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Reviews For: LDG AT-11MP Autotuner

Category: Antenna Tuners/Matching Networks

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Review Summary For : LDG AT-11MP Autotuner
Reviews: 99MSRP: 239
Description:
Automatic antenna tuner kit
Product is not in production
More Info: http://www.ldgelectronics.com/
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
15994.7
N8CWR Rating: 2002-07-17
The Greatest Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Just got my new AT-11MP last week and I've had roller tuners and capacitor tuners but have never seen as fast a tuner as this one. Hoping LDG Electronics comes out with a high power model auto-tuner because I want to be first on the list. I run a G5RV, a Hygain tri-band beam, a homemade sloper for 160 and a Butternut 6HF-V verticle ground mounted and this tuner is just the fastest thing I ever seen.
KB6OSG Rating: 2002-07-11
Great tuner! Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I've been using this tuner for about a year now and have had no problems with it at all. I've
tuned long wires, dipoles, Isotrons, and superantennas with it with 1:1 SWR results. Sure it
sounds like a cement mixer while it tunes but hey, it's great. I have also used the Icom
features with a 706 and 746, no problem.
K6NTL Rating: 2002-05-25
Little update. Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I'm going to bring this up a tad. LDG amazed me with a 20 minute reply to my tech support e-mail. Wow. Told me how to adjust the meters. Did some side by side tests, and does better than my FT-890's auto tuner. And that tuner impressed me. I may have to turn off its tuner and put a switch in line for both radios. Works for me!!

----------------------
Earlier 4-star review posted by K6NTL on 2002-05-20

Greetings all,
Have had the tuner about a week now and find it very satisfactory. Considering the cost of the unit, I would say there is more than adequate "bang for the buck". The only flaw I can find is that the meter needle doesn't seat down at 0 with power on or off. Minor bug. May make for inaccurate reflected power reading, but not by much. Now I understand the difference between AM and SSB readings, but on SSB with a tone the meter doesn't read as high on output as my radio by a longshot. Like I said, I understand the difference, but a 100w carrier on AM to a 20w peak solid tone SSB? Seems a little weakish. Could be the sensitivity of the meter. Wonder if this is modifiable. Basically it tunes well, but not as fast or wide as a lot of reports here. I chalk this up to my antenna, although my FT-890AT which has a max 3:1 tunes faster and better than this. Same antenna. And the meter on it reflects accurate peaks. But the primary goal is to radiate and not burn up the finals, so my FT-100D has a new pal. On a funnier note, my YL heard it for the first time and said "oh swell, you broke it already..." (as if I haven't heard that before..).
All in all I think it is worth the money. Wish the meter worked better, but I am sure it is doing it's job, and economically. If they ever put out a mod for memories, I'm there.
73, Kevin
M0BTJ Rating: 2002-05-23
tunes 10:1/ links icom Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
hi all
this auto tuner links up with my ic718,so i can use the radio tune button(tx 10watts cw auto etc)
i,ve brought 2 leads to do this in england,and both shops wired a simple lead wrong???
(wire it yourself info on website for ic706 which works for ic718,use ah4 plug)
i,m just moving house,so i,ve tested atu on a tempary solarcon a99(10/11 meter) antenna,with a good atu earth
the results were v.surpriseing,10 to 20 meters with 1.5 swr and 40 meters 2.1 swr;yes 40 meters.
natuarly the antenna won,t perform very well on 40,20,17 meters but is ok on the rest
tunes most coax fed antennas,alot cheaper than icoms tuner,and tunes better than my old mfj manual tuner
if it does,nt make a liquidiser noise then it is,nt working properly,but with remote lead u can move it away
so for the money it,s great,as my wife would string me up,if an atu cost the same as my radio
cheers all
K5CFW Rating: 2002-05-11
Tunes well, needs memory Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
Got mine, already assembled, from Giga Parts - first time I've ordered from them but I'll be back - and it worked perfectly right out of the box. Antenna is a Carolina Windom.

Most of my operating is on 20M PSK31. I leave the xcvr at 14.070 and when I turn it on, it's smart enough to come back to that frequency. My old MFJ949 "remembered" its most recent settings, too. But this tuner has to be re-initialized every time I turn it on... and this means transmitting a brief spurt of RF so it can do its rattling (see reviews below). Since the xcvr doesn't "hear" well until the antenna is tuned, it's hard to know whether I'm QRMing someone when I tune up.

I knew that there was no memory when I bought the tuner, and that costlier competing tuners have memory. I just didn't realize how important it is to have a built-in memory. Not including it was a cost-saver, and I can't blame the manufacturer for responding to market demand. But if (like me) you de-power everything when you leave the shack, be prepared for an extra step each time you sit down to operate.

My rating of 5/5 for LDG is because it works great for what it is - an autotuner with no memory. My rating for myself, for not thinking this through before buying, is lower.
AB0UK Rating: 2002-04-07
Not the Best Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Well.... new out of the box the power plug would be kicked 3-4 inches out of the back of the tuner. Fixed that by repositioning the PCB so it would plug in all the way. While the tuner was opened found two IC's missing and two apparent shorts (metal to metal). LDG said the missing IC's were "mods".

