> I am looking at remote antenna tuners. I have seen several controllers for > the ICOM AH-4 tuner. My questions are about operation with a K3s. > 1. Is there a limit to the time that 10w of RF can be sent to the AH-4 via > the K3s Tune button? > 2. All circuits specify a momentary switch, but does momentary mean > 0.1sec, 1.0sec or 5seconds? Does the time matter? > 3. When the complete signal returns from the AH-4 should the Tune RF or > the momentary be terminated immediately? > 4. Is there a combination of momentary or Tune RF that will damage the > AH-4? > I have an AH-4 which worked with a home built controller for some months, and > then became operationally intermittent and final fails to work at all. That > makes me gun-shy, about buying another even though the AH-4 gets excellent > reviews on eHam, almost all of which are based on an ICOM rig control. I have used an AH-4 for many years, with a 706MKIIG and with various other manufacturer's radios, including now a K2. Other than the limitation to ~125 watts, these are excellent. I only run 5 watts so it is not an issue. I do not recall a situation where the AH-4 would not give a useable match, provided I provided it a plausible antenna. I use a separate SWR/watt meter that shows it working.
The momentary switch is push on, release off, no time specified. Pushing the button signals the AH-4 to run through its paces for a match. Most often, it is very quick. Occasionally, when you have gone from, say, 15M to 80M, it might take a little longer, but never more than several seconds. If no match can be found, it just stops. Either way, you stop the power. I wouldn't let it just run like that, but have never heard of damage because of it. You need to reduce power with non-Icom rigs that don't do it automatically. You might join the Icom tuner Yahoo group, if you can stand Yahoo. Lots of user experience there. I've never seen a store bought controller for the AH-4. Where have you seen them? 73 Jim Allen W6OGC Sent from my iPad ______________________________________________________________ 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
