[Elecraft] [OT] Antenna Question

[Don Wilhelm]

Rick,

The usefulness of an internal tuner is highly dependent on the matched 
line loss of the feedline.
If you have a feedline that has a relatively high matched line loss - 
and you specified 50 feet of RG-58, then the feedline losses will be 
high in the case of the antenna you propose.
A tuner at the base of the antenna will reduce those feedline losses.

For feedlines that have only a moderate loss, the internal tuner is much 
more useful.

73,
Don W3FPR

On 8/6/2016 11:57 PM, rick jones via Elecraft wrote:
> OK a very good reality check when you look at the numbers! So I'm still trying to figure out the usefulness of a built in tuner. Two situations come to mind: You have no feedline and are driving a wire right out of your rig with a counterpoise (KX3 portable operations) OR you are using it to just "touch up" the load on the PA from an antenna that is close to resonance. I would hope that a good Elmer would point out that a built in ATU does nothing more then keep your PA happy but does nothing toward getting out a good signal AND that if a tuner is necessary, a remote one is a better choice. Thanks for your patience everyone while I get these concepts "right". Other forums would not have been as accommodating.
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