Cheap Portable Tuner - The ATU-100

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2 жыл бұрын

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Пікірлер: 89

@souta95 2 жыл бұрын

I spotted these on Amazon back in December. I will probably get one eventually. Thank you for the video!

@temporarilyoffline 2 жыл бұрын

No problem!

@barrykery1175 2 жыл бұрын

Great video. For the price, that's not a bad little ATU, with the exception of having to fix it first. I purchased the ATU-10 which is the baby brother of the ATU-100. Like you, I had to do a repair. First off, all of the external hardware was only hand tight. Next, the little button that goes through the front panel had a tight fit and would hang up. I took the front panel off and used a deburromg tool to open up the through hole a tad. The next thing I have to fix was the display. It hangs loose on the wires. I put a dab of silicone on the PC board and used it as glues to hold the display in place. Reassembled the unit and I was good to go. It does a great job for the size. I wrote up a full review on my web page.I'm glad I purchased it. Thanks for posting this video. Barry, KU3X

@temporarilyoffline 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks Barry - I don't think the price is all that bad either. Not much more than building it yourself?

@JT-py9lv 2 жыл бұрын

TO. I have one of these. Bought the tuner when they were about $49 shipped for the completed unit. For what it is, it works great. I can make a radio think that a 10m vertical antenna is on 80m. HOWEVER... I can only use about 20w at that match. But from 40m on up, it works WONDERFUL ! No it's not an LDG, Mat-Tuner or MFJ939. But the darn thing just works.

@temporarilyoffline 2 жыл бұрын

For the price of this thing, I'm very happy. There are a few changes I'd like to see, but that's how I am with EVERY product.

@davep6977 2 жыл бұрын

Great video. I was looking at a tuner for mobile. It was down to a coin flip between this and a MAT tuner 125e, I just ordered the MAT. Latching relays was a big selling point (I think I'd add a DC power in) But I like the read out on these. W9DLP

@RonanCantwell 2 жыл бұрын

Great review. These look to be really good value for money if you don't mind doing a bit of quality control mopping up. 👍👍

@temporarilyoffline 2 жыл бұрын

I think the person assembling these doesn't know the end goal.

@HamTechRadioScannerDrones 2 жыл бұрын

I had fun testing I have the ATU 40 qrp version on way .

@temporarilyoffline 2 жыл бұрын

I saw you did the qrp mod. A friend of mine has the 40 coming. Good stuff

@philipwells2793 2 жыл бұрын

Many thanks for this.

@temporarilyoffline 2 жыл бұрын

Anytime!

@ATOMSHAMRADIO 2 жыл бұрын

I own the yeasu matt tuner comes with cable plug and play works very well and built well👍⚛⚡

@temporarilyoffline 2 жыл бұрын

Cool 👍

@G6EJD 2 жыл бұрын

The tuning range will be referenced to some value say 50R so 10:1 would tune an antenna impedance of 50 to 500 ohms

@temporarilyoffline 2 жыл бұрын

Perfect

@Tocsin-Bang Жыл бұрын

I built one from a kit, works great on all bands 80 to 10.

@temporarilyoffline Жыл бұрын

Nice!

@ERICtheLATE 2 жыл бұрын

When they are ordered, they can have specified to function under 5 watts, no internal battery, and even swap out the uhf connector for 2 wingnuts, one for counterpoise, one for random wire antenna. They can also remove the autotune by transmitting thru it feature.

@temporarilyoffline 2 жыл бұрын

Yeah, N7DDC did a great job on the versatility. The only change I would have made enough be to be more miserly with power, but that doesn't subtract from all of his excellent work.

@ERICtheLATE 2 жыл бұрын

@@temporarilyoffline It may be a bit power hungry cuz of relays holding good contact.

@temporarilyoffline 2 жыл бұрын

Yeah, you're right... great price helps overcome that though.

@ERICtheLATE 2 жыл бұрын

@@temporarilyoffline Add a cheap mag mount cb antenna from the local truck stop, and it is a nice lowkey mobile hf setup, without looking like a Nick Tesla experiment on wheels.

@johnwest7993 Жыл бұрын

As a QRP, minimal energy kind of guy who was going to use the tuner for 5W applications but wanted it to be able to handle my 45 W amp, just in case, I was really not pleased to find that the relays in the tuner I bought were not latching. Depending on the match, those relays could be a large part of my energy usage. I will likely build a duplicate of the ATU using latching relays for most of my applications. Thank goodness for open-source projects. Those designers are to be thanked and appreciated.

@temporarilyoffline Жыл бұрын

Yeah, I think its a great idea if you want to learn about ATUs without spending a lot of money... but I 100% agree that it could benefit from Latching Relays. I'm not sure why they don't use those in desktop tuners also.

@johnwest7993 Жыл бұрын

@@temporarilyoffline, I'm sure decent latching relays are more expensive than standard relays. The mechanical mechanism has to cost more than just a relay coil.

