Dummy Load in a Box (tuner question)

[KF9CM]

Hi everyone,

I've been constructing a QRP antenna tuner and I have a question.  The tuner will be a long-wire type eg. inductor in series and a variable capacitor in parallel with the antenna (see attached).  I will be taking this set up into the wild. Is there a tradeoff on how much inductance I should use when constructing this? I can use a FT114-43 toroid with 48 turns to get 1mh of inductance. with this inductance I can load an unfolded paperclip for an antenna. For performance I have a dummy load in a box. There's got to be a maximum inductance and a minimum antenna length to use. I hear 60 feet of antenna is a good all band length. I'm not quite sure if the at lowest SWR the XL and XC will be the same. I appreciate any answers.

73 de Gary KF9CM
 

[KM1H]

With an L network it helps to be able to place the cap at input or ouput unless you can predict if the antenna impedance will be lower or higher than the source.
Actual coil inductance with a reasonable size antenna should be in the 50uH range with plenty of taps and a 365-400pf variable for down to 160M.

There is more involved but I just hit a few points.

Carl