"Sanjaya" wrote

I've read and heard both sides of the argument about
antenna tuners being great, or not helping at all and are
a waste of money. I've been told they are only for shortwave
transmitting, and I've been told they work well to improve shortwave
reception on faint signals. I've had it suggested to me that I
get a pre-selector instead.

I can't find anyone who actually experimented with either a tuner or
pre-selector... at least
none of what I've read and heard was stated as "experience"... rather
it seemed like theory or conjecture.

Does anyone here actually use a tuner or pre-selector for shortwave
listening, and if so,
with what results? I'm looking at the MFJ-959C antenna tuner at
http://www.universal-radio.com/catal...amps/2574.html
Note that it says "for receive only".


Sanjaya,

I doubt that anyone else's opinion about a tuner selling new for $15 is
worth much to you. Go ahead and try the thing for Pete's sake! Expect to get
$15 worth of product. Or, spend 5 times that much for MFJ equipment that
adds a noise-feed which a tuner can then be adjusted to null the noise, and
the tuner is then configured to make your antenna resonant for the given
frequency. That will definitely improve reception. So will a preselector,
and so will a step-attenuator, once you learn to use it. But for $15, what
have you got to lose? It might work, you can let us know if you try it.

Best regards,

Jack