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Reviews For: Heathkit SA-2060A

Category: Antenna Tuners/Matching Networks

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Review Summary For : Heathkit SA-2060A
Reviews: 44MSRP: (1991 Kit) 279.95
Description:
HeathKit SA-2060A Antenna tuner
Product is not in production
More Info:
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
15444.9
WB9GKZ Rating: 2003-09-04
Terrific Value Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have owned a SA-2060 for about three years. I bought it after reading the reviews of the MFJ-junk tuners and after looking at the pricey Ameritron tuners. I paid about $225 for the tuner, which I thought was quite high for a unit of its age.

However, upon opening the unit and inspecting its innards, I thought differently. The tuner is of quite high quality. The roller inductor looks indestructable... same with the caps. The built-in wattmeter is within 5% as compared to my Bird 43 (a real surprise!).

The tuner works as advertised. I pumped up to 1KW PEP on SSB into it and also 350 Watts of AM. It has never flinched. Put that into your MFJ and smoke it (literally!).

Another surprise: I loaded up my 10-meter monoband beam with the 2060 on six meters...hey, it isn't even supposed to work there! It did work and I made a few contacts during an "E" opening on night.

If you can find one in nice shape...pick it up.

WR8D Rating: 2003-05-22
One great piece of history Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I built mine around 15-20 years ago. In all these years i have not one complaint. If you can find one of these you better pick it up and you certainly will not be sorry. Chasing dx i have gotten...well lets say really wild with the power out. It will tune and handle anything you want to throw at it. Mine shows no signs of any heating or age. The old timers used to talk about loading up a set of bed springs...well it probably was with one of these old babys. Hi Hi
73
John WR8D
W4MJR Rating: 2003-01-05
best tuner around Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This has got to be the one of the best tuners around. It tune easy and looking at the inside if repairs are ever needed, no problem everything is easy to get to. I did one little thing to mine that I like without any mods or changing the original looks was added lamps over the meters and this thing looks great. I can turn them on or off with a external switch coming off my pwr sply. Like so many in this review has stated, if you see one at a good price to you don't give it a second thought and had better buy it. You won't be sorry.
WA9NFO Rating: 2002-11-23
If you can find one, BUY IT! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
This is one of the finest pieces of equipment I have ever used. I run a TS-940 with built in antenna tuner and everything was fine until I added a Drake L-7 amp. I needed something to tune my vertical on 160 meters while running the amp. I happened across this tuner on ebay and the price was right so I bought it. After using it for two years and loading up just about anything on any band at 2KW PEP, I WOULD HAVE PAID TWICE THE PRICE!! This tuner is a MUST for anyone running full power. It has never arced or complained once in these two years (and I have been pretty rough on it a few times). Heath really had a winner with this tuner and I would put it up against anything on the market. If you can find one, I suggest grabbing it. Whatever the price, it's a steal.
K3PZ Rating: 2002-09-03
Built Like A Sherman Tank Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I needed a tuner that would handle at least a kilowatt. After reading reviews on Eham, I found a great deal (price) on a MFJ-986 differential tuner. As soon as I unboxed it and felt the quality I new I had made a mistake. After hooking it up and using it exactly 30 minutes, I unhooked it and threw it straight in the TRASH. What a piece of crap! The next day, I stumbled upon somebody selling a Heathkit SA-2060A in good condition for $200.00. You better believe I scooped that baby up! This is one fine tuner. This thing is built as solid as a tank and you can just feel the quality when tune it. The inductor roller is solid and retunes to the same spot every time. No flimsy MFJ junk here. This baby will tune a wet noodle and was one of the best purchases that I have made. This units are getting scarce and I can understand why as most people that have them don't want to part with them. This tuner is still a classic after all these years!
KA7GKN Rating: 2002-08-07
a classic, really nice unit Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I sure miss heathkit! too bad they were bought out to be destroyed! anyway, I built my sa2060a around 1988 the last kit from heathkit! It was a fun project.
The unit has served without flaw until 2001. The weak link of this box is the antenna selector switch, and mine wore out. Yep the contacts deteriorated and lost their spring. Since I could not locate a replacement I ended up getting an Ameritron ATR-30 tuner which too is a good unit.
Well, I still hated to have such a nice tuner be left usless without the switch and behold! I located a "sort-of" replacement ceramic switch assembly at surplus sales of nebraska.
It required some modifications of the way the original switch is wired, but I still use the heath detent assembly.
The switch was about 30 bucks and I dissassembled
the thing to get the ceramic wafer!!!!
anyway the unit is now working perfectly, looks great, and you'd never know the original switch was replaced!!!

