Tuning solutions in memory

Ian

I know that there are 10 tuning solutions per band per antenna (up to 8 antennas per band). On 160M there are 20 tuning solutions per band per 8 antennas. I have started to set a tuning solution in memory at 25, 75 125 KHZ etc per band / antenna (as suggested). I notice when you change frequency past the saved solution the tuner makes the change to the new solution (this is what I expected). During last weekends contest I retuned the antenna in between the saved tuning solutions and I see that they are saved.

my questions are :

what is the order of saving the solutions and when does one on the solution get over written assuming you have saved all 10 on one antenna ??

Is there any way to save the base solution set ?? and reload it ??

Ian VE3JI

Les Brown

Hi Ian,

I've been after Flex/4O3A to add the ability to better manage the tuning solutions (view, save, recall, reset per band, etc.) but they don't seem to see the need for it, or other things are a higher priority for them. They will likely update the manual to better describe the functionality though.

For me, the best description was posted by Al, NN4ZZ a while ago.

73, Les VE3NNT

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Update on the TGXL tuning questions -- Oct 27, 2021

 I've had several email conversations with Marko at 4o3a who is the developer of the TGXL application software and tuner firmware. He provided some good information about how the tuning software works as well as feedback on the documentation and the suggested enhancement to the Windows application. He also said it would be fine for me to summarize and share this information. Here are some bullet points from our correspondence.

 - Marko agreed the current version of the documentation does not describe the tuning logic as well as it could and they would improve it in the next version of the manual.  

 - He said, actually the tuning logic is ... complex and it is hard to describe it only by words and it must be followed by a proper graphic example - this part will be changed in the next version of the manual.

 - The TGXL has memory for about 4,000 tuning solutions.

 - They don't have any plans to make the solutions visible in the near future but Marko did provide some good information about how the tuning works and why that may not be necessary but actually cause confusion. (see additional bullets)

 - Each time you tune, that tuning solution covers frequencies to halfway to the next tuning solution on each side of that band.

 - The 10/20KHz comment is not described well, and it works like this: If your new tuning solution is closer than 20KHz to an already memorized tuning solution, that tuning solution will be replaced (its center frequency would be changed to a new one) 

What this means...if you tune closer than 20KHz to some of your previous tunings, the closest tuning would change its center frequency and its tuning halfway points that it covers would slightly change. As I recall, on all bands except 160m we are using 20KHz as a minimum gap between two tunings in order to create a new memory location, and on 160m we use 10KHz as it is common that on 160m many antennas would have very sharp SWR diagrams.

 - Eventually, if you tune 21st time on some band (there are 20 memories per band, per each antenna, per each channel), the closest memory location would be replaced by a new one.

 - To summarize, the memory logic might not be the perfect one but it handles most of the requirements and there will be no gaps regardless if you have 1 or 20 unique tunings on your band as each tuning solution that is closest to each end of the band would cover that band.  (Al's note, this addresses my concern that we could create gaps when making new tuning solutions)

 Al's summary comments: Marko was very helpful and I feel he has not only done a great job on the software but is very open to feedback and suggestions. I'm much more comfortable with the logic and don't have the concerns about creating a solution gap after Marko's explanation. I'm also looking forward the next version of the documentation and learning more about the logic but don't feel it needs to be any rush. My experience with the tuner so far has been very good. I've set up multiple solutions for all the bands I use ( 80-10M). I also tried creating some extra retuning solutions ( more than 20) to see if that would create any issues but it has been working perfectly.  

73, Al / NN4ZZ

Ian

Hi Les ... thanks for this ... it really helps.

I too was worrying about tuning gaps but that seems like it is taken care of. better documentation would be really helpful and I will wait for it.

it would be helpful to add the "Save and Upload" feature for tuning just like the Band configurer has for the antenna genius antennas settings.

the tuner works very well !! and I am really pleased with it so far

Ian VE3JI

Butch

Les - I've also brought up having the ability to viusally manage the TG-XL and got the same response... why? I'd definitely like to see this feature could be added to the TG-XL App.

Butch KF4HR

David Decoons, wo2x

I know it isn’t what you are looking for but Node Red can show the C1, C2, and L setting after tuning each memory point. You can then document them or document manual tuning.

I have found I haven’t had to change tuning the last two months. This may change with winter ice :-( It would be a nice feature to back up the tuning solutions and reset the tuner to create tuning memories for ice or other temporary conditions.

Dave wo2x

Ian

I think being able to save the tuning soliton set is very important ... as we all know things drift with time and a reset is always good for sanity in the station operations. having 2 or 3 different tuning sets would be the best

Ian VE3JI

Al_NN4ZZ

My TGXL came with V1.1.1 software as noted on the app "about". (I assume the actual TGXL firmware is the same version). It has been working fine, no issues. I have all the bands and antenna solutions configured ( 80M-10M). I wasn't aware there was a V1.1.6 until later and haven't seen any notes describing the fixes, etc. I left my TGXL on the V1.1.1 version it shipped with since updating the version deletes all of the stored tuning solutions and it is working fine.

If new versions are expected to occur periodically it would be nice to have an option like below during the installation:

• Retain the tuning solutions
• Delete the tuning solutions

Or provide options to SAVE and RESTORE the tuning solutions from the app.

I imagine there could be some updates that might require deleting the tuning solutions but in cases where it would not be an issue, it would save time. Not a big deal but just a suggestion.

Regards, Al / NN4ZZ

al (at) nn4zz (dot) com

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