[Mobile-Portable] Turbo TunerII Screwdriver Antenna Controller Source

[David]

Joe...

I have a $300 screwdriver and hope to use a less than 300 $$ controller
for it.

At one point when one of my early screwdrivers got smushed I tried a
roof-mounted 102 inch whip and an Icom AH-4 auto tuner but was terribly
disappointed when comparing results with the HF DX I got when previously
using the ScrewDriver antenna. I am back now to a "Larry's Antennas"
ScrewDriver antenna which is also cantelevered out in front of the bumper
and at a level which is up above my hood line.
--Jus' sayin'...  (:
David
W7DBH



** Then there's the super simple 8.5' stainless steel whip fed by an
** autotuner. No operator involvement for tuning needed. Just start talking
** and you're
** tuned.
**    Cost for screwdriver antenna appears to be ~ $500 - $800 plus
** controller. Cost for SS whip and autotuner ~ $250 TOTAL. Just sayin'.
**
** Joe N1KHB
**
**
**
**
** In a message dated 1/17/2014 1:08:05 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,
** iam at pmug.org writes:
**
** Bill,  thank you! I was just thinking about safety while mobile Hamming
** the
** other  day. I use a screwdriver antenna, too. This add-on sounds like the
** cat's  meow for me...especially that i am older and had to quit riding
** motorcycles  because 'my mind wanders...that is, I just don't pay proper
** attention to  everything like I did just a few short years ago...i WANT to
** do so, but,  fact is, I don't.
** ---Sooo,... this device may be just the ticket for  me.
**
** Thank you for telling your experience.
** David B.
** W7DBH (I  don't want the to mean Darn Bad Ham)
** Mobile & Portable  only...
**
**
** ** Have been using the original Turbo Tuner with my  TS-480HX 200 watt hf
** ** radio for about six years now. Zero problems. What  I absolutely love
** ** about it, is the simplicity of operation and how much  it improves
** driver
** ** safety and getting your screwdriver antenna to its  lowest swr.
** **
** ** All I do is select the band and frequency I want to  operate on, press
** ** the PF key on the Display panel or Hand Mic that is  programmed for the
** ** Tune function, and just drive. The rig goes into  transmit, and the
** Turbo
** ** Tuner takes over. When it has adjusted the  Screwdriver antenna for
** ** lowest SWR, it sends out a CW dah dit dah (K)  and returns the radio to
** ** receive mode. At that point I know it is ok to  transmit. Single push
** ** button operation couldnt be any  simpler.
** **
** ** To aid mobile driving, I have programmed my TS-480HX  memories for
** ** frequencies of interest for all ham bands. From the hand  mic I can
** step
** ** up and down through those memories looking for chats of  interest to
** ** listen to while I keep my eyes on the road driving, or to  find a clear
** ** one to call on. Those memories are tunable, so it is also  easy to
** ** manually dial around the band and not be limited to the  memory
** ** frequency. Again while keeping my eyes on the road.
** **
** **  Because the screwdriver antenna can have different capacity hats and
** **  whip lengths that can be used for it, the swr for a frequency will be
** **  different for each antenna combination, especially 40 - 160 meters.
** Thus
** **  a memory antenna tuner would not be as good a choice for me. Thus I
** **  prefer a screwdriver antenna tuner that finds the lowest swr each time
** **  it is activated regardless of frequency and antenna configuration. and
** **  is always going to configure the antenna correctly each time.
** **
** ** Here  is the link to the Turbo Tuner II by  GigaParts:
** **
**
http://www.gigaparts.com/Product-Lines/?search=turbo+tuner&sc=29&Submit2.x=0
** &Submit2.y=0
** **
** **  Each version of the Turbo TunerII can be clicked on for more  details.
** **
** ** GigaParts is the distributor. Here is the link to  Tennatronix who
** makes
** ** em and has the manuals for download:
** **  http://tennatronix.com/home.html
** **
** ** Note, these links have nothing to  do with the original Turbo Tuner
** whose
** ** author has died. Same updated  product, but not same company.
** **
** ** 73 from Bill - WD8ARZ
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-- 
David B.