Agreed. The RF-127 (I used to have one) is designed to be inside the shack and to be a “line flattener” which is to used with a resonant antenna like a dipole. It is just like the 180U-2 except it integrates with the 1130 transmitter and thus its operation is automatic. I highly recommend it. As for space in the rack, you have lots of spare space between the units of your transmitter. There is no reason to separate them. There is no issue with heat. They were designed to be racked or stacked directly atop one another. Make space for a 127 and buy one from Francesco!

73 Eugene W2HX

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From: [email protected] <[email protected]> On Behalf Of Francesco Ledda
Sent: Monday, April 18, 2022 9:43 AM
To: [email protected]
Cc: Military Radio Collectors Association <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [HarrisRadio] URC-32 / 180U-2 antenna coupler or Harris allturnative

Then, you need an RF-127!

I happen to have an extra one.

Best, Francesco K5URG

On Apr 18, 2022, at 08:25, Ray Fantini <[email protected]> wrote:

There are lots of great stand alone autocouplers out there like the RF-601 family of couplers but the problem would be that I have several different antennas, one for each band of interest so there are dipoles set up for eighty, sixty , forty and twenty meters and depending on what I am doing at the time will patch to that antenna. A stand alone tuner like a 601 is intended to be mounted at the antenna and somewhat by virtue of its design limits you operation to that antenna.

This all goes into a whole world of antenna theory and I know that just about everyone has there own beliefs and truths and just by saying this will piss off most but I come from the school that a antenna has a resonate frequency and nothing you can do will change that. The antenna tuner is not changing the resonate frequency of the antenna but providing a match between the unknown load of the antenna and the 50 Ohm load of the transmitter, often wasting power in the process. So with my limited understanding of antennas I find it best to have several antennas for each band of use and when dealing with smaller 100 watt radios like the RF-350 or some of the other sets the small miss match was not an issue but now find that a small difference between the transmitter and the antenna on high power amplifiers can be disconcerting.

Think if I were going to have something like a base loaded vertical a RF-601 would be hard to beat but have a bad habit of just wanting to use dipoles that are somewhat cut to frequency and have a hard time wrapping my head around one antenna for everything.

So that’s the thinking behind the Collins 180U-2 tuner, and its also important to note that I have a 180U sized hole in the top of the rack that this will go into, although some may point out that a RF-601A/C would look good in that hole.

Ray F/KA3EKH

From: [email protected] <[email protected]> On Behalf Of KD2OM via groups.io
Sent: Monday, April 18, 2022 3:57 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [HarrisRadio] URC-32 / 180U-2 antenna coupler or Harris allturnative

Ray,

If you are running the system at 500 watts you can use an RF-382 or CU-1310, they both are rated for that power and interfacing should not be difficult.

Obviously an RF-601/RF-2601 would be better but they are pretty hard to find.

73,

Steve KD2OM

.

On Apr 18, 2022, at 01:03, Ray Fantini <[email protected]> wrote:

In the never-ending quest to expand the shack I have now decided that I need an 180U-2 antenna tuning unit. That’s the tuning and power meter network that was used on the URC-32 transceiver.

I have been running my big Harris rack, RF-1310 exciter, RF-1110 amplifier and RF-2368 receiver for Saturday TTY net on 7.087 and my 40 meter dipole is cut for the low side of the band so the reflected power is not that bad but if I QSY up to 7.296 for the USB net later that morning start to get a VSWR light and although it won't shut down with the cost of those dam MRF-150 devices want to treat them like babies with no reflected power, also have bit of VSWR on sixty meters but don’t know if that’s an issue or not, somehow recall something about not running high power of sixty but that’s another story.

Old Max use to say “the Hams today can't solder and are overly concerned with VSWR” looks like I have devolved to that level, who knows maybe next I will forget how to solder.

All that aside the 180U-2 would look good in the rack with the Harris stuff. I only run the amplifier at half power so not concerned about power level, don’t need huge magnitude of change and think the 180U-2 is the answer to all my problems. Can do trades, money, first born or whatever you want in exchange and will be out at Dayton so can pick up there.

Ray F/KA3EKH

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