Best Practice Using PGXL w/o External Tuner (TGXL)

w1smc

I have to take my TGXL offline for possible repair at Flex and I've never operated my PGXL using the internal tuner of my 6700 or 6600M …

Anything I should be aware of before I push TX ….. ?????

Thanks

w1smc

Understood …. Thanks Len ….

I'm going barefoot …..

Mike-VA3MW

If your antennas are even reasonably resonant on the bands you're operating, you can absolutely run without a tuner and have no issues at all.

I've personally been running the Power Genius XL (PGXL) without an external tuner for years. The amp is designed to handle real-world antenna loads very well. As long as your SWR stays below about 2:1, the PGXL operates normally without any need for tuning assistance.

Once the SWR rises above 2:1, the PGXL intelligently starts folding back power to protect itself and your transmission line. It's not abrupt — it’s a gradual reduction, designed to minimize stress on the amp while still letting you operate when possible.

One of the biggest advantages of the PGXL is that it’s incredibly fast at detecting issues. It monitors the transmission line continuously and reacts long before the amplifier ever reaches full output power.

• It can trip offline or fold back in less than 20 microseconds — which is extremely fast in RF terms.
• That fast reaction protects the finals and internal components from damage.

In fact, the PGXL is so sensitive and responsive that it can sometimes find antenna or feedline issues you didn’t even know were there! It’s like having an extra level of system health monitoring baked right in.

As a real-world, not-so-planned "test," I’ve actually transmitted into an open circuit and even a dead short more than once (accidentally, of course!), and the amp handled it perfectly.
It immediately detected the fault and tripped offline without damage — exactly what you'd want a smart, high-end amplifier to do.

Bottom line:

• If your antennas are matched reasonably well, you don’t need a tuner with the PGXL.
• The amp will protect itself — and your equipment — faster and smarter than most human operators ever could.

KD0RC

Do not use the internal tuner with the amp in operate mode.

w1smc

Thanks Len ….

So I should just tune with the internal tuner … go to Operate on the PGXL … and I should be good to go then ???

w1smc

KD0RC

No, the internal tuner is only for use when antenna, not an amp, is connected to the radio. If you have an antenna that requires a tuner, then you need to operate without the amp until your TGXL returns from Flex.

KD0RC

Think of it like this - the amplifier always presents a 50 ohm load to the transmitter, so when it is in line, no tuner should be used.

The antenna may or may not be a non-reactive 50 ohm load. If not, then you need the tuner, but it must be between the antenna and amplifier, not between the transmitter and amp. The internal tuner is between the transmitter and antenna jack on the radio, so it can't tune the antenna for the amp.

Ken Wells

If you use the radio's internal antenna tuner, you will only be tuning the input of the amplifier when the amplifier is in operate mode, which serves no purpose, and can actually cause some problems.