the tuner is easy to use, good repeatability of settings etc and all the positive stuff from the other reviews.
I did install white LEDs to illuminate the meters and turns indicator really slick!

regards, Marty ka7gkn@arrl.net
K5OS Rating: 2001-10-10
Will tune anything, it seems. Time Owned: more than 12 months.
The SA-2060A is great, I use mine to tune a G5RV 10-160 and it always tunes flat or very close. It can be a bit tricky at times to find the correct settings, so I used my antenna analyzer and built a chart for all bands and took measurement at 50 KHz intervals, hooking the SA-2060A between the analyzer and the antenna. I can now be tuned in a matter of seconds on any frequency. It's not automatic but does a great job. If I didn't have one, I'd get one.
SM5AM Rating: 2001-08-13
5/5 Time Owned: more than 12 months.
hello, i am sm5am, arne, in sweden. saw w6ez comments abt the knopps on the 2060a. i am running ten-tec corsair ll and noticed that the knopps on my corsair are the same as on the 2060, i am sure the knopps are to be had from ten-tec. it is a great tuner, i have the 2060 and it matches my corsair and titan amp. 73 de arne
W6EZ Rating: 2000-12-03
Great tuner! Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
The previous reviews about the constructuion and power handling of the SA-2060A prettly well saw it all. I had been looking for one of these tuners for quite some time and finally found one on one of the online auctions. I got it for a good price. After it arrived I put it through a battery of tests and couldn't find any place it wouldn't tune. I even loaded up a 80 foot dipole fed with 450 ohm ladder line on 160 meters! I placed a couple of RF ampmeters in the feed line and from what the meters show, the balance stays pretty close even when going through the balun with ladder line. These tuners have a good reputation and from what I see there is no reason to doubt the folk lore that has grown up around them. The price of these tuners goes up and down but I got mine when they were at a low ( I paid $200.00 ) but when they peak high they are over priced. ( I saw one go for over $500.00 and an unbuilt kit go for $800.00+ on one of the major online auctions !!!! )
The 2060A is a little different from the 2060 in that it has some funky looking knobs compared to the good looking knobs on the 2060, but most importantly it fully disconnects the coax output when switching to balanced line. On the 2060 the switching arrangement kept both coax and wire switched together. Now if I can just find the knobs off a 2060, and get rid of the MFJ-989C the Heathkit replaces, I will be in tuner heaven.

Buy one if you can.
K0RS Rating: 2000-06-16
Heath's last hurrah... Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Too bad these tuners are getting so hard to find. I guess the word is out on them and they are getting snatched up. If you can find one for under $200 in good condx, it's a bargain. I replaced a Nye MBV-A with one of these, and have no regrets. It tunes smoothly and matches loads over a wide range very well. I have arced it, with an end fed wire on 160m running my Alpha 89, but I'm not gonna hold that against it! I still worked FO0AAA on 160 with that wire. The dual metering is nice. If you travel with it, you don't need an additional watt meter or SWR bridge. Heath really used quality components in this unit. You've got to spend a lot of money to match the performance of this veteran. And sometimes spending big bucks doesn't mean a superior product (the Nye MBV, for instance).