The preliminary results of testing the FT100D and the FT897 transceivers with a variety of Smartuners demonstrates that these very popular HF rigs work well with all of the Smartuners in the SGC line. We ran extensive tests here at the SGC labs to check reports we had received concerning their operation. Here are the preliminary results:

1. Both radios tuned well with all Smartuners

2. Both radios folded back output power, perhaps more than necessary while finding a match for the antenna. The FT100 typically shut down to between 5 and 10 watts and the FT897 shut down to under 5 watts. However, in each case, the coupler found a match successfully.

3. Both radios exhibited the best tuning operation (both low SWR and tuning time) when tuning in SSB with a steady ‘AHHHHHH’

4. The FT100 appears to indicate ‘Bad SWR’ on the LCD when in fact a near perfect match is obtained. This goes away after 2-3 seconds of transmitting. This could be an artifact of the timing of SWR calculations by the CPU in the transceiver.

In summary, both radios operated well with Smartuner equipped antennas and any tuning problems observed were associated with the usual installation issues of antenna length and RF grounding.