I am sure the reason you got a better SWR reading at low levels and then high SWR with high power was what the watt/SWR meter could read.? SWR meters have diodes inside and act as a envelop detector feeding a meter.? The diode drop of 0.2V is more of a factor in the voltage reading at low power levels.
I am sure the MFJ-9219 will work fine.
I do wonder about your use of the Z817 LDG tuner.? What is the balun in your end fed. Most are either 9:1 or 49:1.? The end fed is a dipole fed at the end where the impedance is very high so the need for a high ratio balun.
I have used my FT817 with the Z817 with good success.
The one issue you will have with the MFJ-9219 and it being a manual tuner you can tune the antenna system for a 1:1 SWR, the advantage over an auto tuner that uses relays with fixed caps and inductors.? Often the exact values able to be chosen with the step relays are not exact so dont tune to exactly 1:1? SWR as a manual with variable caps can.
On Friday, December 23, 2022 at 09:45:08 PM EST, ADAM COLLINS <quakc1@...> wrote:
Hello all.? Wondering if anyone has used this product with the FT-817 or otherwise?
It is an all-in-one QRP manual antenna tuner with watt/swr meter, dummy load,? and impedance matching network rated up to 20W.? The design is a T-network with a coil and meshed capacitors.
I replaced my LDG Z817 and MFJ-813 swr/watt meter setup with this, and I could not get better than about 3:1 SWR at 5 watts output on 20, 30, and 40 meters.? At 0.5W, I could get the SWR pretty low, but it would go up with every increase in power level.
The auto-tuner it replaced, on the other hand, would give decent results easily on all bands.
My antenna is a Chameleon EMCOMM II which is an end fed 60' wire with a balun at the base where the coax is connected.? I have it installed in a slope configuration and a low loss coax to my rig.
I know MFJ has some QC issues, and I'm thinking I just got a dud.? I hope that's all it is.? I'm sending it back on warranty for a replacement.
You may ask why I would want to replace the nice setup I had.? I guess it was the lack of batteries, and one item replacing two.? Plus, there's a certain satisfaction with doing the tuning myself.
