NICE BALANCED TUNER

[k4kyv]

1 good RF burn is usually enough to learn ya.

It goes right to the bone!!

Reportedly, Blown-Away Bob, K1AJL (SK) used RF from a DX-100 to burn away a recurring cancerous tumour on his leg. Unlike with his initial "proper" treatment at a medical facility, the cancer appeared not to return. He died, likely by accidentally drowning, several years later while swimming alone in a stone quarry.

[W7TFO]

When running high power AM, (and short antennas) you have to be ready to expect the unexpected. getting all of the bugs worked out is the challenge and half of the fun...........

I worked for a Mexican radio network back in the 70s, and had to rebuild a vertical antenna matching unit in Oxaca. 

If I remember, it operated around 800 kHz and the tower was only some 80' high, pushed by a 5kW transmitter.  A real 'shorty', close to the flight path at the local airport.

The whole damn thing glowed blue at night & pulsed with modulation, too cool.

It was the only time I had to use the 'extended range' on my operating impedance bridge to do a base measurement.  It read some ridiculously low resistance, and the -J was in the thousands of ohms.

Not efficient, but it was the best they could do on the dirt available.

The ATU had been whacked by lightning, and was a total loss.

73DG

[k4kyv]

If I remember, it operated around 800 kHz and the tower was only some 80' high, pushed by a 5kW transmitter.  A real 'shorty', close to the flight path at the local airport.

The whole damn thing glowed blue at night & pulsed with modulation, too cool.

It was the only time I had to use the 'extended range' on my operating impedance bridge to do a base measurement.  It read some ridiculously low resistance, and the -J was in the thousands of ohms.

Not efficient, but it was the best they could do on the dirt available.

Probably on par with those 43' 160m verticals that Hammy Hambone was led to believe were at the ideal height. It might have even worked a little better, because it most likely had a half-decent radial ground system.

Did it have any kind of top loading?  Sounds like a good candidate for a multi-wire flat-top vertical tee, or better still, a bunch of horizontal top loading wires extending out like spokes on a wheel.

[W2PFY]

1 good RF burn is usually enough to learn ya.

There is no such thing as a good RF burn but I get your drift! The smell from a RF burn is not unlike day old dead fish worms frying in a skillet on a camping trip, when the fish are not biting and your forgot to bring your food along 

[KL7OF]

That tuner is something Id expect of folks who still use PP triodes and OWL
Right out of The Waltons and their Zenith era

Funny. Yep mine does not have the nice roller inductors and is build on a piece of wood and I use jumper clips to change bands. I have up a 160m horizontal loop and a 40m vertical delta loop and this setup works fine for me. I only run <1kW so no worries. I'll attach a photo to give you a good laugh. I plan to put it in a nice chassis one of these days...

great tuner built in the true spirit of  Am HAM RADIO......  Thanks for the picture....

[KL7OF]

When running high power AM, (and short antennas) you have to be ready to expect the unexpected. getting all of the bugs worked out is the challenge and half of the fun...........

I worked for a Mexican radio network back in the 70s, and had to rebuild a vertical antenna matching unit in Oxaca. 

If I remember, it operated around 800 kHz and the tower was only some 80' high, pushed by a 5kW transmitter.  A real 'shorty', close to the flight path at the local airport.

The whole damn thing glowed blue at night & pulsed with modulation, too cool.

It was the only time I had to use the 'extended range' on my operating impedance bridge to do a base measurement.  It read some ridiculously low resistance, and the -J was in the thousands of ohms.

Not efficient, but it was the best they could do on the dirt available.

The ATU had been whacked by lightning, and was a total loss.

73DG

Sounds like that mex radio station could have used a closed loop......Not as much fun to look at under power, but probably work betttttter over that poor gnd........