= NOW 40 WPM = COMPARISONS, BUT TUNERS EXPERIENCE THE HIGHEST RF CURRENT AND MAXIMUM INDUCTANCE WITH SHORT ANTENNAS. HIGHER VALUES OF MATCHING INDUCTANCE CAN RESULT IN HIGHER LOSS DUE TO THE TYPICALLY LOWER Q QUALITY FACTOR OF A PHYSICALLY SMALL, HIGHER VALUE INDUCTOR. TO DETERMINE TUNER LOSSES IN A FEW REAL WORLD CONDITIONS, I BUILT ANTENNA SIMULATOR CIRCUITS BASED ON TWO DIFFERENT ANTENNA LENGTHS A 43 FOOT VERTICAL ON 80 METERS, AND AN 8 FOOT VERTICAL ON 40 METERS. AS EXPECTED, I F PRODUCT REVIEW MFJ 9219 QRP TUNER, WATTMETER, AND DUMMY LOAD REVIEWED BY PHIL SALAS, AD5X AD5X ARRL. NET THE MFJ 9219 COMBINES AN ANTENNA TUNER, AN SWR/ WATTMETER, AND A DUMMY LOAD INTO A COMPACT PACKAGE. IT IS DESIGNED FOR PORTABLE OPERATION AT POWER LEVELS UP TO 20 W. MANY QRP LOW POWER TRANSCEIVERS AND KITS DO NOT INCLUDE AN ANTENNA TUNER OR SWR METER, AND ANTENNA INSTALLATIONS IN THE FIELD OFTEN REQUIRE COMPROMISES, SO THE MFJ 9219 IS A USEFUL ACCESSORY. OVERVIEW THE MFJ 9219S ANTENNA TUNER IS A STANDARD MANUAL T TUNER SERIES CAPACITANCE/ SHUNT INDUCTANCE/ SERIES CAPACITANCE. THE TWO VARIABLE CAPACITORS HAVE VALUES OF 20 TO 650 PF, AND THERE ARE 12 SELECTABLE VALUES OF FIXED INDUCTANCE FROM 0R25 5H TO 6R5 5H. THE WATTMETER IS ONLY FUNCTIONAL WHEN THE INTERNAL DUMMY LOAD IS USED. THE DUMMY LOAD CONSISTS OF EIGHT 2 W, SURFACE MOUNT RESISTORS. IT WILL HANDLE 5 W FOR SEVERAL MINUTES AT A TIME, BUT IT IS LIMITED TO NO MORE THAN 10 SECONDS AT 20 W, AFTER WHICH IT MUST BE PERMITTED TO COOL FOR AT LEAST 2 MINUTES. THE TRANSCEIVER INPUT RADIO IS A BNC CONNECTOR, AND THE OUTPUT ANTENNA CAN EITHER BE COAXIAL ANOTHER BNC OR BANANA PLUGS FOR A RANDOM WIRE AND GROUND. FIGURE 1 SHOWS THE INTERIOR OF THE UNIT. THE MFJ 9219 SWR CIRCUIT IS BASED ON THE WHEATSTONE BRIDGE, A SIMPLE CIRCUIT THAT CAN DETERMINE UNKNOWN IMPEDANCES IN RF CIRCUITS. THEORY OF OPERATION FOR THE WHEATSTONE BRIDGE IS INCLUDED IN THE MFJ 9219 MANUAL, AVAILABLE FROM MFJS WEBSITE, OR FROM EN. WIKIPEDIA. ORG/ WIKI/ WHEATSTONE BRIDGE. BECAUSE IT IS A RESISTIVE BRIDGE, SOME TRANSMIT POWER IS DISSIPATED IN THE BRIDGE DURING THE TUNING PROCESS WHEN MEASURING SWR. AN ADVANTAGE IS THAT YOUR TRANSMITTER IS PROTECTED FROM HIGH SWR CONDITIONS WHILE TUNING, BECAUSE THE WORST SWR YOUR TRANSMITTER CAN EVER SEE IS 2 1. THE DISADVANTAGE IS THAT DURING THE TUNING PROCESS, YOU CAN DISSIPATE UP TO 100 OF YOUR TUNE UP POWER IN TWO OF THE THREE BRIDGE RESISTORS DURING HIGH SWR CONDITIONS, ASSUMING YOUR TRANSMITTER CAN DELIVER FULL POWER INTO A 2 1 SWR. OPERATING THE MFJ 9219 OPERATION OF THE MFJ 9219 CAN BE A LITTLE CONFUSING AT FIRST. THERE ARE THREE SWITCHES THAT NEED TO BE USED IN THE PROPER MANNER. THE TUNE/BYPASS SLIDE SWITCH PUTS THE T TUNER IN SERIES WITH YOUR TRANSCEIVERS RF OUTPUT. THE METER ENABLE/OPERATE PUSHBUTTON SWITCH PLACES THE WHEATSTONE BRIDGE IN SERIES WITH THE TRANSCEIVERS RF OUTPUT. THE SWR/PWR PUSHBUTTON SWITCH LETS YOU MEASURE SWR USED FOR TUNING OR RF POWER, USING THE INTERNAL DUMMY LOAD WHEN THE METER ENABLE/OPERATE SWITCH IS IN THE = END OF 40 WPM TEXT = QST DE W1AW <