Power Genius XL Tuner Dimensions - Have they been finalized?

Reg

Have the Power Genius XL Tuner Dimensions been finalized? I am going to have a cabinet maker make a cabinet to house my PG XL Amp, Beko HLV1000LDP 2 meter amp, FLEX-6700, LP-500 Station Monitor & FLEX amp tuner. Are the dimensions of the tuner finalized so I can go ahead with design/build?

Dan-N7HQ

No, not yet, but will be reviewed next month.  Please feel free to offer suggestions or requirements. 

Dan, N7HQ

Burch - K4QXX

Not related to dimensions but I sure hope the tuner is cable of tuning more than 3-1 swr.  My MFJ 998 auto tuner is capable of 32-1 swr and 1500 watts, 

Mike Presnell

Reg, please post a few photos when your project is done.   I have similar equipment, and will love to see how your cabinet turns out.

HCampbell WB4IVF

Last I saw the claimed matching range of Tuner Genius was minimum 3:1. Keep in mind that just because a tuner may capable of matching a higher SWR load does not mean that it will match any load showing that SWR.  It depends on the characteristics of the load:  band, high (>50 ohm) or low (< 50 ohm) Z, resistive or highly reactive load, etc.  Most tuner specs are based on resistive loads, so don’t mean a lot in the real world. 

The MFJ 998 specs show a matching range of up to 32:1 SWR for loads over 50 ohms but only up to 4:1 SWR for loads under 50 ohms.  Note the “up to”.  Throw in significant reactance and those matching ranges will decrease.  For example, my LDG 1000 has a claimed 10:1 matching range, but my 160M dipole has a freq. range where the LDG can’t find a match at even a 3:1 SWR.

To me the big advantage of the Flex tuner is integration with the Flex amp and radios via LAN.  I don’t expect a wide matching range at high power with a switched inductor/capacitor tuner like this. 

Howard

Burch - K4QXX

Understood.  That being said, I haven't found an antenna yet that the MFJ couldn't tune.  Currently the only antenna that I need a tuner on is a 160 meter inverted L.   The antenna is cut for the low end of the band but if I get up towards the top end of the band the SWR goes up over 4-1.  The MFJ tuner just takes a second or two to tune on the top part of the band.  Really looking forward to seeing some specs on the new tuner although I am still waiting for the PGXL amp!

Burch

HCampbell WB4IVF

Burch, I think you’ll be happy with the amp.  The LAN-based control (including PTT) and Flex integration is fantastic.  I just got mine back from the 6M fix, loaded with the latest firmware, and noticed some nice improvements.  I’m using it with a manual tuner for now (my LDG is used with my Icom), and can’t wait for the tuner.   

Howard

Burch - K4QXX

I'm really looking forward to getting the amp.  The tuner will just be icing on the cake.  20 months and counting. 

bahillen

Howard, what were the improvements? Need an update from Gerald on the PGXL. Bill W9JJB

Bill W2PKY

I hope the tuner will be out of the antenna circuit on Receive. The reason is, when monitoring many bands and the tuner is matching a low frequency band the tuner presents a big loss on the higher bands. IE. if a 6700 is monitoring 6-8 bands of FT8 and the tuner matches 80 or 160M bands the other bands will drop dead. this happens on ANT2 on the 6700 now. Ant1 does not have the tuner in line with the antenna on receive.[not widely known].

Jeffrey Kerber, N3VE

I just want an update on when I will get my amp.  Purchased at Hamcation coming on 2 years now on the first day Friday!  Would like an update soon Gerald!  Not holding my breath on the tuner either.

Jeff

Matt (K0KB)

The wait is brutal but it’s well worth it. It really is an outstanding amplifier. Much better if you can put it across the room from you cause it’s on the loud side compared to alpha or acom. For someone like me that listens much more than operates it’s good to change your operating style so you flip it from stand by to operate when you wish to transmit and back again if you won’t be transmitting for another 20 min or hour (or 9 days). It goes from standby to operate in a second, really cool! Hopefully they release more updates that give us the option to make the fan ramp up from a true 0.

HCampbell WB4IVF

Bill, a couple improvements:  When I first got the amp I held my dBA meter about 18” in front of the amp while the fan speed was at the low setting.  The reading was 56 dBA (the sound level in the room with everything turned off was 37 dBA).  When the amp was returned from the 6M fix it was updated with the new firmware.  I rechecked the noise from the fans, again at the low setting.  The reading this time was 50 dBA.  Not a big change but going in the right direction. 

Also, now you can set the keying delay to 10 ms, as opposed to the previous 20 ms.

