Re: [Elecraft] K3 ATU specifications
I've been fairly amazed at the ability of the built-in tuner. I've been playing with some indoor aerials fed straight from the PL259 with ladder line, no balun, no additional matching units, straight to the strange aerials I am playing with. This pays no regard for fields induced nearby or other emc issues, but it works a lot better than I anticipated. I am also upstairs away from real ground with no separate earth and an isolated dc supply. It's a temporary arrangement until I get myself properly set up, but amazing results. Running 100W into a *very* short end-loaded dipole. Worked ssb into Germany from York UK last Sunday afternoon, first shout. He had a delta loop which I suspect did most of the work, but my antenna tuned up just fine. I also have a very low (10 to 15ft) 176ft doublet which it *tunes* from 160 to 10. Sometimes I tap the tune button twice to get finer tuning. I normally advise that the feed to an antenna should be away from the house, in which case the external tuner would be the way to go to avoid emc problems within the house. David G3UNA K3 #547 Greetings everyone, I'm trying to debate whether or not to pickup an external LDG tuner or just go with the K3 built-in ATU. Does anyone know the tuning specifications of the ATU? I need a tuner that will hopefully tune every band to = 1.5:1 on a Cobra multiband dipole antenna. The built-in ATU in my TS-850 has difficulties with certain frequency ranges within a couple of bands. Should I go with the built-in K3 ATU, or remove that from my order and just pickup an a decent external LDG tuner? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks! - Bill, kb1pxd -- - Email sent from www.virginmedia.com/email Virus-checked using McAfee(R) Software and scanned for spam ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
Re: [Elecraft] K3 ATU specifications
Go with the KAT3 - not only does it tune an awful lot of weird stuff, it remembers it and will just switchs to its known state for that band. It's internal, so no need for an additional ext unit, external power etc. This is the same ATU as the KX1/K2, only better as far as I can tell (I don't have either a KX1 or K2, but I have friends who do). If you find it can't tune your antenna, I'm pretty sure nothing else will. Conversely, I'm sure that if an LDG tuner will, the KAT3 will to (again, I don't have an LDG to check). 73 de M0XDF, K3 #174 -- Math Anxiety: an intense lifelong fear of two trains approaching each other at speeds of 60 and 80 MPH. -Rick Bayan On 10 Apr 2008, at 11:41, KB1PXD wrote: Greetings everyone, I'm trying to debate whether or not to pickup an external LDG tuner or just go with the K3 built-in ATU. Does anyone know the tuning specifications of the ATU? I need a tuner that will hopefully tune every band to = 1.5:1 on a Cobra multiband dipole antenna. The built-in ATU in my TS-850 has difficulties with certain frequency ranges within a couple of bands. Should I go with the built-in K3 ATU, or remove that from my order and just pickup an a decent external LDG tuner? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
Re: [Elecraft] K3 ATU specifications
Go with the KAT3 - not only does it tune an awful lot of weird stuff, Also, as with every tuner, there is a certain range of Z which the K3 tuner will not be able to match. In the few cases where this has been a problem with my K3, changing the length of the feed line by a meter or so has always helped. vy 73 de toby ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
Re: [Elecraft] K3 ATU specifications
I have a Cobra Ultralite antenna and the KAT2 tuner in the K2 finds a match on all bands (with a BL2 in the 4 to 1 position). The K3 ATU is a similar type of tuner. The great thing about the built-in tuner is that it remembers the settings for each band which makes changing bands very easy. This is extremely convenient. Most external auto tuners need some RF power before they remember the settings for that frequency range. You also may want to add or subtract some feedline length to help out those problem bands. I added 18 feet to the feedline and this brought all bands (including WARC, not including 160) within the range of a Johnson Matchbox tuner. I still prefer using the balanced tuner over the unbalanced tuner and balun. But the K3 may change my thinking when it arrives (ordered in December). John W2XS I need a tuner that will hopefully tune every band to = 1.5:1 on a Cobra multiband dipole antenna. The built-in ATU in my TS-850 has difficulties with certain frequency ranges within a couple of bands. Should I go with the built-in K3 ATU, or remove that from my order and just pickup an a decent external LDG tuner? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. -- View this message in context: http://www.nabble.com/K3-ATU-specifications-tp16607551p16608901.html Sent from the Elecraft mailing list archive at Nabble.com. ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
Re: [Elecraft] K3 ATU specifications
