Yet another tuner..

Being an inveterate kit/project builder, I embarked on a line of tasks designed to familiarize myself with the practical aspects of tuners. You know, not the Smith Chart and algebraic type of analysis that are the underpinnings of devices but rather the "hands on" efforts that cement the dry prose and formulae into real items.

Such are tuners.

I have walked back from the concept of EFHW transformers and their ilk to the devices that will resonate anything -- from a long piece of wire to a mayonnaise jar -- on bands as low as 160 meters. Though, to be honest, I see little value in any tuner being used above 20 MHz. I mean, six feet of wire on the side of a loop or as one half of a dipole is perfectly manageable -- even on my small patch of ground.

Anyway, I dealt the QRPGuys tuner off to a gentleman on the other coast (as I recall) and was casting about where to turn next. Rummaging through my vast heap of stuff, I discovered that I had the makings of some really, really world class antenna matching devices. These consisted of a robust pile of the old AirDux coils garnered from an old Tuthill swap many years ago, a king's ransom in air variable caps, and God's own assortment of toroids -- including the common "-2" and "-6" types to to the more exotic "-37" and "-61" guys. Also, I had laid in a goodly supply of cardboard tubes from my bride's outgassing of Saran Wrap which are handsomely suitable for coil forms. But I blather. I will do more as I embark on a home-built device further down the road.

The QRPGuys' tuner was a nice unit but it's case was "too open" and I feared any outdoor operation would have been set upon by dirt, insects, bird poop and errant pine cones. Looking around, I caught site of the 4States 4S Tuner kit and thought to build one of those up.

I will provide more background and my opinion of the kit in a subsequent post but, for the time being, here is a small collection of my build photos.

Basic "outboxing" of the parts and a partially built case..

Intermediate build photos..

..and a few snaps of the pre-test results..

Back in a jiffy with a build-and-test report.