@lmamakos 10 ай бұрын

@@johnwest7993 probably need to re-work the software to handle latching relays and come up with some way to reverse the polarity of the voltage of any given relay coil. Just swapping out the relays is likely the easy part.

@cowboy6591 Жыл бұрын

At 3:50 in; You have to resolder the usb receptor PC_Board mounted connectors to the PC_Board. Over half the stuff I buy from Amazon, Banggood, Ali-express arrives with at least 2 cold solder joints and other miss-haps. That's why I buy "Kits" and do it myself.

@temporarilyoffline Жыл бұрын

Exactly, I was not impressed with the build quality.

@guyhornbeck8940 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for the in-depth video. Can this tuner be used with QRP transceivers (less than 5 watts)?

@temporarilyoffline 2 жыл бұрын

The atu-100 can be modified to work with qrp rigs, or you can get the atu-10 or atu-40 and not need to do the mod. I think is a software mod only though.

@bigdaddyvu 2 жыл бұрын

I picked one up on Amazon works amazingly. By the way do you live next to a freeway? I hear cars racing by.

@temporarilyoffline 2 жыл бұрын

There are cars out there, but it's a small town, so no freeway

@TNRonin 2 жыл бұрын

Sorry for the ignorance but will this unit time in the 11m area? I'm wanting to use an antenna that was shortened for the 10m area. Thank

@josempantaleon 2 жыл бұрын

Hey nive video TO, Unfortunately IMHO the device didn't come off well, at all. The QC was very much lacking. That said the design seems pretty decent and if you were going to build it a a kit, then the quality will almost certainly be better. Thanks again good sir.

@temporarilyoffline 2 жыл бұрын

I agree. N7DDC did a great job creating it, the factory didn't know what they were making. I was able to fix it and I think I got a good deal compared to ordering the PCB and the parts separately. Now I have a platform to build off of.

@FUNKLABOR_DL1LEP 2 жыл бұрын

crazy. its in original a kit with full documentation, made from hams for hams. and you take it apart to study the construction 👍😏

@temporarilyoffline 2 жыл бұрын

This is a great design. You're right it is made for hams by hams too. I think this particular version is "borrowed" from the original designer and mass produced by somebody that didn't know what it was. I love this little thing and see lots of potential. I hope the original creator is doing well with all the current events too! I need to do a followup to mod this to ATU-10 specs so I can QRP with it.

@FUNKLABOR_DL1LEP 2 жыл бұрын

@Temporarily Offline Ham Radio Yes, only by viewing Your vid I got on the atu 10 (I build one atu100, sold it with a ft817, bought a new kit for my ft817ND) and will soon check out the atu10. will soon show some tests here on YT. 73s Jens

@temporarilyoffline 2 жыл бұрын

Looking forward to your test results!

@phildurall7466 2 жыл бұрын

Nice review TO! :) It looks like a larger battery could be used. You didn't happen to see how long it was functional for on a charge did you? Since the relays do not look like they are latching, that would mean that the current draw would be constant during operation .... right? 73, KF6IF

@temporarilyoffline 2 жыл бұрын

It lasts about 2 hours. They are non-latching relays. It's a great design and there are lots of mods out there for it.

@dildohorn2282 Жыл бұрын

@@temporarilyoffline Wouldn`it then be a good idea to put an external power supply to it? Should not be too much of a problem? Do you know by any chance how powerful this external powert supply needed to be? 5V and ??? Watts? Thanks!

@temporarilyoffline Жыл бұрын

@@dildohorn2282 It would be great to put an external power supply on it. I would replace the internal battery and match its ratings perit's ratings. The ratings should be written right on it.

@dildohorn2282 Жыл бұрын

@@temporarilyoffline Ok, I will open it and check. I think it will be 5V. 1 A should be enough too. Cuz the batt is not that big. I will report back how it worked out.

@temporarilyoffline Жыл бұрын

@@dildohorn2282 looking forward to it

@joeblow8593 2 жыл бұрын

Interesting. Bad soldering joint to the power connector, that's not good. Nice and compact, perfect for the IC-705. However to get at the battery it's is a real cluster - if you have to change it a year or so down the road. Also non latching relays a negative. I'd say give it a go. It is certainly cheaper than the MAT-705 tuner at $229...

@temporarilyoffline 2 жыл бұрын

Yeah. Check out some of the options for this device, you can get just the board for liek $30 and then have fun with better battery and case options

@RonanCantwell 2 жыл бұрын

The ATU-10 has latching relays but is a bit more expensive as a result.

@dildohorn2282 Жыл бұрын

You need the MCLR cable with the pickit 2.

@temporarilyoffline Жыл бұрын

#ProTip!

@FEPLabsRadio 2 жыл бұрын

I got the board. No case, no power. By the time I had opened the box, it was so long, I didn't even try to get them to make me whole. I've had the board for this for like 3-4 months. Just nothing else.

@temporarilyoffline 2 жыл бұрын

From banggood? There are a ton of different variations of this now, kit, 10w, 40w, 100w, 5x5, 7x7, etc.

