ATU-100 HF auto tuner

Here is a quick review of my ATU-100 HF after I have used it for a while.

I recently purchased an ATU-100 to replace my well love and used Z-11Pro tuner. The Z-11Pro has always worked perfectly and I still love it but for portable use the ATU-100 is just so much smaller I though I would give it a try!

The unit was ordered from a local supplier and it arrived very quickly, thanks!

First impressions were very good, the unit seems to be well made with a very robust case. I soon had power connected (12V) and the antenna (G5RV) as well as the short coax cable to the radio. For the initial tests I had the R928+ SDR transceiver connected. With the tuner on and in "Auto" mode a carrier of 5W produced almost instant, and very quiet, tuning on all HF bands. Initial impressions were great!

The unit I have came with firmware version 3.2, looks like most users are happy with this versions, versions before 3.0 had a few issues.

I love the digital readout that gives you power, SWR while tuning and then shows you the inductance (L) and capacitance (C) needed to tune the antenna, impressive!

I opened up the tuner to look at the build quality and components inside, again I was pleasantly surprised, everything seems well made with really good solder joints, unlike some equipment I have seen like MFJ where I normally end up redoing most of the solder joints.

Interesting the builder (BH3SAP) left his call sign inside as well as a "Salute to N7DDC" the original designer of the tuner, nice touch!

Inside, looks great!



Connectors on back panel, notice that you can also connect a long wire antenna.



Front panel details from inside

I spent the next few days using it with a few different radios and antennas, the tuning was always quick and produced a very low SWR. The power output, SWR and efficiency display on the little screen is also useful.

Overall the tuner works really well! So well that I have now bought a second AT-100 to keep permanently in my POTA/SOTA/hiking radio bag.

If you want to buy an ATU-100 you would  more than likely love it!

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