Thursday, April 20, 2017 — I’m heading to the local AM station to record an interview with U.S. Rep. Brett Guthrie in a while, so thought I might take time to catch up with my so-called radio life.
“Zed Man,” you are likely asking yourself, “What in the name of Barry Goldwater are you doing talking to a member of Congress??” Believe it or not friends, I actually have a life outside of collecting Morse keys, along with various and sundry CW-related paraphernalia. I’m what you call — or used to call — a dinosaur known as “a print journalist.” The term comes from the daze of yore, when fishwrap was actually something you could read before lining your parakeet’s cage. Back when objectivity was something more than an out-of-date concept in print reporting. Ah, the good old days of long hours and low wages … some things in life are constants, hi!
Anyway, I’m interviewing our 2nd District congressman for my radio show. Sen. Rand Paul will be there too. Anyway, enough about Congress and former presidential candidates … we’ve got really important ham radio stuff to talk about today, no time for political blah blah blah, ok?
YOU CAN TUNE AN ANTENNA BUT YOU CAN’T TUNER FISH. As mentioned here weeks ago, I had very strong reservations about using one of the MFJ air-core roller inductor antenna tuners at my library operating position. My balanced line fed doublet seems to move around a lot in the wind since the center is supported by a medium-sized maple tree. I was not happy with the fixed inductor MFJ tuners I have (I’ve been spoiled by the Heathkit SA-2060 tuner in the shack, I’m afraid). A traditional roller inductor tuner was what I wanted, but when the air-core roller inductor-equipped MFJ-969 appeared on eBay with an attractive Buy It Now price, it was too good a deal to pass.
To my surprise, the MFJ-969 works very well. I shouldn’t be surprised, given the fairly good reviews the tuner has received. Like many things MFJ, people either love their products or hate them. Put me down on the positive user experience side of things.
But during the trials of this MFJ tuner, I also happened to run across a Heathkit SA-2040 tuner — the SA-2060’s ugly (and SWR meter-less) little brother. But electrically, the tuner is identical; it is built like a tank with Grade A components. Nuff said.
The tuner was purchased on eBay last month worth the money. These tuners have been sellling rather high lately, particularly the SA-2060. I have had it in its shipping box since it arrived about a month ago — until this morning. I needed to clear junk out of the shack, and the seller shipped the SA-2040 in a oversized box with plenty of packing (thank you, kind seller!). But alas, when I pulled the unit clear of its packing, I heard the distinctive rattle of loose parts inside. ARGH! Drat!
Screwdriver in hand I dove in to determine what was rattling inside my new-to-me tuner. I was happy to find the culprit was the ceramic cone and securing washer and nut that held the 4:1 balun in place at the right rear of the tuner. About 60 seconds later (after a 5-minute search for the proper hand tools, of course), the offending parts were re-secured. I buttoned the case up in short order (after another 5-minute search for a small black screw that fell onto a medium-nap black-ish blue carpet).
WHAT’S NEXT? As crazy as it sounds, my initial thoughts are to leave well enough alone. I realized after sniping the SA-2040 that the bookshelf my equipment is on is not deep enough for the SA-2040. The shelf is about 12 inches deep; the tuner is more than 14 inches deep. Should I decide to use it, I plan to cut the rear of the bookcase (which is made of some sort of pressed fiberboard) to allow the tuner to protrude to the rear. (Note to my readers: Please don’t inform the XYL .. she’s likely to take a dim view my modifications to her bookshelves.) Next time I’ll remember to measure before sniping, hi. As long as the MFJ continues to perform, it has earned a spot in my humble little ham shack corner of the library.
73 es CUL de KY4Z 73 SK …. dit dit …