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Reviews For: Turbo Tuner

Category: Antennas: HF Mobile & Accessories

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Review Summary For : Turbo Tuner
Reviews: 156MSRP: 269. USD
Description:
Automatic Screwdriver Antenna Controller for Icom, Kenwood, and Yaesu. Handles antenna motor currents up to 2 amps. Firmware is user upgradeable using a computer. Controller is powered by the radio. Plug and play with no calibration required. Works with all models of screwdriver antennas. Tarheel, High Sierra and others. RF bullet proof with extensive RFI filtering. Full 30 day money back satisfaction guarantee and 2 year no questions asked parts and labor warranty. We stand behind our products.
Product is not in production
More Info: http://WWW.N2VZ.COM
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
001564.5
WB3IGR Rating: 2011-04-25
Great Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
After several attempts to get my Little Tar Heel II screwdriver antenna to work right. I finally bought the N2VZ Turbo Tuner for my Icom IC-7000 and Tar heel antenna. All I can say is that I should have had this one first. Right out of the box, it is trully PLUG & PLAY. Just follow some installation instructions and BAM! it's working the way it should. There are no wires to cut to the antenna motor and the tuner gets it's power from the radio so no need for an extra 12 volt power line. Great product!! 5 stars!!
KG4TUM Rating: 2011-04-03
I'll stick with the rocker switch Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
It works, it just doesn't work good. If I'm on 40 meters and want to go to 20, I have to wait for the antenna to go all the way to the top and then back down until the unit finds an swr that it is happy with. Unfortunately, it is happy with anything less than 2:1, and so as soon as the swr drops below that number, it's done. I can do it with the rocker switch in half the time, and get to a lower swr just by listening. I know what direction the antenna needs to go when I switch bands. There's nothing turbo about this unit. And no way does it find the lowest swr.
W5DNT Rating: 2011-02-23
EXCELLENT TUNER Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I am using an ICOM 7000 with the Turbo Tuner model built specifically for the IC 7000, driving a Tarheel 200HP. I simply could not be happier. The Turbo Tuner has functioned flawlessly. In a mobile environment, I strongly believe this device is literally a life saver. No more fumbling with switches and SWR meters. Just buy one, you'll love it.
KF0CU Rating: 2011-01-23
Excellent Product Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I have one running in my car with the FT-857d and a little Tarheel antenna, and and just ordered another one to run in my pickup with the TS-480HX and a Tarheel 200 antenna.

Simple to install/operate and I highly recommend this product to everyone.

AI4HO Rating: 2011-01-02
It Works Great.....BUT.. Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I guess after 6-7 months I can give an accurate review of my Turbo Tuner. I went to Stuart, Fl. about an hours drive south from my QTH here in Vero Beach, Fl. I was heading south that day any way to see some other ham friends from another club who were running a special event that day. I got to Bill's house, the transaction went very smoothly and Bill actually volunteered to help me install his Turbo Tuner into my 2009 Ford Ranger. My rig of choice for the install was my brand new Kenwood TS-480HX 200 watt transceiver that I had purchased at the Orlando Hamcation in February. My TS-480HXhad seen limited use in my home, but felt that it was not being used to its fullest capabilities, what with my amp, I had to turn the power way down, so I opted to remove my venerable Icom 706MKIIG from its place in my truck and install the TS-480HX.

Now then, most vendors will sell you their product, say thank you very much and off you go to use the product in which ever way you see fit. Not so with Bill, we took about an hour, and had the Turbo Tuner installed and tested. Now then here's the twist, the Turbo Tuner does an excellent job on all bands except 17 meters. For some unknown reason the Turbo Tuner will not tune 17 meters, Bill and I exchanged email after email and tried many different ways to remedy the situation, all to no avail. I have even tried about a month and a half ago to remove the Turbo Tuner and from the equation and try it using FM, low power and tune by hand, which still yielded no tuning on 17 meters. However, if I connecet an antenna that is resonate to my TS-480HX, then all is fine. I can't find fault with the Turbo Tuner, and Bill's help and follow up is second to none, just wish I could figure out why the 480 wont tune on 17 meters. All in all I would recommend any one who is looking for an automatic tuner for their mobile or base rig for that matter, then by all means pick up one of Bill N2VZ's Turbo Tuners, you wont do any better.

