| KF0OH |
Rating:      |
2004-07-20 | |
| Super Unit! |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
I received the AT-1000 today and everything lit up as it is supposed to do. Tuned an SWR of about 2.0 in less than 5 seconds all around the band to give me a flat SWR. No movement of the meter whatsoever. I also tried to tune my Butternut Butterfly on 40 meters (it's a 20 - 10 yagi). Same thing, less than 5 seconds and perfectly tuned. Wow this is some tuner.
Then I tried my Alpha 99 at 500 watts and absolutely no indication of SWR. This is why I bought the 1000, since the Alpha did not like getting any reflected power and kept shutting itself down. Not a problem now! This is a great tuner and I'm very happy with it. Keep up the good work LDG. If you are looking for an autotuner for you amp, I wholeheartedly recommend this one. I will note, that this is the second unit I received. The first would not fire up when connected to power. LDG had great and very prompt technical service (after hours via email)and HRO immediately replaced it. The conclusion is something must have jarred loose during transit.
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| AG4ZN |
Rating:      |
2004-03-09 | |
| GREAT TUNER |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
I GOT TIRED MESSING WITH MANUAL TUNERS AND WANTED A AUTO TUNER THAT WOULD NOT HAVE TO BE BAND SWITCHED. I BOUGHT MINE FROM HRO IN ATLANTA FROM MARK. GREAT PERSON TO DEAL WITH. TUNER WILL TUNE ANYTHING I THROW AT IT. I USE IT WITH A ICOM 746,756PRO AND A KENWOOD TS-940. THYE ANTENNAS I HAVE USED WITH IT ARE DOUBLE EXTENDED ZEP FED WITH LADDERLINE INTO A 4-1 BALUN,G5RV, AND THE W5GI ANTENNA. WORKS GREAT 160-6 METERS.BUT BE CAREFUL THIS TUNERS LATCHING RELAYS ARE VERY SENSITIVE TO RFI AND WILL LET YOU KNOW IT SOMETHING IS WRONG IN YOUR SHACK.IT WILL ACT IRRATIC UNTIL YOU CORRECT THE PROBLEM. METER IS VERY ACCURATE AND CUSTOMER SERVICE AT LDG IS GREAT. WORKS BETTER THAN MY ICOM AT-500 WICH I HAVE SOLD.
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Earlier 5-star review posted by AG4ZN on 2004-03-09
I GOT TIRED MESSING WITH MANUAL TUNERS AND WANTED A AUTO TUNER THAT WOULD NOT TBEED TO BE BAND SWITCHED. I BOUGHT MINE FROM HRO IN ATLANTA FROM MARK. GREAT PERSON TO DEAL WITH. TUNER WILL TUNE ANYTHING I THROW AT IT. I USE IT WITH A ICOM 746,756PRO AND A KENWOOD TS-940. THYE ANTENNAS I HAVE USED WITH IT ARE DOUBLE EXTENDED ZEP FED WITH LADDERLINE INTO A 4-1 BALUN,G5RV, AND THE W5GI ANTENNA. WORKS GREAT 160-6 METERS.BUT BE CAREFUL THIS TUNERS LATCHING RELAYS ARE VERY SENSITIVE TO RFI AND WILL LET YOU KNOW IT SOMETHING IS WRONG IN YOUR SHACK.IT WILL ACT IRRATIC UNTIL YOU CORRECT THE PROBLEM. METER IS VERY ACCURATE AND CUSTOMER SERVICE AT LDG IS GREAT. WORKS BETTER THAN MY ICOM AT-500 WICH I HAVE SOLD. |
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| N3ZKP |
Rating:     |
2003-08-07 | |
| Good introductory version |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
I finally got tired of the problems associated with the roller inductor on my old MFJ 986 and purchased an AT-1000 through HRO. This is my first LDG product.
Let me say up front I am not trying to load bedsprings, gutters, chain-link fences, or window frames on 160m or similar nonsense. I have a Butternut HF6V and a dipole cut for the upper end of 5 mhz for MARS use. The Butternut is fine on 10m, 15m and 20m by itself, but 12m, 17m (no kit installed) are on the ragged edge of usefulness and 40m and 75/80m are too narrow, bandwidth-wise to use an amp without some form of external matchbox. The dipole is used over a 500 khz range, and so needs help, too.
In the three weeks I have had the AT-1000, I can find no complaint with its electrical operation; it does what the advertising claims and does it fairly quickly. The only setting that takes more than three or four seconds is trying to load the Butternut on a 5-mhz frequency. It does it, but the relays really get a workout.
Let me break down my further comments into three sections:
PRO:
- compact, especially compared to manual matchboxes.
- easy to use.
- reasonably fast.
- easy to fine-tune settings.
- KW (SSB) capable.
CON:
- NOISY! No matter what anyone says, this thing leaves no doubt that is it working.
