LDG RT-11 Auto ATU

RT-11 Auto ATU

When LDG Electronics started designing Autotuners, we kept adding to the features as we released each new model. This was a classic "you asked for it" scenario between us and our customers.

Yes, everyone has ideas, but when the majority say they want a particular feature, we would be foolish not to give our customers what they want. We have been asked for a couple of years to design a remote mounting, water resistant autotuner.

The RT-11 is one example of us removing some features. Let's face it, if you want to mount a tuner on your tower, you may not be thrilled with having an SWR meter or status LEDs, up 70 feet in the air behind the perpetual fog obscuring the top of your tower. We were thrilled by several pictures we received (from some of our clever customers) of our AT-11 remotely mounted in water resistant cases.

An added feature of the RT-11 is incorporated from the Z-11, we've added latching relays. These relays retain their settings so the RT-11 can be powered down once it is tuned. If you shut your shack down after a night of operating, and return the next morning to the same band and antenna, the tuner is in the same configuration that you left it. This power saving feature is very popular with our QRP Z-11 customers.

The heart of the RT-11 is a 68HC11 Microprocessor which performs many hundreds of quick tests to determine the correct combination of capacitors and inductors to load your antenna system. The happy clatter of the relays is almost music like. Tuning is performed in 1 to 5 seconds with 3 being the average. The tuner can handle 5 to 125 watts (100 watts continuous, 50 watts on 6 meters) of RF power.

The RT-11 can be used anywhere. The water resistant case can be mounted on a tower, in a boat or car, outside the window of your shack, in your attic... almost anywhere. The case has 2 flange mounting brackets to facilitate ease of mounting. Since the unit is RF sensing, it will tune when it senses a band change (high SWR), thus it will operate with any HF radio. The RT-11 interfaces directly to Icom and Alinco radio tune buttons via an optional cable. In normal HF operation, the RT-11 will load a coax fed antenna system with an SWR or 10:1 or less. If you use long wire, random length, Zepp, or other unbalanced antenna systems, we have an external 4:1 Balun that works nicely with the RT-11.

If you are considering an autotuner for use inside your shack, you might consider purchasing an AT-11MP. Another option would be to use the RT-11 with our optional Remote Control. The remote control has Power On and SWR Status LEDs, Auto / Semi Auto push button, manual tune and bypass buttons. The remote control will mount under your shelf, dashboard, by the helm, etc. It gives you an added measure of control over the RT-11. If shack space is a premium, the remote could mount nicely under a shelf while the RT-11 enjoys a spot on the carpet behind your desk.

Due to the ruggedness of the case and smaller size, the RT-11 is a fine choice for the Ham on the go, either in the car, RV, boat, or between winter and summer residences. Functionality of the RT-11 is the same as our other tuners and we believe it exceeds the abilities of all other autotuners on the market, at a lower price!