73 de Mark
W3LZK
N4VHR Rating: 2010-12-03
Works Great! Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I have been using the Turbo Tuner with the IC-7000 and Scorpion 680 for several months now with no issues at all. I first went with the Better-RF unit but had all sorts of problems with it and once I decided to try the Turbo Tuner, everything is great. I would buy another without hesitation.

73,
Bill
KC2RFQ Rating: 2010-10-02
Problematic? Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I just received my Turbo Tuner for installation with my FT-857D/ Little Tarheel II. I'm finding that sometimes it works well, other times it has "issues". When it's working, it's great! When it's not, well it's more of a headache than a convenience/safety factor.
Okay, particularly on 20 M, it often will go past the lowest swr, send a Morse "P" and return to the park position(send another "P). Other times, it works as it should. I've tried ajusting the stall current and the swr threshold without any notable change in the problem. Please note that I've choked the motor and sense wires along with the coax as described by K0BG (an excellent resource for mobile installations!). I've ensured grounding of the (okay, it's a compromise) K-4000 mouont but finding a place for a ball mount on a Chevy Trailblazer is nearly impossible! If anyone knows of a good location, I'm all ears! I've bonded the rear hatch, the tailpipe, and the hood with 1" braid. There's not much RFI on the receiver. I notice ignition noise (spark plugs, no alternator whine) only on part of the 6M band.
I've attempted to contact Bill at N2VZ by phone and email. It's only been a couple of days and a few tries at reaching him so I'll reserve opinion on N2VZ support for the moment. Perhaps, he's on vacation.
But, here's one very perplexing observation. With the Turbo Tuner installed, I have a huge "birdie" at ~14.260 Mhz. There may be birdies on other bands as well...I noticed one on 60M but I never operate there. I'm wondering if there's actually something wrong with this unit. I'm not talking about a low level signal here. It makes operating around that frequency impossible! This coupled with its inconsistent behavior has me wondering if something in the unit might be amiss????
Anyone got any suggestions? Hopefully, I'll shortly hear from the maufacturer and they'll be helpful. Given reviews by others, it appears they've scored well in the support category. I hope that remains the case. I'll follow up here as things change.
K7BEN Rating: 2010-09-21
Great Product Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I’ve has this tuner for about two years now. It’s installed with the icom 706 and the Tarheel 75 antenna. The tuner has worked flawlessly since day one and has seen all the dust, dirt and vibration of a typical mobile install. This is the only safe way to work a multi band HF while mobile.
WD5GWY Rating: 2010-07-25
Great product and support Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Just to be clear, I bought my Turbo Tuner for my ICOM 706MKIIG from another ham and not from Bill.
In spite of that, Bill has answered my questions by email and even phoned me to help me find a problem I was having in attempting to use a the Turbo Tuner with an Alpine Screwdriver antenna. ( I could find no one that had used that antenna with the Turbo Tuner)
It turned out that the problem was not with the Turbo Tuner, but, a problem with the Alpine antenna. The manufacturer of the Alpine repaired the antenna free of charge (I paid shipping both ways) even though I had had the antenna for almost a year before installing it. Once I got it back, I reinstalled it and decided to give another try with the Turbo Tuner before, resorting to my manual controller. Well, guess what? It WORKS!! The Turbo Tuner moves the coil up and down and finds resonance on every band from 80 to 10 meters with the Alpine antenna.
Cannot beat that at all. If I ever have to get another Turbo Tuner, I would not hesitate to purchase a new one from Bill.
james
WD5GWY
N6AQ Rating: 2010-06-24
Badass! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Ok, I need to amend my previous review. Last Sunday I got a call from Michelle at N2VZ she told me that they failed to make the connection of my business e-mail and my ham e-mail with PayPal. Now having said that does still not explain Bill not returning my e-mails asking where my device was, that should have been a clue.

Now to the device itself WOW, I am glad this worked out. After following the installation instructions that are provided this thing works like a champ. I was in my rather large carport without a whip on my screwdriver and it tuned it right out on 20, 17, 15 no problem FLAT SWR with no whip in less than about 30 seconds. I am sure on the lower bands it may take about 45 seconds.

I also tried the Park feature and worked like a charm, no glitches buzzing or arching LOL.

So all in all I would buy from N2VZ again. I rated a 4 but for the product it would be a 5. The 4 rating reflects the lack of return e-mails asking where my tuner was. I will do another follow up on this item in about 3 to 6 months.