Hi Alan, I think I can give you some insight. I have the KAT500 auto tuner that I used first with my Icom IC-756Pro3, and now with my IC-7600. I also have an IC-7000 as well for mobile use, but have not used it with it, and since it doesn't have a built in auto tuner, I don't know for sure what amount of RF it may put out when a non-Icom auto tuner is connected to its Molex tuner port. For an Icom AH-4 for example, its specs state that tuning power required is 5-15 watts and that radiated power during tuning is less than 0.3 watt.
If you use the KAT500 with any rig that does have an internal automatic tuner, make absolutely sure that it is turned off at any time the KAT500 is in use. Internal auto tuners and external auto tuners do not cohabit well, consequently, any tune settings will be greatly suspect. Its either one or the other, never both in circuit at the same time. I too intended to use it by pushing the TUNER on the rig, which puts out about 10 watts or so as all modern Icom transceivers do as far as I know. Unfortunately, the KAT500 really needs to see somewhere in the vicinity of about 30 watts RF out, in order to accurately tune the radio. I talked to Elecraft tech support extensively, (who by the way are about the best in the business, both professionally and technically) regarding getting different tune settings using the tuner button (at 10 watts out) on the rig vs manually setting power out to about 30 watts. On the Elecraft website, in the FAQ's, it says: Q: Can I use a 5 or 10 watt radio with the KAT500?A: The KAT500 can tune with 10 W but we recommend 20 W to 100 W for best tuning accuracy. If the KAT500 has already stored a tuning memory for the current frequency, it is possible to recall the tuned memory setting with less than 10 W. The KAT500 measures transmit frequency to automatically select tuning memories and antennas. So, based on Elecraft tech support's recommendations, I manually used 30 watts to "train" the tuner to memorize all the frequencies I wanted to be stored, which worked very well, and continues to do so to this day. But that is WITHOUT using the TUNER button on the rig WITH a cable connected between Icom's TUNER Molex connector on the back of the rig, and the other end going to the back of the KAT500's TUNE jack and power jack. The bottom line turned out to be that IF the rig's TUNER button is used to train or use the KAT500 to tune new frequencies (with the cable described above and because it only puts out 10 watts this way), the results you get will not be as accurate, or reliable as those you would get by manually using it using the TUNE button on the KAT500 itself (with no cable connected to the Molex connector on the rig going to the KAT500). All of this was verified by Elecraft. In reality, using the TUNE button on the KAT500 is just as fast as using the tuner button on the rig with the sole exception that you DO have to set the power out to about 30 watts. It may well be that it will work similarly with your IC-7000. Hope this gives you some insight as to what I found out. If you get the KAT500, you will love it!!! I do. Let us know how it works for you. I'm sure that others will be very interested as well. 73, Alan, AB6C Original Message: Message: 15Date: Wed, 5 Aug 2015 02:47:10 +0100 From: "G4GNX" <g4...@theatreorgans.co.uk> To: "Elecraft Reflector" <elecraft@mailman.qth.net> Subject: [Elecraft] KAT500 tuner Message-ID: <D70706FE6C0142C6B7A0CFB5767F3475@Paramount> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="Windows-1252" Hi all. I am contemplating purchasing a KPA500 amplifier to complement my K3. I currently have a MFJ 998 tuner which is good for 1.5KW but I think that the KAT500 tuner from Elecraft will be a superior product. Would this be a sensible assumption? If I also buy the KAT500, will it easily interface with my Icom IC700 and is there a specific setting that would allow me to use the IC7100 ?Tune? button, which allows tuning at reduced power (ISTR it?s set at 10watts)? 73, Alan. G4GNX ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
