[ICOM] LDG AT100PRO

[D C Macdonald]

I am using an IC-746.  The coax feed goes to an  OLD
Heathkit airwound balun mounted under the eave of
the house.  About 25' of 450 Ohm ladder line connects
to a dipole  ABOUT  120' in length and maybe 20' above
ground mounted on a chimney mounted TV mast.

The internal tuner on the 746 takes care of everything
40 through 10 meters.  There is not enough range on
80 meters so I switch in a Ten-Tec 238 tuner for that
band.

It all works quite satisfactorily considering my limited
antenna options on a very small lot.  Damn, I sure miss
my 60' tower and room enough for 160m inverted vee
that I had before Mister Twister came calling!

My point is that an external tuner  MAY  be required
only for 75 or maybe 40 meter operation.

73  ---  Mac, K2GKK/5



----Original Message Follows----
From: "Oldtimer" <res075cz at gte.net>
Reply-To: ICOM Reflector <icom at mailman.qth.net>
To: "ICOM Reflector" <icom at mailman.qth.net>,<ft-100 at yahoogroups.com>, 
<ft100 at yahoogroups.com>
Subject: Re: [ICOM] LDG AT100PRO
Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2005 13:43:38 -0600

I had the LDG AT100PRO sitting side by side with the MFJ -993 for about a 
month. I used them both and feel I gave each of them a fair test. I should 
tell you that all of the use they got was at home because I do not operate 
mobile or portable. I used both of these devices with an 80 meter dipole up 
50 feet and fed with ladder line. I also used the interface cable with both 
tuners. I tested both tuners against my Bird wattmeter. The rigs they were 
tested with was the IC-756PRO, IC-706IIG, and the TS-570SG. Only the Kenwood 
gave me trouble using the interface cable.

I really liked the AT100PRO. When I first got it, it worked for about a week 
and then it would no longer tune. I sent it back to LDG and they repaired it 
and returned it to me. From that time it worked just great. Any piece of 
equipment can fail and I don't consider that problem a negative. The 
AT100PRO  tuned my antenna to all bands and did so very quickly. I used the 
LDG 4:1 balun between the tuner and the antenna. That was, of course, an 
additional expense but the combination  worked well. I used an external 
wattmeter because I found the lights not to be very accurate and I could not 
depend on them. But the thing I really liked about the LDG was that you 
could just hit the key or talk into the microphone and it was tuned. Yup, 
that fast, too!

I also liked the MFJ and it also tuned very well. It does not tune at the 
instant a voice is heard or the key is depressed. But it is also fast. I 
really liked the MFJ because it has a built in watt/swr meter, digital 
readout which includes a frequency counter, and a balun. Nothing more is 
needed, except for the rig, of course. And it appears to have a very 
accurate readout.

As I recall, the LDG, once tuned, will continue to operate even with the 
power removed. The MFJ does not operate with the power removed.

Both tuners worked very well and I would be glad to own and use either one. 
I finally settled on the MFJ and sold the LDG. Remember, I only use the 
tuner at home, and I liked  having everything built into the case, and the 
size does not bother me. If I operated mobile or portable, I might have come 
to a different decision.

My point is that they both do a great job.

73 de Jim, K5ROV

James (Jim) Parsons, CMSgt, USAF, Ret.


----- Original Message ----- From: "John Geiger" <johngeig at yahoo.com>
To: <icom at mailman.qth.net>; <ft-100 at yahoogroups.com>; 
<ft100 at yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Wednesday, February 16, 2005 12:54 PM
Subject: [ICOM] LDG AT100PRO


>Anyone on the reflector using the LDG AT100PRO, and if
>so, how do you like it so far?
>
>73s John NE0P