an issue.
N2KDT Rating: 2005-05-01
Not recommended. Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I just bought the FC-30, installed it, and am very disappointed. I wish I read the reviews here before wasting my money on this.

My antenna is a Butternet HF-9V, which tunes rather well throughout most of the bands except for 80 meters where the tuning is rather sharp.

My hope was to use the tuner a companion to my FT-897 to tune up some of the edges of the resonant part of the antenna. To my surprise, I still see High-SWR throughout the band.

In using an older Yaesu FT-890 with a built-in tuner as a reference, I am able to tune all of the 80 meter band. With the FC-30, I might have been able to increase 10 KHz of bandwidth of tuning range on the antenna.

I would question the real value of this device. Especially in this case when trying to use this tuner in a relatively tame situation.

I highly discourage anyone from buying this.
N2DY Rating: 2005-04-30
Get the LDG Instead Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I bought the FC-30 when I bought my 897 thinking that the combination would make a great bring it anywhere setup. I was disappointed that the FC-30 has very limited tuning range. It is really designed to trim up an already almost resonant antenna. It does do that. That is why I gave it a 3 out of 5. It has the constantly running fan making the tuner useless when using batteries. That is just poor design and thinking on Yaesu's part. The one good thing about the tuner is that it matches the 897 nicely in looks. It has that military sort of look to it.

I have now removed it and have purchased the LDG AT-897. It was cheaper and it outperforms the FC-30 by a mile. It can tune just about anything. It does not require a fan and uses latching relays that do not use a lot of power on standby, making battery use practical. I wish I had gone with the LDG in the first place. The LDG does not look quite as nice but the performance overcomes that.

Do yourself a favor, skip the FC-30 and pick up the LDG. You won't be sorry.
N7DJK Rating: 2004-12-20
Better Tunning Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
After having my FC-30 mount on my FT-897 I decided to set it away from the radio for more space & looks to hide it. To My surprive the tunning specs changed. It now tunes much broader and even tunes the work bands 1-1 swr which my antenna does not have. I am very happy with the tuner now and gind more bands on an antena that was only 10,15,20,40. Now this worked for me I hope it workes for you if you try it?
Good Luck Dave N7DJK
VK2HBL Rating: 2004-09-13
Yaesu FC-30 Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I purchased the FC-30 to go with my FT-897. First impression ... bloody fan stays on - Pain -
I have two Antanas, one is a G5RV... heres how it went -
Tunes 3.600 + nothing bellow
Tunes 7.050 + nothing bellow
Tunes 14.000 whole band
Won't even attempt ----
15 m band
10 m band

The other antanna is a 5/8 vertical converted 11 m antanna - tuned on 28.400 - not a problem tunning this antanna at all on ten -

Easy to install on the FT-897 - and works fine on verticals that don't have an SWR greater then 3:1. Surprised thet it even looked at the G5RV, so that was a bonus.

I find the Tuner to do better then expected, however it is noisy when tuning.
I reckon it's over priced ($549.00 AUD) so value for money it's not. I havent bothered to bolt the tuner to the radio as I will be using it on my other radio as well in the car. That's a FT-857.
AC7WX Rating: 2004-05-30
It works for me! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Despite all the negative reports that I read regarding this tuner, I bought one yesterday, serial # 4F270048, and guess what? the fan doesn't work all the time. The fan only works when you hit that transmit button, once you release that button the fan stops within two seconds, until next time you hit that button again. I have a CUS MA5V, and it has less than 1.5 SWR on all bands, except on the 20 meter band, it has a mind of its own,but then again no more than 2.5 which is acceptable. The very same thing with my Mark V. It is probably the antenna and not the tuner.It looks beautiful boltted next to my 897D, am I happy with my purchase? you bet.
73's de Sommer AC7WX/JA6DMH
HB9VID Rating: 2004-03-26
poor performance !! Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
Hi,
I purchase the fc-30 with the ft-897, to have a portable station.
I made some test with my eco nova balcony, this antenna is not the best, and a Comet CWA-1000 (26Ft of the ground inverted V).
With my FT-990 I can tune the antenna from 40 to 10M (even 160 and 80 on the Comet), and works US on 40 and worldwide from 20 to 10. The spec of the tuner of the 990 is the same as the fc-30, but that's all you can compare.
my fc-30 is just able to tune on 20, 15, and 10, but not even on the full band. I can't do RTTY on 20 HISWR !?!?!?
So now I will have to sell my fc-30 to go for the AT-897 from LDG or something else.
I was a yeasu only since 1988, I think I will have to change my mind.
Never receive any answer from Yaesu (send 3 email), their are like 'we sell and forget our customer', that's verry bad.
I also have a quadra, same poor tuner, than the fc-30 !!! What a waste of money !!

so don't by the fc-30 go for something else.

73,

Arno (hb9vid)
WA2EWE Rating: 2004-01-28
Looks Great, Works OK, Forget the CAT Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
FT-897 with FC-30 Antenna Tuner On Air Experience

I purchased the FT-897, FC-30, and a G5RV because I thought that this would be a good rig to take with me to the field. I chose to buy the FC-30 just to keep it simple despite the negative press regarding its performance. My conclusion is that this tuner lives up to expectations. Its performance is limited, but it seems to meet its specs of tuning up to a 3:1 SWR.

