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Reviews For: EMTECH ZM-2 ATU

Category: Antenna Tuners/Matching Networks

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Review Summary For : EMTECH ZM-2 ATU
Reviews: 70MSRP: 65
Description:
Complete kit, all parts furnished
Product is in production
More Info: http://emtech.steadynet.com/zmdesc.htm
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00704.8
K5TTE Rating: 2013-09-19
Simple and effective Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Others have described this ATU better than I
It's a winner and only the "Altoid can" tuners are smaller
It's lightweight, easy to pack, and quick to set up.
It delivers QSOs with most any 1/4 wave wire plus counterpoise.
I like it
KD2UJ Rating: 2013-08-10
Different, fun, functional Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
First kit I built with no printed circuit board, everything is "up in the air." Paying attention to details was key to a successful build. It seems that I am destined to always install LEDs backwards and, sure enough, I did with this kit. Once I reversed the leads, thinks looked a lot better. There are excellent videos and photos on the Emtech site that supplement the manual very nicely.

I have a dipole cut very closely to 3,990KHz. Using a YouKits HB-1B (aka TenTec R4040), I was able to tune to 7,050KHz with zero reflected power in, literally, a matter of seconds. Can't wait to try it on my Buddistick.

All in all, a fun kit to build (including winding the 2 toroids) and a great addition to my growing portable QRP station. Don't leave home without it.
W0YN Rating: 2013-07-01
Great QRP Tuner Time Owned: more than 12 months.
This is a wonderful portable qrp tuner. I've been using one for the past few years always with excellent results. A fun kit to build, I also purchased several factory assembled units. This quality unit will tune nearly everything. This tuner will save your transceiver finals as it sees 50 ohms while tuning. Tuning is fast with no batteries or supply needed. Because of this I prefer the ZM-2 over an automatic tuner. Thanks Emtech for a quality product!
N7AG Rating: 2013-06-08
A-1 coax or balanced Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
OK price, between manual & pix on website construction good, no holes to drill, professional looks, works GREAT, has tuning "meter". Observe px limit, 15 watts. Fits in pocket.
AB1QX Rating: 2013-03-16
best ever used Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I bought this for qrp use with my Ft-817.
Tunes Hi-Z efhw quickly and very sharp. Huge tuning range. Experimenting I have yet to find any conductive material I couldn't load on 80/40. Exactly what I have been seeking for a very long time; highly recommended, especially for quickly deployed wires in the field.
W5NNN Rating: 2012-11-24
It works, but not as easy to use as I would hope Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
It was a fun build, and not overly painful. And it works. I did not buy the "pre wound toroids" version. Not excited by the paper faceplate decal -- why not a plastic one?

I'm finding it difficult to use. Maybe the long time it is taking me to find the "best" match (not just "a" match) will improve with time. Right now it always feels like the Long Big Search. But nothing will solve that it seems to provide a pretty narrow usable window.

If I manage to tune to a 1.13 SWR on the center frequency, that tyically leaves me only a +/- 15KHz usable range with SWR < 2.0. If I'm spinning the dial and find someone I want to talk to, well, it isn't polite to tune on top of their QSO. But that narrow window may not always be quite wide enough to tune in nearby if the band is a little busy.
K2IZ Rating: 2012-05-06
easy to build Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I've been building the smt kits for a few years, this was much easier to build, instructions were good, tried the tuner out and it works great, very sensitive on the tuning but it's easy to get use to.
K9RCM Rating: 2011-07-14
Excellent!! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This is the first review I've ever done. But, this tuner warrants it. I'm not a kit builder, and this is the first thing I ever attempted to build. It was an easy project and works as amazingly as they say it does. I tuned a random wire strung up 40 ft. as a sloper. Put a counterpoise wire out on the ground and worked several stations on 30 and 20 meters with PSK 31.
I even bought a second one.
KJ4FUU Rating: 2011-07-08
Easy build, great results Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I'd been out of practice building kits for a few years, and this was my first build since getting my ham license. The directions were OK (there were no errors, just some things may have been made clearer), and there's no arguing with the results. I have a random wire antenna, and due to its length it took me a bit to find the correct settings for 15 meters, but since I found them, I've worked Bosnia and Moldova on 5w phone! No troubles with any of the HF bands, and it does tune quickly.

I will probably buy another one, just as a spare, and I can easily recommend this tuner to any QRPer.
ZL2AIM Rating: 2009-02-27
Great matching unit for QRP Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have built two of these tuners and both work extremely well. I used them in conjunction with both TenTec 1340 and TenTec 1320 rigs and on a variety of balanced and unbalanced antennas.
I have used one with a FT817 with no problems in tuning up whatever antenna I was using.
I have never used one on my bedsprings but have managed to tune up a variety of antennas ranging from a G5RV, inverted Vee's, long wire with good earth and long wire with counterpoise earth. I found they were great to tune up a dipole antenna made out of two slinky springs. With that antenna tuned by the Emtech ZM2 I worked Zimbabwe from Durban South Africa using 2 watts.
Yes, the tuning is very sharp and some practice is required, but once mastered it is a cinch to set up and tune. Don't have a heart attack if the red LED does not go out completely, - you will not damage your set if you can see some dimming of the LED.
For portable operation on QRP, this is a great little matching unit.