Icom 700 -does Tuner Help Receive??

[maine50]

I have a ICOM 700 that I want to use for SSB receive only at home. Does a Automatic Tuner help at all for receive only? I have one I can use for that or sell and make some money. The tuner is a ICOM 130. Thanks- Tim

[sneuman]

I am no expert, so hopefully someone else will chime in. But I also have an ICOM 700 and the tuner only seems to engage when the "tune" button is pushed. So, I presume, it's really for transmit.

[btrayfors]

Yes, a tuner will help on receive. Marginally. But, you'll be able to hear quite well without it.

And, yes, you need to transmit using the tune button (which reduces power to transmit enough to activate the AT120 and set it thru its tuning sequence).

But, for receiving at home -- not transmitting -- I wouldn't bother with a tuner. Just a random length wire will do....the longer and higher the better.

Bill
WA6CCA

[svlamorocha]

Originally Posted by maine50

I have a ICOM 700 that I want to use for SSB receive only at home. Does a Automatic Tuner help at all for receive only? I have one I can use for that or sell and make some money. The tuner is a ICOM 130. Thanks- Tim

A tuned antenna *may* help in some circumstances (particularly when noise that does not come from from the antenna is significant when compared with the signal that comes from the antenna). You will need to transmit briefly in a frequency nearby to get the tuner to work; this may not be possible if you are trying to receive in a frequency where you are not authorized to transmit (or your radio is not programmed/designed to transmit). For example, with my inverted-L home setup the tuner helps a lot when receiving the 15m ham band.

That said, if you only want to receive then it may be much better/cheaper/easier to install a good receiving antenna that will work much better thorughout HF spectrum and will let you sell the tuner. Ask Google to look for "Beverage antenna" or "SWL antenna". If you want a cheap commercial solution look for "ENDFEDZ EF-SWL".

[maine50]

Thanks for all the input. I listed the ICOM 130 Antenna Tuner in the CF classifieds.----Tim

[Cadence]

Originally Posted by btrayfors

Yes, a tuner will help on receive. Marginally. But, you'll be able to hear quite well without it.

And, yes, you need to transmit using the tune button (which reduces power to transmit enough to activate the AT120 and set it thru its tuning sequence).

But, for receiving at home -- not transmitting -- I wouldn't bother with a tuner. Just a random length wire will do....the longer and higher the better.

Bill
WA6CCA

Put a lightning suppressor and a good grounding rod down for that long wire antenna or disconnect it when not in use. Or both.