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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
VK2GWK Rating: 2001-06-03
serviceable Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have been using my Smarttuner SG-230 for a couple of years now. Initially with various pieces of wire and sometimes poor ground but always with good result. With the SG-230 you can tune " anything".
The last two years the tuner has been mounted on the sheet metal roof of my house tuning a 40M wire (about 15 meters high). Worked 140 countries in 18 months!
Only problem I came across is the sensing diodes that pick up signals for the SWR and phase sensors. Had to replace them a couple of times but the SG-230 is easy to service and most IC's are mounted in sockets.
M0CQG Rating: 2001-03-13
Makes life *very* easy! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've had my SGC-230 for around a year now, and bought it used for about half of the new price.

It works just like the manual says. Connect any old hunk of wire to it and you're away! I've used this as the tuner for countless different wire antennas - dipoles, verticals, multi-turn loops - and it has never failed to produce a 1.5:1 or better match. It isn't too fussy about grounding either - currently I'm using it to tune a shortened, centre loaded home-made vertical, and have just two random length radials connected to the tuner's earth post. It works flawlessly.

For those wanting maxmimum convenience, the SGC-230 is hard to beat in my opinion.
M0BAU Rating: 2001-02-14
Great Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I needed an ATU to work with my elderly FT757, my garden is small but has a large Ash tree which takes up most of the area. I thought why not use a long wire up the 50ft tall tree, the SGC SG-230 is recommended for end fed wires 'so why not?' I have not looked back since installing the unit in the garden shed at the base of the tree.It tunes on all bands almost instantly, I work moslty QRP and works even on low powers. One thing it MUST have is a GOOD close ground ,but then should not all systems? My rating 5/5.
K6GL Rating: 2000-04-07
A great tuner, but factory service pricey and myst Time Owned: unknown months.
I've used an SG-230 with an Icom IC-775 at up to 200 W since November 1998. I've learned that you should tune this tuner with the lowest practical power level; I use 3 to 5 watts now. It will tune with 200 watts, but doing so can cause arcing of the relays, which discolors and can pit the relay contacts. I think that this is a great product. It's weatherproof, it can be used with coaxial isolators (bias Ts to feed power over the coax and not require a control cable), and it will tune a wide range of antennas. It works as advertised. I used it for 160 meter CW contests, at 150 watts with a short 23 foot vertical, a couple of months after my purchase, and the tuner retuned during operation. Perhaps whis was due to heating internal tuner components or to heating an external loading coil in the center of my antenna. This retuning, with the hunting, disrupted my operation and, worse yet, started an intermittent noise problem, which could be corrected by transmitting. The problem persisted later, on other bands, but it could be absent for extended periods. The whole senario recurred during this season's 160 meter CW contests, and the problems seemed worse operating on other bands after the contests. I called SGC, and they were very helpful. They suggested that I inspect the relay contacts and tell them what I found. I found discolored and even pitted relays for some of the input capacitors and inductors. When I told SGC what I found, they gave me an RMA number and a fixed repair price and suggested that I send the SG-230 for service. I did so. It was returned about two weeks later with only a packing slip. I inspected the relays, and their appearance was unchanged. After waiting a week for paperwork to arrive, I found out (after 3 phone calls to SGC and one to my credit card company), that they had tested the tuner, found no problems, judged the condition of the relays to be normal, and had billed my credit card for $255.00 on the day that they received the SG-230. When I complained that their service did not meet expectations (no service report, no invoice, and half the street price of a new tuner for a "no trouble found"), they offered to replace the relays, retest, and return my SG-230 at no additional charge. They noted that they thought that doing so would, in their opinion, have no effect on the operation of the tuner. I have replaced the SG-230 with an SG-235 (see my review), which has a higher power rating. I intend to leave things as they are and use the SG-230 elsewhere. I think that the SGC AutoTuners are great products, but, if you need service, Caveat Emptor (Let the buyer beware). Service seems to have a very high threshhold cost, and you may have the same problems that I encountered.
K4NR Rating: 2000-02-06
One Great 150 Watt Tuner Time Owned: unknown months.
I ran across the SGC-230 when I was looking for a way to get on the air from military housing in Montgomery, AL. The base commander did not allow any kind of external antennas, so I was forced to look in my half of the attic for space. I was able to run 15 feet of wire on insulators along the peak. I ran that wire to the SGC-230 and used the old-style forced air heating ducts as a counterpoise. I worked fine on 80-10 meters. DXCC and WAS in less than a year--mostly CW, but an occasional SSB contact on the upper bands. Later I decided to run a 25-foot wire from a roof vent to the corner of my house. (it was hidden by the trees and I got away with that until I left!) It would tune 160-10 meters. I worked 29 states on 160 meters running 50 watts--including HI and AK. When I moved to Texas, I was able to put up a tower and "real" antennas so I sold the SGC. I'm considering HF mobile and another SGC is definitely in the plans.

73 de Tom, K4NR
N.A. Rating: 2000-02-06
The Best Tuner I've Ever Used Time Owned: unknown months.
The SGC230 first came to my attention when I learned the tuner was in wide use in the bluewater yachting community. A year and a half ago I bought one to use with a sawed-off CB whip for my IC706MkII installed in a Jeep Cherokee. Since then, I've installed the SGC230 in a motorhome feeding yet another CB whip and in a 40 powerboat feeding a Shakespear 23 ft. fiberglass whip mounted on the flying bridge. It is easy to install this tuner; just give it 12VDC, connect a good ground, run some coax to your transceiver, and hook a piece of wire to the antenna. It just takes a tiny burst of RF to fire the tuner and you're ready to go. Generally, if I can hear 'em I can work 'em. The 230 is as dependable as a pet rock. For the best price, try Defender Marine in NY.