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Reviews For: LDG AT-1000

Category: Antenna Tuners/Matching Networks

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Review Summary For : LDG AT-1000
Reviews: 63MSRP: 599.00
Description:
This is an automated antenna tuner capable of 1000 watts SSB, 750 Watts CW, and 500 watts digital.
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.ldgelectronics.com
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00634.3
NK7Z Rating: 2013-01-19
Very Nice Tuner... Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have had this tuner for 5 years... Worked flawlessly for 99.999% of that time. I sent it into LDG for repair, they fixed it, (The SWR board had an issue), and charged me nothing! Tuner is back, and I just bought the newer AT-1000 PRO II as a result of the customer service...

73's
Dave
http://www.nk7z.net
SA3AYF Rating: 2012-11-07
Workhorse Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I´ve had two of these, one I sold (my misstake) and the other one has been in service since 2008, flawlessly !

It easily swallows all the power and SWR I´ve thrown at it :-)

But, and this goes for ALL tuners automatic as well as manual, there is a limit how high SWR it can tune out,
it can only match the radio or amp to the impedance seen in the coax by the tuner.
It will NOT make your antenna any more efficient or change the antenna´s resonance / SWR.
Also, the groundpost at the back is there for a reason.
The tuner should be connected to RF-ground for the same reasons as you need to connect you radio and amp etc. to a good RF-ground.
There is a micro processor inside and it will go bananas if exposed to high RF levels in your shack.
That RF will also affect your PC, your radio and your transmitted audio.
Simple as that. No mystery.

The tuner will work as a champ if you read the manual and follow the instructions there :-)
K0KVR Rating: 2011-10-29
Service Awesome Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have had this tuner since 2009, aand it has worked great. Recently, howevere, it stopped tuning and I returned it to LDG. They had it back within 4 weeks, and had replaced the logic board at no charge. Amazingly quick and now it works like new.
KC0SKW Rating: 2009-11-22
Works well Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
Simply works. No complaints. Haven't used a manual tuner to compare it to, but it tunes whatever homebrew wire antenna I connect to it with one touch of a button.

Used with IC-706MkIIg
SV2BWM Rating: 2008-11-10
Does the job! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have it for over a year and it keeps on working flawlessly.

Is is a bit noisy, but that noise comes from the heavy-duty relays. I have been using other similar high power antenna tuners and they all make the same noise, so no problem with that.

It has a long tuning time (up to 8secs), especially if your antenna has an unknown Z. I have the Kenwood TS-850S with SGC-500 and it tunes from 160m up to 6m with 500W+ RTTY & 800W SSB...

So, well done LDG !!!
WW5AA Rating: 2008-05-13
One year later Time Owned: more than 12 months.
One year now and the LDG AT-1000 is still doing the job! I changed out my 177' doublet for 256'. During the heat of battle I ran 1500 watts through it a couple of times (not recommended of course). What can I say, it does everything it should. If the old IC-AT-500 ever goes south, I'll get the AT-1000 Pro!

