[ICOM] Why are we so SWR-phobic

[John Geiger]

Am I the only one who things that the SWR protection circuits in currents are ridiculous?  I mean, most of them start cutting power back with a 1.5:1 SWR?  Are today's rigs so poorly designed that you could damage the finals with a 2:1 SWR?  Older solid state rigs used to handle that just fine.  The ad for the Yaesu FT107M advertised that it would put out 75% power into a 3:1 SWR!!  Most Ten Tecs will put out almost full power into a 3:1 SWR.  But most other moderns rigs are putting out 50% power or so into a 2:1 SWR.

The worst is the Yaesu FT857/897 series which cuts up the audio if the SWR gets above 1.5:1 or so, and people think that this is a good thing?

So what is going on with the rig designers?  Do people really want this aggressive of an SWR circuit?  I find it kind of annoying to have to return the tuner every 25 kcs or so on some radios.  Are the finals today really that fragile?

Or is it just me?  Anyone else with ideas?

73s John W5TD