- despite claims in the manual about being the 'most accurate' SWR meter, the forward power on mine is more than 25 percent low at both 100w and 650w. This has been verified by a calibrated power meter.
- no provision for attaching a dummy load; must use an external switch.
- unless unit is mounted at eye-level, the meter cannot be seen above the 300w mark.
- only one memory - last setting.
- control by rig TUNE button not implemented.
NEEDS:
- another LED to indicate unit is in BYPASS mode.
- a way to return to previously TUNED setting without going through the whole tune process again. A separate BYPASS switch would be nice.
- soundproofing on the inside of the case. I intend to try spray-on sound insulation.
- above mentioned alternate antenna or dummy load switch. At $600, this should not require an external switch.
- multiple setting memories.
- control by rig.
I would note that I sent LDG a wish list of the items in the NEEDS catagory, except for the multiple memories, and received a very nice response from Dwayne Kincade. He was very receptive to the suggestions.
I rate this unit as a strong 4 in its present form. Implemention of items on the wish list will raise that in the future. Even with the wish list, I am satisfied with the unit and feel thhat it is a good value for the money.
Lon
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| KY6R |
Rating:     |
2003-08-06 | |
| Pretty Good |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
The tuner works very well on 40 - 10 with my Force-12 Sigma 5 GT vertical dipole and my 44' and 88' ladder line fed doublets (that use a current choke and coax into the shack).
Getting the tuner to work on 80M with the 88 foot doublet was not possible without adding stubs - something I never had to do with my Ten Tec 238B "L" tuner.
So I give it a 4 instead of a 5. |
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| KC5LVW |
Rating:   |
2003-07-10 | |
| Bummer |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
I hate to mess up these great reviews but mine is not good. Got mine & after 10 min figured out it would not tune anything, resonant or non-resonant. Sent it back to AES, they called & said yep, it won't tune, sending it back to LDG. KDG calls & says nothing wrong with ti & I must have too much extra RF in the shack causing the microprocessor to not be able to find a match. I can talk on the phone, use the computer & watch TV & no interference....but if I try and tune the tuner at 20W, I have too much RF in the shack? Phooey! If I was resonant, I wouldn't need a tuner, so if I need a tuner, wouldn't I expect some RF from the mismatches? What's the point? I think they could have done a little better RF proofing if their microprocessor is that sensitive...buyer beware!
73
Jon, KC5LVW
(end result, it went back to AES) |
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| W7TUT |
Rating:      |
2003-07-08 | |
| Excellent Tuner Like the Prior Models |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
After having an AT-11 and RT-11 that both worked
excellent, I decided to get an amp and tuner to
go with it. The AT-1000 was the obvious choice
based on my prior experience with LDG. The tuner
performs as advertised, not as noisy as they warn
you about, and tunes very quickly. I tune 3.5-30
mhz using a 80M HamStick dipole with RF decoupler.
I had to send mine in for service for a loud buzz
at 4mhz, but they found the faulty component fast
and had it returned to me in less than a week.
Excellent email from there support. I would
recommend this tuner to anyone. |
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| WA4ONV |
Rating:      |
2003-06-21 | |
| Put the fun back in QSY'ing to differant frequencies. |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| The biggest problem I had with my MFJ-989 was having to tune the roller inductor everytime I QSY'd to a differant band. With my new AT-1000, It tunes any frequency within 4 to 8 seconds with about 4 seconds being the norm. I'm really enjoying my hobby alot more now that it's been made easier to tune across the bands and being able to use my AL-811H without having to worry about arcing something over. 73 to all. |
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| CASPER669 |
Rating:      |
2003-06-20 | |
| As Promised! |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
Well, I finally did it! In preparation for the new amplifier I'm going to purchase VERY soon, I purchased the AT-1000 Autotuner and it does live up to its promise! I'm only running 100 watts at present time, thus I won't dare say that it is working perfectly. But, I will say that it does everything that it promises - within 100 watts. It actually makes slightly less noise than the AT-11MP unit, which I also own. The only wish I could make about the AT-1000 is if it could contain an adapter/plug for the ICOM and YAESU rigs. It's certainly no downfall, though.
