Re: [TenTec] Ten Tec 229 Tuner on 160M

[Bwana Bob <wb2vuf@gti.net>]

Thanks, Bob

Yes, my coax-fed 80m dipole only works on 80m and its odd harmonics. 
That's why I'm planning to switch to balanced feed. After reading the 
material on W2DU, Walt Maxwell' site, I'm going to try a ferrite bead 
current balun with a short run of coax to the tuner.

                                                73,

                                                Bob WB2VUF

Bob McGraw - K4TAX wrote:
> This is one of those topics that gets visited from time to time.  And as 
> always, there about as many opinions, ideas, experiences and preferences 
> as there are stars in the universe.
> Wire, whatever length you have space to string up, fed in the center 
> with some balanced feedline direct to the tuner has always proven to be 
> a good working general purpose antenna.  Balanced feeds are not near as 
> fussy as many will technically profess.  I use both the 300 ohm and 450 
> ohm material, {window line} which I obtain from Press at Wireman.  
> Whatever balance method that exists in your tuner will likely be 
> satisfactory.  Should your tuner not provide a balanced output, then add 
> a external balun of your choice. I've used a W2FMI 4:1 balun rated at 
> 10KW for my legal limit operation. I've also used a Radio Works 1:1 
> current balun rated at 5 KW for my AM station. Both seem to work equally 
> well.  My favorite is "the ugly balun" as described on Rich Measures 
> website. http://www.somis.org/bbat.html
> I only use coax fed antennas for those that are resonant frequency 
> applications.  Case and point, my 75M dipole, length cut to formula, and 
> coax fed shows a 1:1 SWR value at about 3950.  It covers some +/-50 KHz 
> {3900 - 4000} either side of that frequency with a 1.5:1 SWR or less.  
> The radio and amp are very happy with this configuration and I typically 
> don't use the tuner on this antenna for operation in the upper end of 
> the band. Now should I decide to do some PSK-31 work down at the low end 
> of the 75M band, I switch in the tuner, twiddle a couple of knobs and 
> everything is happy and works.
> For feeding the balanced lines/antennas the Tentec 238 does a very nice 
> job.
> Try it, you'll like it.
>
> 73
> Bob, K4TAX
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Bwana Bob" <wb2vuf@gti.net>
> To: "Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment" <tentec@contesting.com>
> Sent: Friday, December 07, 2007 9:27 AM
> Subject: Re: [TenTec] Ten Tec 229 Tuner on 160M
>
>
> > John:
> >
> > How do you feed the dipole? I have a Drake MN-7 (cosmetically almost a
> > perfect match to my Corsair). It loads the my 80m coax-fed dipole on
> > 160m, but not perfectly. I'm thinking of switching to a W7FG "true
> > ladder line" dipole.
> >
> > 73,
> >
> > Bob WB2VUF
> >
> > John Huffman wrote:
> > > Picked up a used Ten Tec 229 tuner through this list.
> > >
> > > Couldn't tune my 80 meter doublet on 160 until I added external
> > > capacitors to the back.  Had to add .003uf to get it to tune.  Got it
> > > going this afternoon.
> > >
> > > Using my Omni VI (option 3) Plus, my first 160M QSO was ON4UN.  Got him
> > > through the pile on second call.
> > >
> > > Elecraft ain't the only one with mojo.
> > >
> > > 73 de K1ESE
> > > John
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