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Reviews For: Ameritron ATR-30

Category: Antenna Tuners/Matching Networks

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Review Summary For : Ameritron ATR-30
Reviews: 58MSRP: 670. USD
Description:
True Legal Limit Edge Wound Roller Antenna Tuner
Product is in production
More Info: https://www.ameritron.com/Product.php?productid=ATR-30
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00584.1
AA6TJ Rating: 2011-11-29
Good Tuner Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
After several "memory" tuners that forgot their settings, I decided to go with a manual tuner. I selected the ATR-30 because it had the largest variable capacitors, and the good quality of other Ameritron products. It is so easy to tune that I wish I never tried the memory tuners. One of the questions I had was the dimensions of the product. The cabinet is approximately 13" wide, 14 1/4 deep, and 5 3/4 high. Overall depth from the front of the knobs to the furthest point of the connectors is approximately 17 1/4". I could not find this info anywhere. I hope it helps.
N5VU Rating: 2011-08-11
Solid Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
It true. It will handle the AL-82 with room to spare. Over the last 35 years, I've had various tuners. This is a really good high power tuner. The roller inductor is made from flat stock that is wound into a coil. When I went and visited MFJ & Ameritron, I had seen an ATR-30 in the process of being built. It was the idea of the wide edge wound stock with a very good and solid contact between the roller and the inductor that sold me.
The peak meter is very nice. I really like the back-lit meter. It appears to now have the LED illumination. Very pleasant and bright. The older I get the more light I need to see. The turns counter is driven from one direct drive gear on the crank directly to the counter.
Tuning is a snap. It is always "on the numbers" on band changes. I highly reccommend making a chart for each antenna for each 100 KHz of each band. You will be very thankfull for the chart. It saves a lot of time "hunting" for the right match.
I bought it to mate up with my new Ameritron AL-82. They look good together.
I'm on my fifth Ameritron amplifier. I have been slowly upgrading to where I am now. No regrets. Other than I wish I had enough money for the AL-1500. Maybe later. If you have any questions, please email me at n5vu at yahoo dot com. 73 & good DX! Marcel
WB3JGP Rating: 2011-06-11
Cheaply made Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Do yourself a favor and look at this thing in person before you buy it. Test it for yourself before you buy. You'll be glad you did.
K5YZS Rating: 2011-05-18
Almost Great Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Worked OK for serial No. 115. Only troubles over the years has been to clean the roller coil. Texas heat caused the sticky feet to loosen and drift around. I drilled 4 holes in bottom and mounted 4 real standoff rubber feet. This T-match has been able to match my many long wire, ladder line feed 40 meter/20 meter wire verticle dipole and my 160 meter ladder line feed full sized flat top.--all at near legal limit. Good job Ameritron. 73 Jim, Retired engineer, k5yzs
AK4QA Rating: 2010-12-22
Best in market Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
First off, I buy locally and American when I can and as MFJ, Inc. is just a ways down the road they would have to build a poor device for me not to want to buy from them.

HOWEVER, this is not the case. As a broadcast engineer I am no green bean when it comes to antenna tuners and the like.
So as with any piece of mechanical equipment you 'pop the top' even if its brand new. While I did sell my ATR-15 on Eba and bought this ATR-30 on Ebay it is if I had bought it brand new. Inside and out.
Operation at my shack consists of a 160m inverted L, 'full wave' 80m dipole 75 feet high and a M2 3el 40m mono.
So you see, this tuner has quite the job to step up too.
It does the job flawlessly! Could not ask for a better tuner. The inductor tunes down to 7 to handle the 'L' and up high to handle the wire on 10m. All the while handling legal limit on power.
The band switch operates smoothly and flawlessly and honestly, better than the 15's.
Size is large enough so I dont have to chase it across my desk as I change bands and the cross needle, lighted battery backed-up meter set is easy to read while it works effortlessly.
As I ran 2 ATR-15's I see another Ebay sell and buy in my future.

Make no mistake, this is AMERITRON and a top of the line tuner that will last you a life time.

73,
Lee
KE4VYN
WV4I Rating: 2010-08-21
Works FB Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
Tuning a dipole with legs cut for 80M and 60M. Other bands, who knows what the impedance being presented, fed with coax, with choke balun at feedpoint. Anyway, tunes every HF band just fine up to legal limit. No arcing, etc., and with roller inductor this was a concern. Overall, does just as well as Dentron 2000/3000 series, but has roller inductor, more fine tuning caps, and lighted, peak reading watt/swr meter. Also costs nearly twice as much, used, as a used Dentron 2000/3000. It's a keeper.
VE7IG Rating: 2010-04-21
Excellent tuner! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I bought this tuner second hand over 3 years ago and opened it up and inspected it as soon as I received it. Everything looked good. This tuner replaced a home built tuner that didn't have 160m capability.

The tuner has been in constant use with two antenna systems connected to it so the selector switch has been rotated a thousand times by now at least with no problems.

It is used with an Ameritron AL-80B amp at under 1000 watt output on all bands and there has never been a problem with arcing or anything else. (The AL-80B has performed flawlessly too and is a great little amplifier and all anyone would ever need!)

The ATR-30 matches any antenna I've tried. For instance I use it to tune my 4 element 20m monobander on 17m where I run the antenna backwards (the 20m directors acting as reflectors on 17m). I use a 60 foot tall pipe fed with 7/8th heliax on 80, 40 and 30m and it has no problem tuning that antenna on those bands. Recently I had noise on the vertical on 30m so tried my 160m quarter wave sloper. It was quieter so I tuned it with the tuner and it worked fine. Nothing I've tried to tune has defeated the ATR-30. All antennas I use are heliax fed, no random wires, which probably helps.

Last summer I put up a 4 element yagi on 12m, heliax fed. The ATR-30 tunes it fine on 10 and 15 metres. I've also tuned my 20m beam on 15 and that worked fine too. Those beams use omega and gamma matches with large spaced capacitors so there is no internal arcing when tuned off band.

As far as customer support from Ameritron is concerned, I've never needed any for this tuner but less than a year after I bought the AL-80B I received an unsolicited phone call directly from Ameritron reminding me the warrenty was nearly over and did I have any problems or questions?
No other company has EVER phoned me like that. You can't beat that for customer support!

I depend on the ATR-30 EVERY DAY! and it has never let me down--- an excellent tuner!
K9FON Rating: 2009-05-23
update Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
When i first got this tuner I couldnt get it to tune my ladder line fed 160 meter doublet. I called Ameritron and a talk with the tech and i found out the problem. The balun in the tuner is a 1.1 balun. No wonder i couldnt get it to tune! I rebilt the balun into a 4.1 balun and lo and behold, it WORKS!! So if anyone else has the same issues i had just pop the cover and see if tehy installed a 1.1 balun. I dont know if the newer tuners have the 1.1 balun by mine was made in 2002 and it did..
K0CWO Rating: 2009-01-29
Good Tuner Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I bought this tuner to use with my 230 foot 600 ohm open wire fed doublet. It had trouble providing a match which didn't surprise me too much since few tuners I own can accomplish this. I now use it on a 200 foot end fed long wire with two 200 foot counterpoise wires at my second QTH. It tunes this wire great 160-10. The other tuners I tried worked well 80-10 but not 160. I'm very satisfied with it now and Ameritron provides good service when needed.
W5VYY Rating: 2008-08-29
Great top band tuner Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I purchased the ATR-30 new and have not had any issues with it. I run 1000 watts output from a Heathkit SB-1000 on 160 meters and I use the ATR-30 to tune my open wire fed loop antenna. It was highly recomended to me by other top band operaters. Pictures at: www.johngammon.com