Bill Whether the ATU is internal or external is not the question. The real problem is what impedance the feedline presents to the rig on each band. If it is something outrageous, no ATU is likely to tune it. You would be better off borrowing an antenna analyzer from someone and measuring the impedance at the shack end of the feedline to see what an ATU would have to try to match. If it is too unreasonable on some band, you can alter it by changing the length of the feedline, just add another 10 ft or so at the shack end and measure again. Eventually you will find a length for the feedline that will give a workable impedance on all bands and your ATU from whatever source will be happy. Good luck and 73 Bob N6WG - Original Message - From: KB1PXD [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: elecraft@mailman.qth.net Sent: Thursday, April 10, 2008 3:41 AM Subject: [Elecraft] K3 ATU specifications Greetings everyone, I'm trying to debate whether or not to pickup an external LDG tuner or just go with the K3 built-in ATU. Does anyone know the tuning specifications of the ATU? I need a tuner that will hopefully tune every band to = 1.5:1 on a Cobra multiband dipole antenna. The built-in ATU in my TS-850 has difficulties with certain frequency ranges within a couple of bands. Should I go with the built-in K3 ATU, or remove that from my order and just pickup an a decent external LDG tuner? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks! - Bill, kb1pxd -- View this message in context: http://www.nabble.com/K3-ATU-specifications-tp16607551p16607551.html Sent from the Elecraft mailing list archive at Nabble.com. ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
Re: [Elecraft] K3 ATU specifications
Hi Bill, Several have already responded saying go with the K3 ATU. I would probably suggest the same, but we really don't have much data to go on with regard to your Cobra antenna. I can tell you that the K3's ATU is excellent, and probably will do the job nicely. Presumably your antenna is relatively closely matched on the bands you use it on, but there can always be problems. Multiband antennas tend to have narrow bandwidths on lower bands, like 40 and 80. Trying to work those bands from one end to the other can be a stretch for many ATU's. So I'm not sure anyone can say with 100% confidence that you won't have an issue somewhere. What SWR readings do you get without using a tuner? That might be helpful to know in order to make a more informed judgement on how the K3's ATU would respond. I get full band performance with my K3 or 40 through 6 meters using an R8 vertical. The K3 ATU has no problem. In fact, I can even get a match on 80 meters, which the antenna isn't even supposed to cover! Moreover, I can get a 2:1 match on 160 meters! Having said that, I don't think I'm very efficient on either 80 or 160, and the ATU is not going to make any magic. But it does tell me that the K3 ATU is very, very good at finding a match on difficult situations. In fact, I doubt you will find an internal ATU that works better. So, I think you would be making a good bet by adding the internal ATU. It certainly won't disappoint you provided you give it something reasonable (or maybe even slightly unreasonable) to match. But you have the responsibility of making sure the antenna is within realistic reach of resonance, and not so poorly designed (or installed) that it presents something just too complex for the ATU to deal with. I'd say if you see 5:1 or better without a tuner you are probably safe. And that probably understates the ability of the K3's ATU. But if you see much more than that, you might really need a better antenna! Even though I can get a 2:1 match on 160 with my R8, I'm not going to press my luck by operating there. Clearly the ATU isn't particularly happy, and it's probably struggling excessively. Besides, even though the match seems acceptable, the antenna still sucks on that band. So, bottom line is, get the K3 ATU. If it doesn't deal with your antenna with relative ease, change antennas! Dave W7AQK - Original Message - From: KB1PXD [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: elecraft@mailman.qth.net Sent: Thursday, April 10, 2008 3:41 AM Subject: [Elecraft] K3 ATU specifications Greetings everyone, I'm trying to debate whether or not to pickup an external LDG tuner or just go with the K3 built-in ATU. Does anyone know the tuning specifications of the ATU? I need a tuner that will hopefully tune every band to = 1.5:1 on a Cobra multiband dipole antenna. The built-in ATU in my TS-850 has difficulties with certain frequency ranges within a couple of bands. Should I go with the built-in K3 ATU, or remove that from my order and just pickup an a decent external LDG tuner? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks! - Bill, kb1pxd -- View this message in context: http://www.nabble.com/K3-ATU-specifications-tp16607551p16607551.html Sent from the Elecraft mailing list archive at Nabble.com. ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
Re: [Elecraft] K3 ATU specifications
Bill, I have the same setup that you are inquiring about. The Cobra is full sized and I am using the full 100' of feed line. The balun is an Amidon W2FMI 4:1 unit mounted outdoors. I used a silicon sealant to weatherproof the enclosure. I usually use different antennas above 7 MHz, but will happily run some tests for you to let you know how well the K3's ATU handles matching chores on all bands. Drop me an e-mail off list to let me know. 73, Joe - W1AIU K3/100 #269 ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
