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Reviews For: BetterRF 7000 Screwdriver Control

Category: Antennas: HF Mobile & Accessories

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Review Summary For : BetterRF 7000 Screwdriver Control
Reviews: 43MSRP: 84.95 + 8.00 shipping
Description:
Companion piece for the BetterRF 7000 Tune Control. It allow automatic tuning of a motorized antenna with the tune button on the IC-7000
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.qth.com/betterrf/
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00434.5
WK9U Rating: 2014-05-15
Not impressed Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Sadly, I had purchased two of these with good expectations. I bought them both new just afew months apart. One of the units worked fine while the other was completely and entirely DOA. Did poor quality control or inferior parts cause this project of theirs to be haulted? Upon opening the faulty unit, i was not surprised to see how inexpensive and cheap they are intenally. Material costs to replicate one may be $50.00 at the most. Overall, I'm not impressed. A simple autotuner to your IC-7000 with a screwdriver antenna and up/down rocker switch is more reliable.
W4KVW Rating: 2013-01-15
GREAT Product! }:>) Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
GREAT product & it's a killer combination with the tune control module & the ICOM 7000 with the TARHEEL II antenna.Only problem is I understand that the BETTER RF Company has closed their doors & out of business.Hope that somebody picks up this product & continues to produce them.Makes mobile operation with a screwdriver antenna almost automatic! Only way it could be simpler is if it tuned to the chosen frequency without touching the tune button.
WC6Q Rating: 2012-11-18
Great product, best customer service Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I had some hiccups with my install as I would be what you would call a newb. Well Gerry offered some tips and straightened me out. This thing works flawlessly, and I couldn't be happier.
M6GOM Rating: 2012-08-04
Very poor RFI immunity. Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I'm giving it a 3 because whilst it works, the amount of work required to get it to work properly is a joke.

The whole TC/SC package is far too sensitive to RF. Basically there is absolutely nothing built into this controller to combat RF at all which is just plain stupid in an environment where it is most likely to experience RFI. It would actually be illegal to sell this directly in the EU as it would not meed EMC standards for accepting interference which is why I guess I've not been able to find anyone who does.

I've never had any hint of any issue with common mode until I installed this. I use a Little Tarheel II mounted through the roof of my car, bonding everywhere yet this still gave me issues. It would tune on all bands except 20m despite every band being able to give a 1:1 match. Why 20m when common mode issues would surely be worse on 40/80 which tuned fine? And then sometimes it would tune 20 but not 17. Mad.

Anyway, put clip on ferrites on all the cables and it eventually sorted it and now it has, it works as advertised.

But as I said, more work than it should have been in an installation which was about as good as it gets.
K5KNM Rating: 2012-02-07
Great accesory for the IC-7000 Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I recently purchased this product to go along with a Little Tarheel HP screwdriver antenna. The setup was relatively simple although it is true that common mode RF currents will effect this device and cause some erratic behavior.

My particular problem was solved by using some 18 gauge wire rather than the thinner 4 conductor jacketed wire that came with the Tarheel antenna.
This was suggested by Alan Applegate KOBG along with being sure to wrap the control wires neatly and uniform as possible around and thru the supplied mix 31 ferrite bead. The tech support for these products were fast and very helpful!

The tune control and screwdriver controller devices do a fine job and I like the fact you can monitor the tuning process on the radios meters. I seem to always get a 1.5 or less (usually less)SWR reading.

The only negatives I would give is the same as others had said. Mainly the tune control doesn't seem very solid and the Molex connector seems to be easily breakable. Knowing that, it should be obvious that care must be given when connecting/ reconnecting the device.
Since I regularly take my radio in and out of my truck, I decided to makeup a 12" Molex extension cable so I don't have to put undue stress to the Molex connector on the tune controller and disconnect it from the radio side.

It would be nice to have an integrated unit instead of having to use 2 devices to accomplish the same function. Maybe there will be one in the future.

All in all, I would recommend these devices to anyone who owns a screwdriver antenna with the compatible radios for them!
NZ9Y Rating: 2012-01-25
Feature loaded. Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Just installed this setup into my 7000 with Tarheel mobile rig. I never bothered to ge the tarheel much below about 1.7:1 on the lower bands as it just doesn;t matter performance wise. I was worried that the BetterRF product would have trouble but there was nothing to worry about.

Often times the SWR is lower than my eyes and the meter can show and the controller finds it, On 75 meters I just programmed the tune control to stop on the slightly higher SWR and it works fine. The other bands are great. The only glitch is that when changing by 10-20 kHz and thereby raising the SWR to about 2:1, sometimes the controller wont start, but I am sure I have the SWR threshhold set too high and will lower it soon.

I was a bit worried as others about the Tune controls connection points and durability, but I dont see anything but worry, not one review saying it has broken. It a new product for me, but I expect it to work well for a long time. It will get its chance, I work HF mobile all day long during the workday!
K6DTK Rating: 2012-01-21
Excellent Equipment - Outstanding Tech Support Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I run an Icom IC 7000 with a Scorpion 6-80 Screwdriver Antenna, used primarily for mobile Airmail when I am in remote outback locations. I needed to control the antenna quickly in order to change bands, as needed.

I purchased the Better RF Screwdriver Control along with their Tune Control, in order to make quick band changes possible. While there is a slight learning curve associated with the set-up, once overcome, the end result was outstanding.

As important as it is to have a product that works, and works well, it is just as important to be able to turn to the manufacturer for help when needed. Between Gerry W6TER and Alan Applegate, K0BG, they were able to help me work through the the set-up of my system. This is the type of customer and tech support that good reputations and good referrals are made of!!

DaveK
K6DTK
K8MSH Rating: 2011-12-12
Good With Tarheel II Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Initially ran into issues with RF--motor would not fire up on anything above 20 meters. Called for help Saturday after Thanksgiving, and left message figuring they'd get back to me Monday. An hour later, both Gary and Alan were on the line, conference style. Got a quick lesson on doing additional choking and it was up and running as it should in less than 20 minutes. Have some extra snap-on ferrite (mix 31) beads handy--DX Engineering sells them. Also, it would be nice if they'd make the Molex connector on the back of the 7000 tune(needed w/ screwdriver control) unit a little more solid. Otherwise, great little unit.
KB2HUK Rating: 2011-09-26
good product great service Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Had some initial confusion on installing controler so I made a phone call to the company and they returned my call the same afternoon having Gary Smith The owner and Alan Applegate a mobile expert on the line confrence call style. Together they guided my hand until I installed everything properly . The service was great . The product works what else can I ask for . Thank you

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Earlier 2-star review posted by KB2HUK on 2011-01-01

Had bought the controller two pieces to interface my Tarheel (great antenna) Screwdriver mobile antenna and my Icom 7000 . I found no comfort in the plastic boxes or the flimsy connectors very fragile especially in a mobile environment. after hooking the whole thing up I felt if I went over a bump I might damage the connections . I read the directions over so many times I could of recited them back to you and After several days trying to get the antenna to work with the radio I gave up . This product is a good idea but needs to carried out differently .
KM6CQ Rating: 2011-04-10
Works very well. Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I bought this in December of 2007 Installed it and it has worked perfectly. I use HF all the time while I am mobile. It tunes 80 through Six always.

73, Dan KM6CQ