--- I just bought a FT-897D- (still in the opened box) being brand
new to the Ham World since a novice license in 1967 - I also bought
the FC-30 Tuner -(still in the sealed box) A ham from a large radio
chain of stores suggested I not unseal the box and that I return it
and exchange it for the LDG At-897 with the justification that that
tuner will permit a larger band width. I would be very grateful if
anyone would provide me with whatever comments they might have
concerning this "advice" - Thank you for your reply - Mark - KC2OCY
In YaesuTuner@..., "Robbie Phelan" <robbiephelan@h...>
wrote:
Thanks Bill,
I came across this article on eham.. Might be of interest, it was
written by
Paul KA6GEM....
""" The length of antenna wire is very important. The FC-40 will
tune 160
through 6 meters as Yaesu claims but it is entirely dependant on
the length
of the wire. Based on my findings, it will not tune a half-wave, a
fairly
common limitation of "random wire" antenna tuners, and there
doesn't appear
to be a single length that is ideal for ALL bands, although 37
feet, in my
experience, comes pretty close. One nice thing is that it is very
easy to
change your antenna length: just add or subtract a few feet and
that's it! I
have found that inserting a insulator at about 50 feet and leaving
the ends
of the wires on each side stripped allows the option of simply
connecting
them or disconnecting them to work the 160 meter band or perhaps
the 60
meter band, etc.
I tried various lengths of wire from about 30 feet to about 130
feet, the
upper limit at my QTH. At 37 feet, I could tune up on almost every
band but
the signal reports for the longer wavelength bands (80, 60, 40
etc.) were
marginal. As I increased the length of wire, I gained better
performance on
one band but lost on others. At about 85 feet, I received excellent
reports
on 40 meters, but then I could not tune on the 80 meter band as the
length
was too close to a half wave.
I ran a series of comparisons with two dipoles, one for 80 meters
and the
other for 40 meters. The 80 meter dipole performed better by one or
two "S"
units than the FC-40 with a 65 foot quarter wave wire. I don't have
enough
real estate to extend the wire to a three quarter wave or about 190
feet for
the 80 meter band.
On the 40 meter band, however, a length of about 90 feet performed
very well
and the signal reports tended to be an "S" unit higher than the 40
meter
dipole. Although it's a vertically polarized antenna, I have not
noticed any
major increase in noise with the FC-40 random wire as compared to a
dipole.
Unlike the Icom AH-4, the Yaesu FC-40 will tune on 160 meters and I
made my
first contact on the top band in almost 15 years with a wire about
85 feet
long. I had nothing to compare it to but the signal report I got was
excellent.
Although still fairly new, I have heard two other FC-40s on the
air, mostly
in mobile set ups and both operators seemed very pleased with their
performance. In summary, I'm very pleased with this new automatic
antenna
tuner. I'd give the Yaesu FC-40 a solid "5" (on a 5 scale) without
hesitation."""
----- Original Message -----
From: "kc9anq" <kc9anq@y...>
To: <YaesuTuner@...>
Sent: Wednesday, May 18, 2005 11:15 AM
Subject: [YaesuTuner] Re: FC-40
Robbie
Thank you for being the first post and welcome all to the new
group.
I have had the FC-40 for a month now and it work great I have
experimented with a 40 foot wire and a 55 foot wire with great
success,
It makes 60 meter in the USA a WALK IN THE PARK to use. I made
contacts
with great results on all bands but 160 and 6, I have not been
able to
tune up on 160 with such a short wire and 6 ,,,,,well 6 meter is
just 6
meter LOL no conditions yet.
I am using the tuner with My 897D on field day and will be using a
fulll wave loop for 160 meter. I will let the group know what I
find by
next weekend. I plan on running a "test" with a loop before field
day.
Thanks for joining,
Bill
--- In YaesuTuner@..., "ei2ip" <robbiephelan@h...>
wrote:
I just purchased a FC-40 from Ebay... Should have it next week..
What is the general feeling about this tuner, does it perform
well??
Robbie,
EI2IP
