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Reviews For: SGC SG-230

Category: Antenna Tuners/Matching Networks

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Review Summary For : SGC SG-230
Reviews: 66MSRP: 595.00
Description:
SG-230 Smartuner automatic microprocessor antenna coupler.
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.sgcworld.com/products/230/sg230.html
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00664.6
VK4KX Rating: 2021-05-09
Great Auto tuner Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have 3 of these SG-230 Atu's, 2 work and 1 was given to me with the relays removed, I'll get around to repairing it sometime. I have one at the base of a home brew 30' vertical with a top hat and the other is in my 4wd and gets used when camping. Though I have several other antennas on the Patrol but hey you got to have backups right. I recommend this tuner as an all round HF tuner as long as long you keep your power down to 200 watts or less, yes 200 watts from my Kenwood TS-480HX works great with this ATU. Make sure to have a good ground for it and radials as well, also a choke or clip on ferrites at each end of the coax is a good idea as well.
KE4IZA Rating: 2020-09-13
Unbelievable Tuner Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This SG-230 Smartuner is unbelievable in what it can do. I live in an apartment and do not have the room for a large antenna. What I have done is drive a 4' pipe 3' into the ground and mounted a 102" CB whip antenna. I have also ran (2) 17' radials around my patio. Not only does this tuner manage to tune this setup but the SWR is less than 1.5:1 from 10m to 80m. I am in Monroe, Michigan and so far on 20m I have made contacts with Atlanta, Georgia and West Palm Beach, Florida with 50w. Have not had much free time to play with this setup. Tuning is fast and easy. Just transmit and it tunes, storing in memory for even faster tuning when you return to a previous tune. This tuner is not cheap but after experiencing the SG-230, I would buy it again. I have no regrets!
WA4YBC Rating: 2020-03-16
Great antenna tuner for a sailboat Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have owned 2 SGC 230 antenna tuners over the years. I bought my first SGC 230 in 2001. I have never had any problems with my SGC 230. My SGC 230 tuner has always worked great, and never had a problem tuning up my antenna. I strongly recommend this tuner. It is highly reliable. You will have a hard time finding a tuner built with more quality.
PA3HGT Rating: 2019-11-17
Works but no response manufacturer Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This tuner works very good,as a extra i added a "Smartlock".I tried several other tuners but this is the one.Now i operate on a CB antenna of almost 2 mtrs but a 2,72 cm whip is also tried.I and several other suppliers asked SGC about availabilty of the SG230 but no one got answered. As a costumer you need support when you need but i you got no answer on a simple qeustion.
I bought a second one because almost no EU shop has a new one in stock.
PY2NMB Rating: 2019-04-21
DOA no customer service Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
Bought one directly from SGC.
D.O.A. It lights up, but when RF is applied on it, nothing happens.

And yes, I know how to use a tuner.
I tried contact several times, by e-mail by phone, and the only thing SGC wants to know so far, if I bought it new or used; no matter I sent a copy of recipt and wire transfer to them.
They never sent an email or made contact after my emails.

Good paper weight for the shack.
KJ4FGI Rating: 2018-08-26
Fantastic BUT Time Owned: more than 12 months.
These are designed for boats/sailboats/Aircraft, after 3 years of ownership I can't live without it. Been looking for another just hard to find a good one. Best auto tuner out there.

Because most of these are commonly used on boats, if purchasing one of these, make sure you see the one your buying, Not a Stock Photo, Stock photos are used to hide the real condition and ask for a picture of the inside because if the seal is bad the saltwater wrecks the inside.

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Earlier 5-star review posted by KJ4FGI on 2017-06-11

for 80 meter transmission you need an antenna wire at least 23 feet long, 40 - 10 m at least 8 feet long.

