I am having a receive problem with my Yeasu FT-890 HF rig. I have a MFJ-941E tuner I have 2 HF antennas. 1 is a MFJ-1622 and the other (a model HF.3, a 3.5 to 50.00mhz) vert. With eater antenna mounted up on a very good night I can barley hear the tones from WWV on 10.00mhz but none of the spoken words for it. What is wrong with those blankey blankey antennas?
No idea what the second antenna is, but I do know the 1622. I assume you have a problem that makes small antennas the only type you can have up?
The snag of course is that matching (via the tuner) and antenna efficiency are wildy different things. Look at antennas logically. Think what is happening. In general two things make the world of diffierence. How well they capture signals on the wanted frequency, and in what direction - in terms of horizontal and vertical degrees. With HF signals the fact they reflect from various layer of the atmosphere, or are more glued to the ground means that if a signal is coming down at 45 degrees, but your antenna has 45 degrees as a null, with hardly any capture at that angle, you are not going to hear anything - change frequency, or time of day and maybe it gets better, or even worse. In real terms you also have to accept that 1.5m of effective capture area on an antenna is a tiny bit of metal in the sky. Seeing 1:1 on the VSWR meter means very little.
I always found it fun to manually adjust tuners on the quieter parts of bands and suddenly hear the increase from hardly anything getting through, to noise suddenly perking up. BUT - how much it goes up to relates to how much of the content of that band gets out of the antenna.
Have you tried them with the ATU out of circuit and found the bands where the antenna works best on it’s own? If you find the best performing frequencies, then add the ATU and see if it gets better or worse. The ATU could be producing a good match but be rubbish at letting RF through?
A random length of wire can often work better because while it’s rarely resonant, the long length is good at capturing RF - it’s luck if that capture is where you’d like, of course, but the ATU is often better at tuning this kind of thing than a multi-band antenna designed to operate at certain frequencies.
I bought one of those mobile HF whips with the jumper cable, that you use to short out some of the coils. It has good matches at the popular bands, but on the roof of my van, parked up, the whip is compromised, because for the longer wavelengths, it’s just too short - BUT - away from towns with lower noise levels, the thing works. This the key I think nowadays. Too much noise, not enough signal from shorter antennas.I suspect your antennas a fine - but they just produce too little signal.
I am though, confused by the last bit:
I can barely hear the tones from WWV on 10.00mhz but none of the spoken words for it.
Not sure what you mean?
Steve, Rather than not being able to hear anything, I’m more concerned with your signal strength readings. That “S” meter reading really tells the story. I’m guessing the reading is in mud☹️
A poor RF signal strength reading indicates some antenna change will be required. Some trial and error experimentation is needed.
Good luck👍
Tom4278 and Paulears] The antenna that I just got on eBay is at https://www.ebay.com/itm/374905748481 It has worked very well on my 2008 Pontiac Torrent that I sold to a friend after I lost my left peripheral vision in both eyes due to a miled stroke on Nov-11-2011. I have a 10’ copper ground rod pounded into the ground about 5’ and a 100’ counterpoise layed out on the ground. Both the MFJ-1622 and the HF-3 antenna have the same copper rod pounded in the ground, the same counterpoise and the same aluminum mount holding the antenna to the wood railing via a large C-clamp. I am on the ground floor. Brookdale Senior living home lets me put up any kind of an antenna because I am on the back side of the building where no one can see the antennas as long as thay monsterly tall. The home made 2m-70cm J-pole antenna mounted on a pease of wood and the wood support also clamped to the railing with the same type of C-clamp works just fine. As far as a HF antenna goes can you re: a good antenna that will work with the copper rod and counterpoise that I have and that will work good. BTW I am running a Yeasu FT-890 HF rig with a MFJ-941E tuner.
Steve, sounds like you have an excellent grounding system that is extremely important not only for radio transmission but also to minimize lightening strike damage.
A secret I learned about 60 years ago from a Master electrician. How to install a meter center ground rod WITHOUT a hammer‼️
With a bucket of water, simply pour a small amount on the ground where the rod is to be installed and begin poking it into the ground. Continue to add water as you continue the process. Within 5 to 10 minutes that ground rod will be in the ground without a single tap of a hammer.
If you could share the signal strength readings you’re seeing, that would be extremely helpful.
I believe this is the radio you’re referring to:
Best wishes 
(Re: an antenna problem - #5 by Tom4278)
Steve, sounds like you have an excellent grounding system that is extremely important not only for radio transmission but also to minimize lightening strike damage.
A secret I learned about 60 years ago from a Master electrician. How to install a meter center ground rod WITHOUT a hammer
There is no signal strength readings just static
With a bucket of water, simply pour a small amount on the ground where the rod is to be installed and begin poking it into the ground. Continue to add water as you continue the process. Within 5 to 10 minutes that ground rod will be in the ground without a single tap of a hammer.
If you could share the signal strength readings you’re seeing, that would be extremely helpful.
Best wishes
Steve, “ There is no signal strength readings just static” That tells me you have no antenna connected to the radio at all OR the radio is defective!
All coax cables and coax connectors will have to be checked. Do you have another antenna you could substitute for the outdoor ones? Maybe just a short piece of coax with a piece of wire connected to the center conductor.
Once it’s determined to not be an antenna problem, the only thing left is the radio itself. That is a definite possibility without troubleshooting.
Best wishes. WRQE346
Ha!! That antenna is the exact same one I have. It really is a sort of if all else fails solution - it’s just too narrow banded and short to be a really good antenna - it matches and it captures signal - just not brilliantly.
With the jairey riged dipole antenna on on the MFJ-941E antenna input 2 I am getting weak signals on WWV 10.000mhz both tones and voice, also I am receiving weak CW signals, and digital signals on the low end of 40 meters at night. Also I can tune in AM 610 khz, a 5,000 watt clear channel station, but it is very weak also. Also when I touch the knobs on the MFJ-941E tuner the signal strength comes up a bit. Also the Yeasu FT-8900R works 100% fine on a home made 2meter/70cm J-pole antenna. I just don’t what gives with the Yeasu FT-890 HF rig.
The 8900 is uhf and vhf, so unsurprising it works fine on the vhf antenna? Take the tuner out of the hf circuit, what do you hear then?
Yes I know the FT-8900R is a VHF/UHF Rig
Yes I put the jairey riged dipole on on the #2 antenna input on the MFJ-941E tuner. On ant 2 in the tuned setup the gain and signal strength came up a bit and when I put my fingers on the tuner controllers the signal strength comes up quite a bit. On ant #2 where the jairey riged dipole is with the tuner on bypass the signal strength jumpes up quite a buite. I start hearing WWV on 10.000mhz about 3 by 3 and I heard some CW stations and digital stations, hf rtty and psk31 on 40 meters last night.
From paulears
The 8900 is uhf and vhf, so unsurprising it works fine on the vhf antenna? Take the tuner out of the hf circuit, what do you hear then?
It seems your tuner out of circuit is giving you more signal to the radio, so something is adrift here. When the tuner is in circuit, but before it is tuned, the tuning process should always produce a jump in the noise when it gets close to optimum match. It seems your system isnt doing this?
I have never worked on any kind of a tuner before. How do I fix the tuner? My primary things that I fixed where I started fixing radios and tv’s when tv’s where B/W with vacuum tubes in them and radios with vacuum tubes in them
I finely got the Yeasu FT-890 receiving fairly good. I was able to tune into the WARTS net on 3.975mhz and I received the net control K7YR at around 5 by 7-1/2 on the S reading and I sent Ken an email. If I had the right mic I think I could have checked in.