Remote Tuners: Stop Putting Them Where You Don’t Need Them

Let’s clear this up once and for all

Remote tuners are not magic boxes that “fix” every antenna problem. In most ham stations, they’re unnecessary — and sometimes even counterproductive. At RF.Guru, we recommend a remote tuner in one very specific situation: a center-fed doublet using open-wire line (≈600 Ω).

Here’s why — and when an indoor external tuner is actually the smarter move.

Mark — K3ZD (“Ham Florida Man” on YouTube) also shared his take on this topic in the video below — worth watching if you want a practical breakdown with humor and clarity:

When a Remote Tuner Does Make Sense: The Classic Doublet

A doublet with a balanced feedline (open-wire line) is a true multiband workhorse — 80 m through 10 m with one wire. The catch? Its feedpoint impedance can range from under 10 Ω to well over 2000 Ω depending on band, length, and height.

Trying to run that straight into an indoor tuner over a long coax run? Bad idea. Mismatch + coax loss = heat instead of RF at the antenna.

Solution: Put a balanced-capable tuner at the transition between the open-wire line and the coax. Once you’re on coax, length to the shack barely matters anymore — the mismatch is already handled at the feedpoint.

Short-Coax Exception for Ladder-Line Doublets

If you can’t place the tuner outdoors at the ladder-line transition, there’s a proven workaround from documented ham testing (G3TXQ, W8JI, DX Engineering, KV5R): ladder line → 1:1 current balun → very short coax (≤3 m recommended, ≤6 m max) → shack tuner. This keeps the high-SWR section on low-loss balanced line, minimizes coax loss, and preserves balance at the tuner. It works well when outdoor tuner placement isn’t practical, provided the coax is high quality and well-choked at the tuner input.

When a Remote Tuner Is Overkill

Got an EFHW, OCF dipole, multiband vertical, or a long wire with an unun? You do not need a remote tuner — if your SWR is under about 5:1 and you’re using low-loss coax.

Why? Because mismatch loss is much lower than many hams believe.

Real Numbers: Coax Loss vs. SWR

Example: 20 m (14 MHz) using our ExtraFlex Bury coax:

With a typical 20 m coax run, even at 5:1 SWR:

• Bury 7: ~0.64 dB loss
• Bury 10: ~0.48 dB loss
• Bury 13: ~0.38 dB loss

That’s less than 1 dB — under 20% power loss — on 20 m. On 80 m or 40 m, loss is even lower.

SWR and Tuner Location: The Real Consideration

• Below 2:1: Your rig’s internal tuner is fine.
• 2:1–3:1: Use a good indoor external tuner.
• 3:1–5:1: Use a wide-range tuner indoors, keep coax runs reasonable.
• Above 5:1: For balanced antennas like doublets, a remote tuner at the feedpoint makes sense. For others, fix the antenna — moving the tuner outside won’t magically improve performance.

The Bottom Line

Remote tuners are worth the weatherproofing, powering, and control wiring hassle only when:

• The antenna’s feedpoint impedance swings wildly
• You’re feeding it with balanced line
• There’s no practical way to bring SWR down at the antenna

In all other cases — especially if SWR is under 5:1 with quality coax — an indoor tuner is simpler, cheaper, and just as effective.

RF.Guru Recommends

Unless you’re running a balanced-line-fed doublet, invest in better coax instead of a remote tuner:

• ExtraFlex Bury 7 (7 mm): Great balance of cost and performance
• ExtraFlex Bury 10 (10 mm): Excellent for longer runs
• ExtraFlex Bury 13 (13 mm): Low-loss, high-power setups

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