Upon receipt of the unit, I installed it according to the installation directions packaged with the unit. I turned my rig and the tuner on and started to tune. Everything appeared to be working as stated in the directions. I did notice, however, that the meter was reading a power out of about 65 watts. I tried different bands and different antennas, but it all read the same - 65 watts. I plugged the AT-11MP back in and after tuning, it read about 105 watts. Concerned, I called LDG after hours and received a call from them the following morning! I explained all the test results and how I achieved them. The gentleman I spoke to was very willing to hear the problem and he actually duplicated it on his test bench - while he was on the phone with me! "That's good service!", I thought to myself. He explained to me that the meters on both units do have a 10% margin of error. Meaning, that the accuracy of the meters will be + or - 10%. I didn't think it about while I was on the phone with him, but wouldn't that mean I should be reading either about 90 watts or about 110 watts? In any case, I explained to him that I don't have a reliable watt-meter available, except for a 10 year old Radio Shack SWR/Power Tester. He explained to me that the RS Meter would be about 20% off. Before hanging up the phone, I explained to him that I would certainly purchase a respectable meter and run further tests. He agreed and asked me to call back with any/all results of my testing. In a last-ditch effort to make myself feel better, I set up the AT-11MP unit again and this time, I installed the RS Meter - just to see what would happen. To my surprise, the RS Meter displayed slightly over 100 watts - just as the AT-11MP did!(20% off?) I then replaced the AT-11MP with the AT-1000, calibrated the RS Meter and tuned... The tuner read about 65 watts, but the RS meter read slightly over 100 watts. "This can't be right...", I thought. Now, I'm not one to purposely bump, bang or finger-flick any equiptment on a whim. But I figured, "What the heck..." and ever so gently finger-flicked the plastic protective casing in front of the meter and viola! It began to read exactly the same as the AT-11MP. It put my power out at slightly above 100 Watts. I double-checked my RS Meter and it read exactly the same.
The point of this long-winded review is this; I appreciate this product. There support staff did answer back in a more than reasonable amount of time. The 10/20% issue I will be bringing to his attention when I call on Monday. As for the RS Meter, I'm definately keeping it! I probably won't make too many new friends with that statement, but if it works as good as the meters on either of these units, why change it?
I don't think there is any reason to be concerned if you are considering this tuner. It's worth the money and it includes 6 meters, unlike it's predecessor - the AT-11MP. I can't wait to get my amplifier and hook everything up!
Thank you for taking the time to read my review of this unit and 73!
Chris KC2KFW |
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| KB1FPM |
Rating:      |
2003-05-30 | |
| Another Super LDG Product |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
I wouldn't normally review a product after having it for less than 6 months or so, but I'm so pleased with this tuner that I want to share my findings so far.
This tuner replaced an LDG AT-11MP and an Ameritron ATR-15. This tuner, an autotuner, handles both barefoot and amplified operation at a reasonable price -- it's almost a breakthrough product. Several places are currently selling this tuner for $499, which makes it a huge value.
As with the two other LDG tuners I've owned (Z-11, which I still have, and AT-11MP), it tunes my 135 foot doublet (fed with ladderline via a Radioworks Remote Balun) on all bands and almost always finds a match under 1.3:1, usually 1.1 or 1.2:1. If anything, the AT-1000 seems to be finding better matches than the AT-11MP or the Z-11 did/do, although in theory they should be the same. Perhaps LDG has tweaked the programming in the IC that controls tuning. Further, there are no unexpected surprises or changes in the match when I go from barefoot power levels (where you tune) to full power with the amplifier (an AL-811H).
Like the other LDG ATUs, the relays definitely let you know that they are working, but I've grown very accustomed to that noise. Compared to the other two, the AT-1000 tunes a little slower -- to be expected given the heavier relays and not a problem. LDG eliminated the "full auto" tune feature to avoid tuning while operating above 100 watts, but I have never used these tuners in that mode anyway and don't miss that at all.
At this risk of sounding like an infomercial, I'll add that customer support from LDG is first class. They're happy to talk through any questions before or after a purchase, and were very helpful when I acquired an additional RF sensor for my DWM-4 SWR/wattmeter and needed to have it calibrated to the meter head. (For the record, I have no affiliation or connection with LDG.)
The bottom line is that although I hate to gush over a tuner, this thing really thrills me. It has really streamlined my operating, it works just as advertised (or better), and it's a bargain at current prices. Even at the full list price, I wouldn't hesitate to buy this one again -- it would still be more than a good value. I'll update this after I've run it longer, but based on past experiences with LDG products I expect no problems or surprises. |
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| KE6CC |
Rating:      |
2003-05-27 | |
| AT-1000 with a BWD 1.8-30 Folded Dipole |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
I have recently acquired an Ameritron AL-811 amp. This is my first linear in 40 years of hamming. To my dismay I found it nearly useless on my B&W BWD 1.8-30 folded dipole. My antenna installation is far from the suggested height, and my lot doesn't even allow the 90'length to be fully reached.
When I got the AT-1000, I installed it as shown in the manual (very good also). To my surprise, it loaded every band, 160 - 10 meters with under 1.3:1 on the first try in less than 4 seconds.
The only "problem" I've had so far is that I can't record the linear settings for future use on a frequency. It seems that the AT-1000 frequently finds different settings for the same frequency (or at least thats my take). It could well be my antenna installation. All-in-all, it's one of the best buys I've made. |
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