As I've mentioned before I enjoy working 10M AM. We already have the great propagation up there with this Solar Cycle Peak approaching and will have great domestic and DX for several years. My Icom sounds decent on AM but lacks higher power and doesn't have the true AM Modulation scheme. There are radios out there that kick ass on AM like the Apache Labs ANON Series rigs and many others .... but a new pricey radio isn't in the budget. So I went with a Stryker 655 that I can also talk to the locals with on 11M AM, and its 70 watt swing drives the Texas Star 500V nicely. So can easy breezy key 100 watts and swing to over 400 all day long. It sounds great on 10 and this power level is ideal. BUT ..... my 11M 1/2 vertical isn't resonant up there so I figured a big legal limit tuner would do the job. In my case it hasn't worked out. These tuners are more designed to handle that kind of power on SSB and CW .... but they don't want to take the constant carrier of 100 watts with the p.e.p on top. I've tried 2 and they both experienced arching on the roller inductor. Lesson learned. It wasn't my first choice to put up yet another antenna at the house, already have 3 ... but it's what I need to do. Have a M 400 1/4 GP on the way which I will shorten to be resonant on the top end of 10 and than have no need for a tuner at all. In most cases it's hard to beat a resonant antenna. And the 1/4 wave with it's higher angle of radiation should be really good for DX. Will let y'all know how it turns out.