With the previous firmware the panel backlighting (which indicates the state of the amp) was dim, and the control to adjust the brightness was inoperative.  In the new version it works and the backlighting can be turned up to where it is quite visible in a brightly lit room.  

I agree with Matt, it's an outstanding amp.  Currently I have it in the back of the bottom shelf next to my operating position, which helps considerably in abating the noise.  Hope you don't have to wait much longer!

Howard

Reg

Dan: 

You asked for suggestions for the PG XL tuner design.  Here are mine.  The PG XL is a high power (2 KW) amplifier and the tuner will provide rapid switching from frequency/band through the use of high current relays to select L/C solutions.  The PG XL is promised to be unlocked for MARS operation.  The only exiting amplifier in this market space is the SPE Expert 2K-FA which is also a 2KW amplifier.  It has an internal relay switched tuner which can be unlocked for MARS operation.  That amplifier has 6 transmit coax connectors for automatic selection among 6 antennas.  I would suggest that the PG XL external tuner have 8 transmit coax connectors so users will not face complex switching using additional external coax switches.

When the MARS unlock ships I will be using the PG XL for MARS regional nets and MARSRADIO.  As such I monitor 4 or more MARSRADIO channels, at least one MARS regional net channel, and sometimes FT-8 channels in the ham bands on my FLEX-6700.  The PG XL tuner will select among many available antennas and connect to the 2 transmit channels on my FLEX-6700.  With relay tuning switching between all channels, whether ham bands or not, should be quick.

One more consideration.  The cabinet should hopefully be no larger than the cabinets for the FLEX-6500/6700 so everything will fit into rack width cabinets, or smaller.

The market is larger than MARS.  There is also MARSRADIO (which can use 2KW legally), DHS SHARES, FEMA and the CAP.

Thank you for considering my suggestions.

Reg

KF4HR

Reg, I'm happy to finally see someone has recently received their PG-XL.  Congrats!

A few questions. 

When did you place your PG-XL order? 

Also you mentioned, "The PG XL tuner will select among many available antennas and connect to the 2 transmit channels on my FLEX-6700."

I wasn't aware the PG-XL had an antenna tuner.  Does it?

And, "With relay tuning switching between all channels, whether ham bands or not, should be quick."

Is the PG-XL slow to switch?
 
Butch
KF4HR

HCampbell WB4IVF

Here are the advertised tuner specs (which refer to 3 antenna ports).  Not sure what “4 relay outputs controllable from App (optional)” refers to.  Maybe the remote kit?

• ·  2000W
• ·  Matching SWR range minimum 1:3
• ·  LAN/CAT controlled
• ·  Auto, semi auto and manual tune modes
• ·  Can be used and controlled directly with Power Genius
• ·  Can be controlled from the Windows Application as a standalone device
• ·  3 antenna outputs
• ·  Has 4 relay outputs controllable from App (optional)

http://www.4o3a.com/solid-state-to-the-limit/

I agree, more antenna ports would be great (I have 5 tx antennas).  But if it’s too late to add more, I suggest a tuning algorithm similar to that used by the KPA-1500's tuner.  From the QST KPA-1500 review:

 “The KPA-1500 only has two [antenna jacks].  If multiple antennas are used on the same band, the tuner will memorize up to 31 tuning solutions per frequency and start with the last one used.”

And/or a menu option to allow a user to add/select different antennas on each physical port?  The tuning solution would then be that for the specified antenna.  

Howard

Richard

Here is an update that was sent out this week.....

Dear FlexRadio Customer,

 

This notification is in regards to your pending order for the Power Genius XL amplifier. We deeply appreciate your patience as we have been working to address various issues impeding the delivery of your amplifier (and perhaps Tuner Genius) order.

 

In our December PGXL update, we shared that we resumed shipping after our prolonged Alpha testing phase. Input from customers receiving those units was positive, so we cleared the stop ship order and approved the factory to restart production. However, when the additional units were delivered from the factory and were put through regular acceptance and quality tests, they did not meet technical specifications. Those tests indicated the need to make several changes to the production line to ensure consistency of quality. We are currently working diligently to resolve these issues with our OEM partner.

 

Our best estimate is that we will have up to three dozen amplifiers ready to ship within the coming month. Until all our production issues clear up, we are in the uncomfortable position of not being able to reliably estimate the time it takes build and perform acceptance tests on them. 

 

We wish we could be more optimistic, but our experience with this product has taught us that we need to be more cautious with our commitments to you.

 

Regarding tuner genius, the plan is to have our OEM partner resume development of this product once Power Genius XL begins shipping at a consistent run rate. Once this occurs we will provide further updates.

 

73,

 

FlexRadio