@dangermandave67 Жыл бұрын

How much does it weigh? I'm thinking this could be handy on a SOTA activation with a uSDX. But if it's heavy, I would be better off just taking my G90.

@temporarilyoffline Жыл бұрын

13.45oz with the dust caps I added. Not heavy at all. If you're getting it for the G90, make sure to get the ATU-10 or the ATU-40, this tuner will not kick in without sufficient RF. You could also put this in a non-metal case and remove the battery for some added weight savings. There are some nice ones on thingiverse.

@dangermandave67 Жыл бұрын

@@temporarilyoffline I was going to use it with my FX-4C, which only puts out 10w. It probably won't work. Bugger.

@temporarilyoffline Жыл бұрын

@@dangermandave67 the ATU-xx version (qrp) will work... or if you are a tinkerer, you can edit the firmware on the ATU-100 to work.

@afleak 2 жыл бұрын

I have one, would really like the latching relays future mod? anyone?

@temporarilyoffline 2 жыл бұрын

Look up the Elecraft T1, that already has them. The relays aren't part of the tuned circuit, just mechanical. Sounds like a pretty easy mod.

@RonanCantwell 2 жыл бұрын

Check out the ATU-10 for latching relays - bit more spendy but designed for QRP use.

@muppetpaster 10 ай бұрын

The white goo might become conductive over time....Big problem on a lot of stereo amps.

@temporarilyoffline 10 ай бұрын

Yeah, this version of the tuner wasn't put together by someone that builds electronics.

@AliReza-zx8km 2 жыл бұрын

Nice..............

@temporarilyoffline 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks

@Martin_PA0KGB 2 жыл бұрын

what is the max it can take on FT8?

@temporarilyoffline 2 жыл бұрын

I ran it for an hour at 125w with no issue. This version (though there is a software fix) actually has trouble at lower power.

@Critical-Thinker895 Жыл бұрын

According to the site it's only up to 55MHZ so 160 failing wasn't surprising. Be aware that several reviews are concerning. Here is one of them, "The 2.2µH inductor heats and smoke appears after few tens seconds of transmission. The size of the tore is probably not enough big to sustain the power."

@temporarilyoffline Жыл бұрын

The quality control has gone down noticeably since I reviewed mine. I think we are on the 3rd or 4th wave of clones now. The original design is great l.

@aldewitt9 2 жыл бұрын

Is this a kit or a finished product?

@temporarilyoffline 2 жыл бұрын

This is "finished"... you can get this device in lots of configurations. And pretty cheap too

@j.d.-alawyerexplains5064 2 жыл бұрын

@@temporarilyoffline Interesting. I don't understand how it keys the radio to tune. I must be missing something. My IT-100 had an ACC cable that did that.

@temporarilyoffline 2 жыл бұрын

@@j.d.-alawyerexplains5064 You're not missing anything. It doesn't do that. I press and hold the button to get into tune mode and then I key the radio to provide a signal to tune with.

@ksink74 Жыл бұрын

TO got the Chinesium.

@temporarilyoffline Жыл бұрын

Some good. Some bad... Some a good starting point. 👍

@craftsman123456 2 жыл бұрын

Can it tune a IC705

@temporarilyoffline 2 жыл бұрын

Would work fine with a 705.

@craftsman123456 2 жыл бұрын

I worded that wrong. Won't tune the 705. Not enough power out. At least for me that is

@temporarilyoffline 2 жыл бұрын

@@craftsman123456 I have gotten it to tune with lower power, there is an "ATU-10" model and there is a mod for this model to get it to kick in at lower power.

@salat 2 жыл бұрын

@@craftsman123456 You can change the minimal power required to tune by changing the firmware settings via a PIC programmer - see N7DDC's gh page/in the PDF manual.

@ERICtheLATE 2 жыл бұрын

@@salat Nice Idea!

@daveN2MXX 2 жыл бұрын

I built one of these...I have found it to be unreliable and therefore totally useless. I had high hopes for it, thinking that it might have similar capabilities compared to the internal tuner in xiegu radio....but it won't even tune with many radios without the QRP "mod" because of the automatic high-swr power roll-back protection feature of many radios. I wanted to use it as a remote tuner at the base of a vertical....but in that use case, it doesn't work with my Icom 7300, it occasionally works with my Yaesu 891, and almost never works with my G90.

@johnwest7993 Жыл бұрын

Same here, although I planned on mounting it up on the mast of my portable vertical antenna. It looks like a lot of control and power wiring is in order as well as some serious mods. I may build my own ATU and just use this open-source project as a starting point. It's a good idea, but a bit too simple, and doesn't solve the problems you mentioned. Fortunately I have some toroids, latching relays, and silver mica caps in my parts bins to play with. I just need to take a look at the firmware and see if I can work with it. Another winter project.

@muppetpaster 10 ай бұрын

4:10 meanwhile you torn up the connector completely...

@temporarilyoffline 10 ай бұрын

It had it coming.