K2FR - Manual Tuners.. A How To

KF7QEC had posted a comment asking about manual tuning. Well Luckily I had one in my basement from when I started my adventure into ham radio.

My antenna is a 450 ohm ladder-line center fed to about 40ish feet of wire on both sides.

The tuner has a built in 4to1 balun.

From the tuner I have a small coax jumper to the radio.

Every tuner is a bit different, be sure to read the manual for your particular model.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• K2FR
• KF7QEC
• Tuner
• Manual
• MFJ
• Versa
• II
• Ham
• radio
• Beginner
• Yaesu
• FT857
• How
• To

[takforalt]

It is so nice to watch a ham video where I don't have to hear static more than the person talking. Great explanation for a newbie like me. I am thinking of buying this tuner or go for the Palstar AT2K. Any opinions?

[KC2UOO]

@takforalt Plenty of opinions =) but either one will be a solid pick. Manual tuners are a bit more forgiving then an auto tuner as well. Tho, I dont think id go back to using one all the time. I much prefer the key up and go mentality of the auto tuner.

[chr1zl]

nice video.. whats so special about using a manual tuner..? seems like you have to go through a lot more work every time you want to tune up. I use a z100plus with my ft857 and it works great.. i guess if you had an amp or something with 1500w you would need a manual but for everything else what's so special?? thanks for the video been wondering how you use one.. what freqs do you usually hang out around?

[KC2UOO]

@chr1zl Back in the hayday of Amateur radio, there was no such thing as an Auto Tuner.  They are quite nice in the grand scheme of things.

Also, nothing in this tuner is solid state, I myself have an AT-100pro and have fried something in it when it didnt like 100 watts of PSK31. The amp above can take its given watt limit of 300 24/7 without breaking a sweat.. Im betting if We ran full capacity on our auto tuners.. 24/7 they would likely not be able to cope and fail.

[ThePilotBMP]

Man have we missed you here in youtube land! Please don't tell us you are exiting the hobby!!!

[KC2UOO]

@ThePilotBMP Ha, no im not going anywhere.. Been a busy year with real life and haven't gotten around to doing all the cool hikes/radio stuff id like.... However, I'm still around and will be making videos when I find something interested or a good topic comes up

[pffbh]

good job , that was helpful as look into buying a tuner.

[LawrieM3UHQ]

Thanks Andrew for the great videos, this video in particular has really helped me a lot, if you get the time could you explain to me the different types of antennas you can connect to this atu, i dont really understand what the red terminals are on the back for and how you would connect an antenna to it. 73 and happy new year!

[WilsonHines]

@KC9SYJ I must say I can't for the life of me figure out why MFJ makes so many different types of tuners. There is nearly a tuner for every day of the MONTH! My 969 works great now! :)

[KC9SYJ]

@WilsonHines I have an MFJ 941E tuner,but I just may upgrade to the 969 tuner that K2FR is using in this video! I like the idea of the roller inductor over the lettered inductor selector on my 941E! I am using 450 ohm balanced line on my G5RV antenna. It appeared in the video K2FR was using the exact same feedline as I do.

[WilsonHines]

Thanks for the tutorial. I have that exact model and a friend of mine explained to me I was doing it wrong because I still had SWR after using the chart in the manual, which I printed and have handy and posted at my station. The SWR wasn't bad, it just wasn't flat.

After watching your video, I have a flat SWR wherever I go! Thanks again! W4BWH

[MijBetas]

Excellent demonstration! I really appreciate your efforts showing how to do this. I was wondering what the "correct" procedure was for manual tuning, you got me right in the ballpark! Thanks again!

Jim - KJ4WLH

[wb6vuy]

Great video,... Roger Roger!..lol

73

[pffbh]

Thanks for the vid , well done. I'm a new ham kf5lel and starting to purchase some equipment and was curious about how to operate a manual tuner. Figured I'd go manual first for the experience.