This tunes frequencies most other tuners don't. These, as I understand were designed for boats/sailboats I guess that's why it tunes frequencies that my Icom AH-4 doesn't. I do love the Icom AH-4 also, it is smaller but doesn't tune the spread like the SG-230
VE2KM Rating: 2018-04-16
Awesome Performance Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I hung a short piece of wire about 8m long at a height of about 3m between two trees. At sunspot low (2018) using 100w I worked Guadeloupe and France with 1:1 vswr. I have just bought a second SGC230 to install on my sailboat! I highly recommend this coupler.
WB0KWJ Rating: 2016-12-31
Fast Tuning, Reliable Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I purchased my SG-230 about 10 years ago at a hamfest for $40 as an "as-is" item. The previous owner said he could not make it tune. He had another non-working autotuner for sale, so I suspected he was hard on them. The fact that the SGC-230 tuned well at some frequencies suggested the logic circuits were working. According to the seller, other tuner did even less.

A little bit of analysis revealed a couple relays with burned out contacts that prevented the SGC-230 tuning sequence from completing at certain frequency ranges. I replaced the defective relays, made a new moisture seal with liquid gasket material, and the unit has been working perfectly since.

I mounted the SGC-230 inside a metal briefcase with connectors on the side for portable use. It is designed to be set remotely at the base of a vertical or long-wire. Operating power provided via the coax using a bias-t installed inside the SG-230 case. The bias-t has a resonance at 12 meters that sometimes prevents tuning on that band (consequences of using a cheap choke). Otherwise, acquisition of an SWR solution takes no more than a couple seconds for new frequencies. Its memory system tunes previously used frequencies essentially instantly.

The SG-230 is not a QRP device, but I have had good performance tuning at just under 10 watts. The manual recommends tuning at full power. That seems to provide slightly better solutions more quickly, probably at the expense of relay contacts. I purchased a couple spare relays just in case. They are common and inexpensive. In ten years, I have not had occasion to use them.

The SG-230 is not the most inexpensive tuner available. However, it is designed for operation in harsh environments. A user who does not need a device that can be mounted outside could save money with something else. But, if a rugged, reliable 100-200 watt device is needed, the SGC-230 seems very well worth it.

WA3GIN Rating: 2016-02-28
Awesome Little Coupler Time Owned: more than 12 months.
The SGC 230 has been on the shelf for many years. Just never had an antenna that could use it with but recently I put up a 160m OCFD and now thought I'd try the coupler. The unit is not designed for coax output. But I wanted to try it out. The unit loves the OCFD. Now instantly I can switch bands...from 160 to 10m. This was one of the first auto couplers built for ham use, plenty competitors out there now with very competitive prices!

Really like the little box. Warning the relays are made with low temperature plastic. If you try to match and there is no antenna connected the relay can heat up enough so that the contractor with migrate into the plastic form. The next time you try the unit that relay will not make contact. The fix is easy. Open the unit locate the suspect relay, heat the contactor with a low power solder iron and reseat the contactor. Always check that you have an antenna connected. This damage occurred at a Field Day when an over excited operator mistakenly disconnected the antenna, duh!

N0VA Rating: 2014-12-14
Works well Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Actually it's performing great but can't give 5 stars to something I have only been using a couple of months.

I acquired the SGC-230 in a trade a couple of years ago and had it sitting unused in a closet until October, 2014. I decided to give it a try and wound 100 feet of wire on a wood 2x2 frame and stuck it in an old tripod mount sitting on the ground in my backyard. The bottom of the loop is about 6 ft. off the ground and power is taken from a remote 12VDC supply close by, not the same power supply running the HF rig in use. SGC does not recommend using a remote power supply and in fact indicate on their website they do not offer technical support for such an arrangement (danger of ground loops.) Be that as it may mine works just fine this way and so far has been able to couple the feedline to the loop anywhere on the ham bands 10-80 meters. I did learn that a cheap switching wall-wort power supply (12V, 1 amp) produced a frying noise on received signals and replaced it with an old Radio Shack linear supply.

I have posted a picture of the loop and coupler on my QRZ callsign page. N0VA