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Reviews For: SGC SG-211 micro-coupler

Category: Antenna Tuners/Matching Networks

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Review Summary For : SGC SG-211 micro-coupler
Reviews: 16MSRP: 179.95
Description:
Internally powered micro-antenna coupler.
Offering both balanced & un-balanced outputs.
Rugged steel casing.
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.sgcworld.com/Newsletter/Dec03/SG211.htm
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00163.6
WA4GKI Rating: 2004-11-30
Poor Customer Support Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
OK tuner if it would hold a match. It is a commnly known problem with the first 1000 earlier models. Now SGC has a new model, but they refuse to upgrade previous owners couplers. It could be an excellent tuner if SGC would provide some support and quit blaming everyone but themselves
VA7ACA Rating: 2004-11-17
It works as advertised Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I have put my SG211 through some tests and it works well. If you jump between bands it takes a few seconds to tune each time. Sometimes it requires several tune-ups before it finds its happy spot with good SWR. I have used it on my various dipoles with good results. The ISOTRON 40meter tunes up easily but the 80meter ISOTRON is touchy and will not match easily. I have used this with a Buddipole with excellent results and near perfect SWR everytime. It is well designed for random wire and any ladder line fed antenna. I would rate it 5 out of 5 but it can be touchy with some antenna and it is slow to tune at times. To save/preserve the finals on my FT817 i tune up at 2.5w or AM at 1.5w. Overall it is what I expected and it works well.
K2MMT Rating: 2004-10-20
Not happy! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I sold my SGC 239 to get this 211, and I'm sorry I did that. As a result of the 211's slowness of tuning and it's instablilty it burned out the finals in my IC 703 (QRP) - that cost me $100 for ICOM to replace. I have a 40' wire from my attic to a tree. In the attic I have a dozen cut-to bands radials, The 239 had no problem tuning this antenna. I operate from my basement and can't see the tuner. But I can watch my SWR go down to a low level, and while keying in a QSO, for no reason I know, the SWR jumps up to HIGH and then starts to retune again.
I called SGC and they only gave me some BS that it is a s-l-o-w tuning device - but they deny that it will re-tune mid qso. I'd like to hear from anyone else with similar problems and how they resolved it. SGC said I should try to remove the jumper which I haven't done yet. Any feedback to K2MMT@arrl.net
M3GMQ Rating: 2004-09-22
Excellent bit of kit Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Using with FT817 at 2.5 and 5W, performs really well across the bands with a roughly 25 foot random wire antenna & 30 foot counterpoise. Quick tune, reliable memory, vswr highest reading was 2. Very pleased with its small size, light weight, rugged design and ease of use.
ON4VP Rating: 2004-08-01
worked 5 minutes, VSWR 2:1 Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I was excited to try this new gizmo, small, but especially no power needed to operate (at least external power supplied) and 0,3 to 6000 Ohms matching capability for unbalanced and balanced lines.

First I like to point out that I own and owned several other SGC smartuners like the 230 (the best there is) and a 237 and 231.

So I know how to put it up, get it working, know the importance of a good RF ground, etc...

When I first tried the SG-211 out, it did tune a ramdom piece of wire (27 feet) against a radial system but a lot of troubles occured :

- VSWR never better than 2:1
- Slow tuning, hard to find a match
- Even when trying to make QSO, matching lost and starting to retune (QSO gone)

I saw this before on the 237 model to, I needed to make a smartlock to keep the tuner locked. I NEVER had this with the SG-230.

After a QSO or 2 (if it stayed tuned) I changed bands to 15 from 20 and from that point on the coupler was death, no tuning, nothing.

First I thought that the batteries could be death to, the should last 5 years according the manual but you never know, batteries where good.

Next I was supprised about the poor design when I openend the coupler, the connections for all RF in-out and ground are made of small spring type rings that push against a small jumper leg stand on the printboard, they made contact but if you tighten the wings to attach wire, the sometimes turn and loose their connections, boy oh boy.

So I packed the damn thing in plastic and his original box and shipped it back to Wimo asking to refund my account, I will not work with this tuner again, to bad of a design.

I needed it badly to leave for holiday tommorow, but I think my good old manual MFJ 16010 will go along like so many years, it never fault ... (indeed Maj... f*c ... junk)
NN7B Rating: 2004-08-01
Rugged design, excellent operation! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
My review of this new tuner involves using it with my IC-703 transceiver at 10 watts and feeding a 70-ft length of coaxial cable to a 80-meter horizontal loop antenna with a 1:1 balun at the feed point.

The tuner tuned each band very quickly from 80 to 10 meter across the entire length of each band. The tuning indicator LED always showed a quick sequence and my SWR/power meter rarely went above half scale during tuning. The highest 'tuned' setting was 1.1:1 meaning the tuner matched everything I could throw at it.

SGC has a real winner here. The rugged metal case can easily be mounted inside a weatherproof box and installed at the feed point of an antenna. It can also be installed easily in place of a balun for a balanced open-wire feed and allow the best possible tuning situation for your station. Having the built-in power with the AA alkaline batteries is a real advantage.

In the future, I will be testing it on several variations of antennas including end-fed 1/2 wave, dipoles and possible experiment with it at the feed point of my 80-meter loop.

This tuner is one that I would recommend to anyone for portable operating especially. All the instructions are printed clearly on the outside of the case and are easy to read. I found the metal case to be very sturdy compared to other automatic tuners in this power and price range so for me, this is one accessory I will use for a long time. I may also purchase another one exclusively for portable operating. It is a perfect match for the IC-706's providing you keep output power below the 60-watt maximum rating. With a well-tuned antenna, 40 more watts will hardly be noticed at the other end. :)

73, Paul Cavnar - NN7B
cavnar@gbis.com