----------------------
Earlier 5-star review posted by WW5AA on 2007-03-01

I was a little concerned about getting this tuner after the 160 problems posted. My faithful IC-AT-500 needed a back-up so I ordered it. First check was 160 meters on the 177’ ladder line fed doublet at 60’. The AT-1000 found a 1:1 on the whole band. Next was the inverted “L”, 60’ vertical and 90’ horizontal with raised tuned radials. Again a 1:1 on the entire band. Ok, 80 thru 6 meters, 1:1 on the doublet and the vertical. I thought I would have a hard time finding a tuner that does the job just as well as the IC-AT-500 at the great price of the LDG AT-1000. I must say that I am loading real antennas, and the shack is not buzzing with RF.
W0ZD Rating: 2007-12-14
Less than average performer Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I bought one to use with my Ten Tec Hercules II before I read the E-Ham reviews. At power levels above 300 watts the tuner tried to retune on CW and SSB peaks. After the retune the SWR was always over 3:1 so one had to be careful and not keep transmitting with high power. The only bands that did not retune were 80 and 40 meters. The tuner tried to retune on all bands above 40 meters when running over 300 watts. I see that this was not a new problem as it was identified in a couple of other reviews. When I contacted LDG they did not indicate that is was happening. They sort of lead me to believe this was a very unusual problem and wanted me to send it in for evaluation. On the positive side they were very responsive when I asked for some new hardware. They sent it post paid. I believe the design needs a little more refinement. Maybe the new AT-1000 will work as advertised. I’ll check the reviews before I buy another one.
K6DXX Rating: 2007-12-06
POOR Time Owned: more than 12 months.
My review was mistakenly put under AT-1000Pro, so I'll repeat here. The performance of this tuner is POOR at best. I have owned the AT-1000 for over a year and used it on beams, verticles, and wires. The tuner simply will not hold a tune! Sometimes it tunes on low power and then detunes on high power, other times it will not tune at all. Don't give the business about RF getting into it (LDG) cause it an't happening! It's a lot of $$$ for knowthing! I wouldn't recommended it to anyone. I'm going back to my tried and true homemade manual tuner...K6DXX
VK4ARI Rating: 2007-07-11
Great within limits Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I purchased the AT-1000 to handle matching duties whilst using my Ameritron 811a. Not a big amp but we're only allowed 400w PEP as an "Advanced" call here so it's got plenty of head room.

Initial impressions were of high construction quality. Components are certainly not seconds and care is taken with fit and finish. I guess at $AUD 1000+ you want that.

Straight up there was an issue on the 40m Band where the shown vswr by the tuner was considerably at odds with those given by several known reference units which would show 1:2.2 or so when the LDG tuner insisted it was flat. You could then of course manually trim the match until the rig was happy but the next time you returned to 40m the tuner would retune once again. I was unable to make the tuner accept the manual tune into memory as default at that frequency.

After serveral emails back and forth with the manufacturer who were quite responsive I might add, some modifications were suggested to the internal metering circuit on the AT-1000 which once I had done then brought the unit inline with the reference meters.

The next thing I noticed is that a tune when performed on the 6m band would result in a flat match but a very deaf receiver. Turn tuner off and RX was back there where you started. I'm still not sure what the story is here but have read enough reviews and forums to know this is not uncommon on some of the LDG range. No biggy for me but it would be less than optimal if you are a 6m fan.

This brought me to the next problem. On either of my main HF antennae once output was at anything in excess of 300w the tuner would start to randomly retune of its own accord.

On this issue I will put my hand up and say that I accept without reservation that my status in renting a home and the resulting compromises to station setup are a large culprit here. I do have station earths but only to water piping and single copper earthing rods in two spots, no underground mesh. I use baluns and chokes to prevent RF back along my feedlines etc but the fact that the antennae are physically perhaps 7 to 10 meters from the tuner of course causes RF to be present in the shack.

Summing up.
The AT-1000 is a fast, easy, reliable and well made unit worthy of place in any well laid out shack where *all parameters of the HF setup are optimal* and assuming you wish to risk getting one with poor 6m characteristics. If on the other hand your shack has some compromise involved in location of Antennae and earthing you may be better served by a good manual unit. In the end I sold mine and went back to a manual unit. I also sold another tuner by the same manufacturer on the strength of the experience which in hindsight was a bit harsh as that unit (at-200Pro) was without any fault I could find.

How I marked.

Start with the nominal 4 for "Good"

Lose 1 full point for the 6m RX issue
Lose .5 for inability to manually store tune
Lose .5 point for RF immunity or lack there of
Gain .5 point for better than average build quality and service via email from manufacturer.
Gain .5 for excellent tuning times when it works


Yours in Amateur Radio
Ari S Laver
VK4ARI
WA5NSF Rating: 2007-07-09
met expectations Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
My experience with the at-1000 tuner has been
very favorable so far. I have a IC-7000 feeding into a AL811 Ameritron amp. I use dipoles for 75 and 40. I have a g5rv for 17 and 20. I use the tuner on all bands and get a near 1:1 match on 75 and 40. The match on 17 and 20 is below 1.5:1. I would advise disconnecting or turning off any 100 watt tuner you may have attached to the rig when using the at-1000 with the amp. The at-1000 will still work with 2 tuners in series, but the match appears to be better without the 100 watt tuner in series with the at-1000. wa5nsf