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Tuner Genius XL and balanced antenna

Slawomir
Slawomir Member ✭✭
in Tuner Genius XL

Hello everyone,

Have any of you, using the Genius XL tuner and an external 1:1 balun, tried to work with the antenna powered by a symmetrical line? I have a 2x27m doublet and am going to buy a Genius XL to improve SWR in Hex Beam on CW frequencies. If it was possible to tune my doublet, that would be great. I just don't know what balun to buy for testing.

73's

Slawomir

Comments

  • Mike-VA3MW
    Mike-VA3MW Administrator, FlexRadio Employee, Community Manager, Super Elmer, Moderator admin

    This will require a balun to match the 50ohm the TGXL expects to the ladder line which I suspect is 450 ohms. You’ll have to check with the manufacturer of the feedline to be sure.

    If that is the case, you need a 9:1 balun to match the 50:450 ohm impedance differences and make sure that it can handle the RF power you are dealing with.

  • Rick N4RZ
    Rick N4RZ Member ✭✭✭

    On different bands, the antenna impedance at the tuner will be different. Sometimes higher and sometimes lower than 50 ohms. This variance is related to the length of the feed line between the antenna and the tuner. In most cases, it is best to use a 1:1 balun and then adjust the length of the feed line for a length that gives the best match on most bands. For a typical 80M center-fed doublet this length is typically close to an odd multiple of 1/8 wave at the lowest frequency the antenna is a half-wave on multiplied by the velocity factor of the feed line. DX Engineering has a nice article on balun selection on their website that covers this topic. Note: while the Tuner Genius is a very nice tuner it does not have the tuning range of some of the better manual tuners and therefore you may encounter some frequencies it won't successfully match.

  • Slawomir
    Slawomir Member ✭✭

    Thank you very much for the information. I know that the balun must be 1:1. I have an automatic antenna box for PA0LL symmetrical antennas. But I will try how the TGXL Tuner will handle the balun. I would also like to know how many TGXL can remember settings on one band. Since I have a PGXL, the TGXL will complement my 6700.73's

    Slawomir

  • Mr Radio
    Mr Radio Member ✭✭

    https://www.balundesigns.com/

  • Mike-VA3MW
    Mike-VA3MW Administrator, FlexRadio Employee, Community Manager, Super Elmer, Moderator admin

    Palomar as well

    https://palomar-engineers.com/antenna-products/baluns-and-ununs/1-8-30-mhz-balunsununs/multi-ratio-impedance-transformers/


  • N0EG
    N0EG Member ✭✭
    edited March 2023

    I use Balun Designs Model 4114T - 4:1 Current Balun 1.5 - 54MHz 5kW with my TGXL / PGXL and my 125ft doublet

  • Slawomir
    Slawomir Member ✭✭

    Hi Josh,

    that's good news for me. Will try this balun. Have you noticed any signal loss when working with this balun? Is there a correct symmetry in the antenna? I will check if I can buy it in Europe.

    73's

    Slawomir

  • David Decoons, wo2x
    David Decoons, wo2x Member, Super Elmer Moderator
    https://community.flexradio.com/discussion/comment/20601818#Comment_20601818

    The TG XL when used with the 6700 will have 20 tuning memories per band.

    73

    Dave wo2x

  • Slawomir
    Slawomir Member ✭✭

    Hi Dave,

    Thank you for the information

    Slawomir

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