1-30 MHZ Manual Antenna Tuner kit for HAM Radio QRP DIY Kit

Great little SWR and tuner combo. Instructions of the windings are backwards ,but still build it correctly without the problem after a recent search on YouTube.

Do not buy this if you don't have a bit of experience with electronics. This is not like the Heathkits of years ago. Mine literally had zero instructions. There is a place on the circuit board that a coil is installed on that has the coil being mounted backwards. The knobs won't work as received in the kit, without some slight modifications. The wire for winding the coils is larger than their own instructions call for, if you can find them on the internet, replacing it with a smaller gauge, more easily strippable wire will make things much easier, and make you much less likely to destroy the plastic switch, as well as reducing the likely-hood of you slamming your fist through a wall in frustration. All that being said there are now some very good instructions on the internet and Youtube that describe all the issues and how to correct them. As to the value of the kit, there is no way you could individually purchase the components and a case to put them in for twice the price. If you buy the kit, find the corrected instructions to build it, it's a pretty decent tuner at an incredible price.

This kit is barely worth the price of very cheap parts. The caps are stiff and the knobs for the caps are rigged to go on and spin freely without super glue. After assembling them the ends of the knobs dont fit on. No instructions or schematic so need to find online. It has bnc connectors which few radios use so you have to buy UHF sockets or buy adapters for more than the price of the kit. Other builders found the switch was bad. Mine had two lugs shorted together inside and soldering melted the plastic body enough for the lugs to move around freely . By heating the pin and wiggling I was able to kind of get the short to stop. Junk switch. All in all a very poor kit.

Works! Assembly instructions not quite right. A lot of good youtbe videos about it with good information though. I don't plan to use the SWR circuit. If I had it to do over, would prob leave that out.

This kit is really terrible--for those who DID get instructions of any sort in any language (all I got was stickers with the wrong sized holes for drilling, and in Chinese) maybe you're lucky because the instructions are wrong, simply put, and following them would ruin your kit. I found decent instructions online, but they also make it clear that this kit is a joke. Many parts are incompatible with either the Pixie or itself (unmatching knobs and parts; wrong diameter wire, bad enamel, etc). My advice? Buy a proper kit or just build one from scratch. This was NOT worth the price, or any price for that matter. I'm only keeping it because I destroyed it trying to make it. I've scrapped it for parts, only a few of which were ever usable. Very disappointed, time and money wasted. SELLER KNOWS ALL THIS AND STILL SELLS PRODUCT. DISHONEST AND RUDE.

First, as another reviewer indicated, make sure you search the 'net for the instructions and videos of others who build this. Be careful about the hole size for the two variable capacitors. The drill template illustrates holes that are TOO LARGE, which then renders the box useless. Ask me how I know. ;) Also, the schematic and even the illustrations do not make it obvious that each variable capacitor has two sections - you want to connect the two outer lugs together so that the sections are connected in parallel. Also, the lugs need to be scraped shiny clean or solder won't flow onto them. Finally, the circuit board, etc., is really only for an SWR mismatch indicator for a transmitter. If you are just using this for a receiver, you don't need to build out the board at all, just the capacitor/inductor "T" filter. I ended up ordering another one for two reasons: one because of the drill hole issue and two because the 50/51 Ohm resistors will come in handy for a antenna analyzer I am building.

Went together easily, and seems to work. Not a super wide range of matching ability, but works well in some combinations. Good with an end-fed random-length wire that's about 33 feet long (thrown up into a backyard tree).

This kit ships without assembly instructions. You will have to search the famous auction site for a similar kit. Note that the schematic you will find may have an error in the winding diagram for the main toroid. Corrected: Starting at the capacitor tee-connection: Start-1T-2T-2T-2T-4T-2T-3T-3T-2T-3T-2T-10T-END (GND). Connect switch contact L, the wiper and the free end of the 10-turn winding to ground . Switch contact A connects to the tap between the 1T and 2T windings, B to the 2T-2T tap, ... K to the 2T-10T tap around the switch.I've checked the tuning range of the unit with an HP8753C network analyzer and it will reliably tune between 3.5MHz and 30MHz. It may make the top end of the 160m band in some cases. (160m QRP on a short antenna is useless anyway). Note that there is no balun in the kit. This an unbalanced tuner for coax-fed dipoles; and verticals and long-wires fed against a good ground.Assembly of the kit will need reasonable homebrew skills and creativity. Not everything is clear even to an experienced builder.All in all, a decent low-cost alternate to the MFJ pocket tuners. -1 star for the lack of instructions or photos of a completed kit. 73, N2GX