Products & Product Reviews

Get to know UNUN—One of Ham Radio’s Stranger Acronyms 

For many new Hams, the hobby’s long list of unfamiliar terms and acronyms can make it seem like any literature about amateur radio has been written without the aid of spellcheck, which leads us to UNUN.

Not a typo in the Ham world, UNUN stands for UNbalanced to Unbalanced. An UNUN (a type of transformer) matches an unbalanced antenna to an unbalanced feedline, minimizing transmission line losses caused by SWR, removing unwanted RF from coaxial shield. and boosting overall efficiency.

DX Engineering’s patented Maxi-Coreâ High-Power Multi-Band UNUN (DXE-UN-43) allows your non-resonant vertical antennas to perform to their fullest potential, while reducing stress on the equipment. This 4:1 UNUN can be added to any 43-foot antenna system. Housed in a high-impact, weatherproof NEMA box, it covers 1.8-30 MHz and can handle 2 kW CW/5kW SSB. Other features include:

  • Full band tunable coverage on 160-10 meters with an SWR under 1.5:1. Customer-supplied wide-band tuner required.
  • Impedance: 200 ohm to 50 ohm, optimized for 43-foot verticals
  • Handles rated power with minimal energy loss so there is no thermal-related failure
  • Silver/PTFE SO-239 input connector
  • Two ¼ inch-20 feedpoint connection studs with stainless steel flat washers, split washers, fender washers, and wing nuts
  • Shares the same mounting footprint as similar competitive products. It’s an easy swap for superior performance

For mounting and connecting your UNUN, you’ll need the DX Engineering UNUN Mounting Kit (DXE-UN-BRKT-5A DX) and DX Engineering UNUN to Vertical Feedpoint Connection Kit (DXE-TCB-UNFK).

What do Hams think?

Five Stars: “Very well made and easy to work with.”

For detailed mounting instructions and tips, check out the DXE-UN-43 instruction manual here.

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