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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
WD4MLW Rating: 2003-06-26
Think about service Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I purchased a new atr30. The front panel became un-glued. I called ameritron and they said to re-glue with superglue. You would think if you pay 500.00+ they would give you a new front cover.
WA6HYQ Rating: 2003-05-21
OUTSTANDING! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Takes a beating and keeps ticking!

I've built several homebrew tuners over the years but decided to switch for something that matched my new station. I made the mistake buying a MFJ-989C and after experiencing burned out and out of round roller inductors, parts flopping around inside, a skipping turns counter so you never really know where your are, I bought an ATR-30.

What a dream, works great, meets my operational needs, reaches all the bands, looks good, just one solid tuner which I highly recommend for anyone needing a high powered tuner.

Oh did I say that it's NEVER arc'd over, NEVER and that's running 2KW into a G5RV. The 989C pile of smoldering junk melted down before I could release the PTT switch, run away from MFJ and don't look back.

Thanks Ameritron for building such a nice tuner.
KB4QLZ Rating: 2003-02-26
A++ Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I use this tuner to load up my Force12 C19XR on 12 and 17 Meters with a Ameritron AL-1500 Amp in line. Works perfect. Never has acred. Also have used it to tune a G5RV from 10 to 80 Meters, with the amp in line. Again, never has arced. Purchased this tuner to replaced a Might Fine Junk 989C, which would arc at around 700 Watts.
W4IXE Rating: 2003-01-09
Not Much here Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Had MFJ 989 ,the very first batch they built. Never a problem up to 1800 watts cw. Used it for about 15 years and UPGRADED to the ATR-30 to match my AL-1200.Could never get it to take more than 1200 watts CW without "spitting" at me. Sold the thing and bought Ten-Tec 238--NO PROBLEMS.
KI7Q Rating: 2003-01-06
Works flawlessly 4 me Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have been using mine for about 2 years.
Never a hint of a problem, smooth as silk and adjustments are very repeatable.
KE4WY Rating: 2003-01-06
Not a problem Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have owned the ATR-30 for about a year and a half and have had zero problems with it, no arcing running legal limit or metering bulb problems. I especially like the nice peak reading watt meter. It checked out very well against my digital bird power analyst. Also the roller inducter turns very smooth.
W4VR Rating: 2003-01-06
Poor Inductor Quality Control Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I had an ATR-30 for about over a year. I purchased it to tune a temporary all-band dipole fed with open wire line. The inductor was very erratic and intermittent on certain frequencies. I filed a complaint with Ameritron and they sent me a new inductor, after they admitted that the inductor in my tuner was probably from a bad batch of inductors they had purchased and asked me to send the old one back to them. In my opinion they should have a recall on all tuners that are known to have these bad inductors. Once I replaced the inductor the tuner worked fine. I subsequently sold it after I took down the all-band dipole and replaced it with dedicated band coaxial-fed dipoles. It appears that I am not the only one with this problem after reading the complaints on this tuner.
N9FG Rating: 2003-01-02
Nice addition to the shack! Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I use this tuner with my Ameritron AL-1500 and a full wave 80M loop fed with open wire line. I primarily operate this combination on 80 and 160 meters. It takes the full legal amp output without any problems on CW and SSB.

I haven't had any problem with bulbs, meter, turn-counter, switch,etc. as mentioned in some previous reviews. I've never tuned the roller inductor with more than 20 watts and have never experienced any erratic operation of the inductor as I QSY up and down the bands.

I've built several tuners and this one is nicely constructed. I've also owned several other tuners and this one ranks amongst the top that I've owned. (Some of the old tuners may be a bit heftier, but they are getting hard to find and oftentimes are in 'questionable' condition.)

I'm very satisfied with the ATR-30.
K4IA Rating: 2002-11-25
OK when you finish putting it together Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Only MFJ would use 12 volt bulbs in 13.8 volt circuits. Did they save a penny a bulb? Expect them to burn out like they do in every other piece of MFJ gear. It is a fact of life. Don't sweat the small stuff.

Don't be surprised if you have quality control issues. It costs too much to tighten screws at the factory. I opened up two of these at my local HRO and neither one was put together properly. One had a coupling fall apart in my hand. Another had loose parts that rattled around in the box. Come on! MFJ should sell these as partially assembled kits. Don't sweat the small stuff. You can fix it or send it back.

As for performance, this is a nice tuner (for the price it should be). I run a 102 foot long (51 on a side) inverted L center fed with ladder line. It will tune 160 through 10 meters. However, when I used the internal 4:1 balun, the tuner arced and spit on 160 with 500 watts. I now use an external Centaur 1:1 current balun with a short run of coax to the balun and ladder line to the antenna. Works just fine up to 1KW that way. That is impressive and earns my respect because I know the load is awful.

I give this a 4. It is a 5 when you get a good one but quality control issues really make it a 3 overall.
W4ZW Rating: 2002-11-23
Average Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Use mine to tune a full wave 80M loop and to tweak my 40M beam up in the SSB area.

The SWR meter went out after 12 months of service, and now the rotary antenna switch is arcing and intermittent. Over priced for what it is. Should have a beefier antenna switch and better roller inductor. Had to clean the inductor when my favorite spots developed burn marks.

Guess I was spoiled by my old Viking Match Box.