I've had the Ameritron ATR-30 3KW antenna tuner for a while, and I thought that it would be neat to show some inside pics and also give a brief review of this tuner.
Here is a pic of the front panel of the tuner. It has an active peak reading cross needle meter, an on/off switch for the meter and inductance turns counter meters, high/low and peak/avg meter switches, antenna switch, and the usual capacitors and inductor knobs.
Note that the inductor is a roller inductor for infinite tuning adjustments.
Here is the back side of the tuner:
You get two tuned antenna coax connectors, one additional direct, untuned antenna coax connector, balanced wire and long wire connectors, ground terminals, and the power source for the meter. Note that you can only use either the balanced line or wire connection; you can't use both.
Here is an inside pic of the tuner. The size of the capacitors, inductors, balun, and antenna switch is what enables the 3KW handling.
Here is a close-up shot of the silver plated roller inductor with my hand in it for perspective. Just below my index finger you can see the roller that provides the tap on the inductor.
The front side of the roller inductor has gears to work the inductor turns counter. This is a very simple, but effective design. The turns counter on this tuner isn't the most precise thing in the world but when you record your setting, it does give you a number that will get you pretty close so you can quickly recall your previous position when you change frequencies.
Here are the tuning capacitors. Again, my hand shows the size necessary to handle 3KW:
Here is the massive balun for the ladder line connection:
A nice big antenna switch:
And lastly, the meter circuit board:
You can see that this tuner also has the ability to use a 9v battery to power the meter. You don't get the lights when using the 9v battery, but you need to use either the wall wart or the battery to power the active peak reading meter.
I've owned this tuner for several years, certainly long enough to give a qualified opinion on it's effectiveness. I can happily say that I have never had any issues with it. The large roller inductor and tuning capacitors have enabled me to obtain pretty much a perfect match on anything I've tried. The inductor and capacitors aren't nearly as "smooth" to the touch as more expensive units from TenTec and others, but this tuner is also quite a bit less money.
The size of the cabinet and components used allows for plenty of air circulation when using high power levels. I have put over 2KW through this tuner (MARS stations have higher power level limits while operating on MARS frequencies) and never had one single issue.
My only real complaint about this tuner is the size of the meter. I would have liked to have seen a meter that is twice the size of the one provided. The built in meter will allow you to load up your antenna, but you cannot use it to obtain precise power level measurements. I almost always use an external large cross needle meter to adjust the tuner because I find the external one easier to read and I can obtain much more precise results.
The price of this tuner is about $600 new. If you don't need this much power handling capability, Ameritron and MFJ offer several others for less money. However, if you want a reliable, basic but effective tuner that will handle well above legal limit power, this one will certainly do the job for many years.
Here is a pic of the front panel of the tuner. It has an active peak reading cross needle meter, an on/off switch for the meter and inductance turns counter meters, high/low and peak/avg meter switches, antenna switch, and the usual capacitors and inductor knobs.
Note that the inductor is a roller inductor for infinite tuning adjustments.
Here is the back side of the tuner:
You get two tuned antenna coax connectors, one additional direct, untuned antenna coax connector, balanced wire and long wire connectors, ground terminals, and the power source for the meter. Note that you can only use either the balanced line or wire connection; you can't use both.
Here is an inside pic of the tuner. The size of the capacitors, inductors, balun, and antenna switch is what enables the 3KW handling.
Here is a close-up shot of the silver plated roller inductor with my hand in it for perspective. Just below my index finger you can see the roller that provides the tap on the inductor.
The front side of the roller inductor has gears to work the inductor turns counter. This is a very simple, but effective design. The turns counter on this tuner isn't the most precise thing in the world but when you record your setting, it does give you a number that will get you pretty close so you can quickly recall your previous position when you change frequencies.
Here are the tuning capacitors. Again, my hand shows the size necessary to handle 3KW:
Here is the massive balun for the ladder line connection:
A nice big antenna switch:
And lastly, the meter circuit board:
You can see that this tuner also has the ability to use a 9v battery to power the meter. You don't get the lights when using the 9v battery, but you need to use either the wall wart or the battery to power the active peak reading meter.
I've owned this tuner for several years, certainly long enough to give a qualified opinion on it's effectiveness. I can happily say that I have never had any issues with it. The large roller inductor and tuning capacitors have enabled me to obtain pretty much a perfect match on anything I've tried. The inductor and capacitors aren't nearly as "smooth" to the touch as more expensive units from TenTec and others, but this tuner is also quite a bit less money.
The size of the cabinet and components used allows for plenty of air circulation when using high power levels. I have put over 2KW through this tuner (MARS stations have higher power level limits while operating on MARS frequencies) and never had one single issue.
My only real complaint about this tuner is the size of the meter. I would have liked to have seen a meter that is twice the size of the one provided. The built in meter will allow you to load up your antenna, but you cannot use it to obtain precise power level measurements. I almost always use an external large cross needle meter to adjust the tuner because I find the external one easier to read and I can obtain much more precise results.
The price of this tuner is about $600 new. If you don't need this much power handling capability, Ameritron and MFJ offer several others for less money. However, if you want a reliable, basic but effective tuner that will handle well above legal limit power, this one will certainly do the job for many years.