BTW, I'm using a Van Gordon SD40 dipole up 25- 30 feet.

About half of the time it would not finish tuning and had to be finished manually. On the third attempt with customer service at LDG got some verbal "alignment" instructions by phone. Improved tuning on upperbands but not 40 meters. Then I noticed the forward power was off at low power by as much as 30 percent. Before realignment it was dead on. Finally, it started tuning once during an SSB qso on 40 meters.

The guys at HRO were very gracious in taking it back. Got a MFJ 949E in it's place. It tunes my antenna well at 40 meters and above with about 2:1 on 20 meters. I'm sure that others have had much better experience with this tuner. In some instances 1-3 clicks on the front switches would finish tuning telling me it is partially working but cannot quite get it right.

Jim, ab0uk
KG8ZH Rating: 2002-03-11
great alternative to a factory tuner Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I recently bought a new Icom IC-718. I started out using an MFJ roller inductor tuner, but wanted an autotuner to replace the MFJ. When I priced the Icom coaxial tuners I felt they were far too expensive. The AT-180 is close to 400 dollars. Thats almost two thirds of what the radio costs. So Icom can keep their matching tuner. I purchased the AT-11MP assembled for 219 dollars and also got the Icom interface cable. The cable makes the AT11MP work just like a factory tuner. At first, I decided to put both the LDG and the MFJ roller inductor tuner in line. I was concerned that the AT-11MP might not be able to handle the high impedence of one of my antennas which is a G5RV. The manual says that the AT11 can operate in an impedence range of 6 to 800 OHMS which is a much wider operating range than Icoms tuner, so I tried it on the G5RV and to my suprise, I really dont need the MFJ tuner. The AT11MP will tune my G5RV as well as my Multiband vertical and my 10 meter vertical so the MFJ tuner is always in bypass, and I will probably just take the MFJ out of line.

Overall, I am so happy with this tuner, that I am thinking of buying LDG's QRP tuner as well.As with any product though, nothing is perfect. My only real complaint with this tuner is that I dont like the built in cross needle meter. It works ok at higher power levels, but on low power the meter is not very accurate. But thats a very minor issue for me. This tuner also works very well on rigs without the interface capability. I also hav an Icom 751A and have used it with that rig as well. Again it worked very well. As soon as the SWR goes above about 3:1 the tuner automaticly kicks in and finds a match quickly.

For cost and value you can't beat this tuner. I would definatly recommend it.
AC7KZ Rating: 2002-02-24
Had a good laugh Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Agree with all the other reviews. When I started the tuner for the first time, my child ran from the room-fearing something was going wrong. I had a good laugh. I would recomend this tuner to anyone searching for one.
K9FE Rating: 2002-01-10
Where was this 30 years ago?? Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I received the LDG AT-11 MP Autotuner for Christmas....well I did have to order it myself.
What an addition to the shack! I like the description of a bunch of quarters in a blender, quite accurate. My wife said "is it broken already?" but it was music to my ears. Leave it in auto and it tunes as I change bands.
My antenna is a multiband wire array but WAS and WAP in Canada this year on PSK31...problem is that the bands it is resonant on aren't in the ham bands....but this thing finds a match less than 1.5:1 on 80-10 usually in under 2 seconds. This antenna is in my attic on top of it so it is quite small for 40 and 75. I had trouble finding a match using my MFJ-989 on 75. It took forever until the LDG.
I bought it built since I wanted to be able to use it in my limited spare time. AES was $20 less than LDG direct..ordered on Monday, arrived on Wednesday. Definitely a winner in my shack.

Mike K9FE
KA4KOE Rating: 2001-12-09
Nice Product Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I just bought the AT-11MP recently from LDG Electronics. This is one neat kit. Lets start with the problems, albeit minor--

1. If you are used to building Heathkits, then you are in for a surprise. The unit has TINY solder traces. I realize this in unavoidable with IC sockets with 50+ pins!! If you have problems seeing, or are no longer just 16 building an HW-8 for the first time, then you need to take your time. This is a complex project.

2. The unit sounds like $2.00 worth of quarters in a blender set on puree' while tuning. Honestly, though, I think this is kinda neat.

The unit worked as advertised. I am using the BA-1 balun kit since I'm feeding a 130 foot wire betwixt two trees at 45' above grade. I am also using a couple of long radials and a ground rod for a counterpoise. The unit finds a match on ALL bands from 160m-10m. El no problemo.

This setup netted me 80+ contacts in this past weekend's 160m CW contest with 100 watts, a Kenwood TS830s, and my Vibroplex. Caught cold late Friday night, so my score will probably be somewhat low as I retired early.

Nice job LDG. Beats paying 350+ for a ready made one from SGC.

Philip KA4KOE