I'm afraid you have the wrong concept of the internal tuner. Every time you change bands, you must push the ATU Tune button. It does have memories and it's very quick and has a very wide range. In fact, the K3's tuner is the best I've ever seen. I also have the MFJ-998 auto tuner. 5 watts of RF is all that is needed to activate the tuning process therefore the amount of manual intervention is the same for either method of tuning. I just push the TUNE button on the K3 which sends a few watts to the MFJ and it tunes. I've installed the MFJ tuner out at the antenna feedpoint now, 95 feet from the shack. The antenna is a 130' inverted L. This would not work well with the K3's internal tuner because I'm running RG-213 to the antenna. I'm able to cover all bands plus I can run the amplifier if needed. External auto tuners do allow greater flexibility and configuration options. Keep that in mind if money is a factor. Otherwise, buy both!
Steve N4LQ ----- Original Message ----- From: "callen1155" <callen1...@yahoo.com> To: <elecraft@mailman.qth.net> Sent: Wednesday, February 24, 2010 2:40 PM Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Thoughts on internal vs external ATU for K3 > > > Thanks guys. You do make a strong case for the internal unit. My internal > unit on my K2 (15 watts) works great. > > My dipole is coax fed - U shaped, no balun, running thru attic and out > eaves > to back of yard. My shack is on the 2nd floor (no RF ground) > > I've never used an external ATU and was thinking it would automatically > pick > up on a band change and adjust. However, it sounds like that's incorrect > and > the band change would have to be entered in both the radio and the tuner. > I > just started using Ham Radio Deluxe and that 'one click' band change is > nice. > > But one of the reasons I was considering the external unit was they > provide > a nice visual display of both the SWR and the output power level. So with > the internal ATU do you guys use a separate SWR/Power meter (and I guess a > dummy load would generally be included)? > > thanks. > chuck > > -- > View this message in context: > http://n2.nabble.com/Thoughts-on-internal-vs-external-ATU-for-K3-tp4627735p4628064.html > Sent from the [K3] mailing list archive at Nabble.com. > ______________________________________________________________ > 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 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 9.0.733 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/2707 - Release Date: 02/24/10 02:34:00 ______________________________________________________________ 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
