The Heathkit SA2060A rivals commercial antenna tuners on features and performance. It includes an excellent Wattmeter with two indicators. An antenna switch and internal balun for balanced line completes the impressive list of features. It covers all bands from 160 to 10 meters including WARC.

The meters are fantastic. The sampling line box is factory built and calibrated. It does not depend on the kit builder to get it right. NEVER ADJUST THE TRIMMER SHOWN BY THE RED POINTER IN THE PHOTO. It is a factory only adjustment. You will screw up the calibration.

The wattmeter seems to agree reasonably well with my digital wattmeter. TWO METERS are absolutely essential for getting the match right. Forward Power cam be doing all sorts of strange things when you are staring only at a Reflected Power meter. Tune this for maximum Forward and minimum Reflected at low power levels, 20 watts or so. NEVER TUNE ANY TRANSMATCH AT FULL POWER! NEVER ADJUST THE ROLLER INDUCTOR AT FULL POWER! This is the number one cause of transmatch failure. Use the capacitors to get to minimum reflected. Then run up the power level and look again. Final tweaks to the capacitors only. This prevents pits and burns on the moving parts of the roller inductor. Think of it as a continuously variable inductance switch. That should never be moved during transmit either.

The slickest way to adjust a transmatch is to use a device like the MFJ-212 or the Ten Tec 1051.

Heavy metal strap is used for some of the wiring. Be careful of lead dress so that this strap does not get near anything else. This also is a function of original builder's skill and care. Internal photos show the quality of components in this transmatch.

The antenna switch functionality is confusing. It says BYPASS on the front panel. This function does not really bypass the transmatch section of the SA2060A. It routes the input signal from the transmitter to one jack on the back panel that you could use for a dummy load. All others go through the tuner to the jacks on the back of the box.

The Heathkit SA2060A was reviewed in QST and other magazines. On unbalanced low impedances for 160 and 80 meters, the losses increase, even without the internal balun. They are comparable to similar designs of T match though. Power rating (without the balun) is easily full legal power, if the SA2060A is correctly built and serviced. The published specs are 2000 PEP for SSB and 1000 watts for CW. That would suggest limiting the power when using FT8 or AM. The likely failure points are the antenna switch or the balun. The best way to test this is to run it with the cover off and turn the transmitter off, then measure the heat in the roller inductor. Also inspect for arcing, especially at the antenna switch and copper straps near the balun. You should try various antennas before you conclude that the tuner is OK at the power levels you are using. If the balun heats, use an external current or guanella balun. The Heathkit balun is 4:1 and that may be wrong for your antenna. See the W8JI article posted at DX Engineering to select the correct balun for your application.
https://www.dxengineering.com/techarticles/balunsandfeedlinechokes/baluns-choosing-the-correct-balun

The losses are more than the E F Johnson Matchbox for balanced lines when the SA2060A is operating off the internal balun. Likewise for 10 meters, due to the limitations of the internal voltage balun. I do not use open wire feedline. I have tested the balun using carbon resistors of various values using my MFJ-259 analyzer. The performance on 160 meters and 15 and 10 meters on the ends of the spectrum indicate some unbalance and loss is probably. This increases losses and increases heating when using high power. If you use this transmatch, I recommend a separate current balun (located near the antenna) if possible. This is one of the weak points.

L networks like the Ten Tec 238 have only one unambiguous solution which provides a low loss match. /Projects/TenTec-238B/ T networks like the Heathkit SA-2060 require that you select a match which uses at least one of the capacitors near maximum capacitance. Heathkit in their manual says this is for maximum harmonic attenuation. This is not entirely correct. Use the maximum capacitance because it couples the most power to the antenna; this is important, because then the least power is dissipated in the tuner. The risk of tuner damage by heating is therefore much lower. I use my Heathkit SA-2060 for resonant dipoles. Note the low values of SWR shown for the antennas without a tuner (data taken with MFJ antenna analyzer). While the Heathkit manual gives some suggested starting points for settings, I provide below some settings for real world dipoles below, which adhere to the rule of using the maximum capacitance to achieve a match. Note that in some cases, the maximum capacitance "flips" to the other capacitor the other side of resonance. This is because the larger capacitor approximates an RF short, transforming the T network into a highly efficient L network. In this case the L network is a series C and an L to ground, rather than the usually seen series L and C to ground. See an explanation of this phenomenon at the heading "Types of L Networks and their Uses" along with the vector analysis of the impedance transformation theory.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antenna_tuner

Note that the impedance for the 80 meter case are for an R often higher than 50 ohms. I lengthened the feedline to raise the R from a very unacceptable 12 ohms. This low a resistive load is very hard on a T match tuner, and excessive heating is inevitable. If your antenna analyzer shows less than 20 ohms, especially on 160 meters, remedy that before you operate ANY tuner at near legal limit power levels, or severe damage will result. If you ignore this method at lower powers, most of your RF will be wasted in the tuner cabinet. Antenna reactance (X) goes through zero at two points on 40 meters because the antenna is resonant at 7.25 MHz and the feedline length comes into play at 7.00 MHz. NOTE: There are no baluns in this antenna system, not even a choke balun. The 160 meter system is a full wave horizontal loop of approximately 500 feet of THHN stranded wire at 35 feet. It is fed through a quarter wave transformer consisting of 75 ohm coax. /Projects/Horizontal-Loop/

VERY IMPORTANT: WHEN USING ANY T MATCH TUNER ON 15 OR 10 METERS NEVER SET THE ROLLER INDUCTOR TO ZERO OR ANYTHING CLOSE. THE INDUCTOR WILL OVERHEAT AND MELT. In my homebrew tuner, I use a fixed series coil to prevent the roller inductor value from becoming zero. /Projects/Transmatches/HomebrewKW.html

The other weak point is the internal antenna switch. If you operate the switch often, it will wear out the detents or contacts as they wipe off the plating. I use external antenna switches to avoid this problem. The bypass function does not work the way I would have preferred anyway. It simply goes to a coax connector that might be used for a dummy load. If the switch fails, simply unbolt the SWR assembly from the tuner and replace the switch with a bypass wire to one of the coax connectors. An external antenna switch like an Alpha Delta will then be required. /Projects/Antennas/ADswitchRepair.html The Dentron MT2000A has a true bypass function, but it could fail in a similar fashion when operated at legal limit. It also uses RG58/U coax which must be replaced with RG8/U for full power.

Hardware is a problem of the original builder. Check, but do not over tighten, all hardware. Problem areas are the capacitor assembly points, the output coax connectors, and the bearing and Belleville washer at the rear of the roller inductor. See the red pointer in the photo below. Be sure the Belleville washer is compressed slightly at all times or the inductor can go open circuit intermittently. Adjust the sleeve to provide tension on the compressible washer, then tighten the set screw shown and you will have no problems.

There have been reports of arcing from the copper straps to the balun or screws. I used two coats of shrink tube on the copper straps near the balun and other suspected points of possible failure.

Service is limited to tightening the hardware and cleaning grundge off the roller inductor components. A rag wetted with alcohol is probably the best method. NEVER use steel wool. It leaves conductive shard scattered about. But do not get carried away with abrasion, as the plating is thin.

A retired Heathkit engineer, N8RS, has made Youtube videos showing his repair techniques for the SA-2060A. I recommend you watch them before beginning any repairs to your tuner
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4

For a very thorough method of replating the roller inductor and repairing it, see Electric Radio #381 March 2021 article by Hugh Bahar WA2LXB. Reprints are available. https://www.ermag.com/