Here are my results with my G5RV.

7.000 – 7.105 Tunes OK
14.000 – 14.350 Tunes OK
18.075 – 18.167 Tunes OK
24.890 – 24.905 Tunes OK
28.240 – 29.700 Tunes OK
50.000 – 52.500 Tunes OK

I took the time to try ALL the US ham bands so, if you don’t see a band or part of a band, such as the phone portion of the 40 meter band, it is because the tuner would not work there.

There were a few bands and segments where you could tell that the tuner was trying and could almost tune. Even when I cheered it on, slipped it a few KHz and tried again, I could only achieve what you see here.

Now, that was with a dry antenna and guy lines. When it rained, the coverage was severely reduced because of the affects of water on the antenna. When this happened I was frustrated because there were very few frequencies where it would tune at all. As soon as it dried out, the antenna recovered and the tuner would tune as described above. Additionally, I tested it extensively on MARS frequencies outside the HAM bands because this is where I use the rig primarily.

Overall, I would prefer to get the performance cited for the AT-897 and I would love to be able to use the CAT port at the same time as the tuner. So, I am thinking about buying one of those AT-897 tuners or an external manual tuner such as an MFJ-945E or 969 for use in the shack on in a fixed location. From these comments, you should surmise that I have some buyer’s remorse. But this is because I want the tuner to make up for the limitations of the antenna. Isn’t that what we want a tuner to do after all? Frankly, if I had a $374 B&W BWDS-90 folded doublet instead of a $50 G5RV, I bet I might be very happy with this little tuner. Well, then I would just be fussing over the use of the CAT port.

By the way, here are the details about my antenna and installation:

G5RV. I’m sorry, I don’t recall the manufacturer but I did buy it at HRO. It has the fat TV twin lead used in its construction. It is horizontal (flat top) at approx 15 meters above ground. It is suspended with 550 parachute cord across the 4th floor span between two buildings at a hotel. The ends of the antenna clear the buildings at least 3-4 meters at each side. There are no trees, wires, or other obstructions. The feed line slopes to one side in order to enter my room on the second floor. The feed line transition point between the twin lead matching section and the coax hangs some 3 meters above the ground. This is one of the cleanest antenna installations I have ever made and it works very well where it works at all. I get solid reports from all across the country.

One last point is regarding appearance and the fan. The appearance is great and it seems like it just part of the radio. The fan makes such a small amount of noise you have to struggle to hear it. To convince yourself that there is fan noise, you have to turn off the radio and listen again. I have used this system portable with internal battery power and it worked for hours and hours. I think that the power drain from the fan is undeniable yet inconsequential.

So, as a system, the G5RV, FC-30 and FT-897 together are GOOD-TO-GO. I would rate this a 4 for performance and looks but since there is a compromise for the CAT port, I should downgrade my rating to a 3. If you don't care for the CAT port, consider this a solid 4.

Jim, WA2EWE
K3ZMD Rating: 2003-11-15
Weak performer Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
My goal was to use the Yaesu 897 through the FC-30 to tune a Carolina Windom. The FC-30 couldn't tune the Windom on all bands. Results:
80 m tunes
75 m high SWR, Yaesu 897 wouldn't work
20/10/6 m tunes
17/15 m high SWR, Yaesu 897 wouldn't work

The internal tuner in my ICOM756ProII tuned all bands on the Carolina Windom. The Yaesu FC-30 just doesn't have the capacity to be a functioning tuner. I would not recommend it.
KD7PLU Rating: 2003-03-06
Needs more rigid DIN and Coax Connection, but works fine . . . Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
The 3:1 tune limit is what I expected going into the setup, so I don't have an opinion either way. It would have been nice if they made more rigid connectors between the tuner and radio; A right-angle, solid cross-connect for the coax uplink and some kind of right-angle, point-to-point DIN connector would be perfect. Having the DIN functions somewhere on the side of the radio, so the tuner could just make the proper contacts would be even better.

I notice that the tuner will get a mind of its own and simply NOT tune to a frequency. If you shift up or down a few KC's, hit the tune button and then shift back to the problem frequency and re-tune, it will take just fine. I've written that off to 'character' of the radio- Not really a big deal.

The fact the tuner is made for the radio, and bolts right on the unit is what sold me. Other than those damn pesky cross-connects on the back-side, I love the design. The tuner isn't made for long-wire stuff; and the idea as understood, is to clean-up an already tuned antenna on a given band. For that function, it works great. I just use a little tripod with QD antenna mounts and pre-tuned hamsticks on whatever frequency I want.

The only real value to this tuner is the fact it bolts to the 897. If you're happy with another piece of equipment to lug around, or it will be a shack rig and another tuner is already installed, use it just to save money on extras/ I planned on using my 897 for outdoor use mainly, so it was a good buy for me.

Loren B. Cobb / KD7PLU