Regarding the Talking House V5, can you tune the 102 whip without using the ATU? I have several tuners for ham radio and I believe once you lock in a frequency, the ATU is a mute point? Or can someone advise on a different, outside antenna to use? i think the ATU is overpriced to use just once....I wont be bouncing frequencies. Any help would be appreciated.
When the external ATU connection is selected, the internal automatic tuner is bypassed so in that regard, the internal tuner is a moot point.
When using the external ATU connection, you can use a tuner other than the ATU with the 102 inch whip. The correct input impedance and the ability to match the 102 inch whip at the desired frequency would be necessary.
The ATU is a passive tuner which uses one of two slug tuned coils for the upper or lower portion of the band. A slide switch selects which coil is to be used. The input to the ATU is a toroid transformer.
Of course, the Talking House system is certified for use with their ATU. Most likely, using an alternate tuner would not satisfy that requirement.
Mram, thanks...you have a suggestion on what antenna to use with the TH, other than the ATU? Since the transmiter is certified, can I use other antennas? And the easiest method for impedance and matching freq?
I assume when you say "use other antennas" you are referring to the ATU, not the attached whip.
The Talking House system is certified for Part 15.219 use with the Talking House ATU. To use an external antenna tuner other than the Talking House ATU would not satisfiy the requirement of the certification and thus not satisfy the Part 15.219 rule.
I am aware of one instance where someone tested a different external antenna/tuner and the result was less than desireable compared to the ATU. I do not have all the details of the experiment so your own result could be different.
You could try one of the base loaded, 3 meter antennas described on various websites. Tuning would be trial and error, adjusting the coil to resonate the antenna. Matching impedance could be accomplished by adjusting the coax connection tap point from the coil bottom up. The process requires patience as tuning and impedance matching would most likely interact.
Everyone leans on using FCC certified systems to obtain that warm, fuzzzy feeling of security. But, it is legal to use a non-certified sytem so long as it satisfies the rules. Certification is required for the mass production and selling of transmitters, not the operation of such. It just so happens that the Talking House system is one which is certified for Part15.219 use with a separation between the transmitter and antenna using their ATU.
To separate the Talking House transmitter from an antenna/tuner other than the Talking House ATU would not satisfy the Part 15.219 3 meter rule as the Talking House certification which allows the separation requires using the ATU. Yes, we all feel that is silly but that's the way it works.
However, if you could prove the field strength of your system meets Part 15.209 it would be legal regardless.
Short answers are few and far in between.