Paul, Did you set the menu ATU parameter to AUTO and then do a TUNE before trying to transmit? If you did, you should have heard relays clack while the KAT100 found a match, then the SWR indicators should have settled to less than 1.5.
If you followed that procedure, then yes, you can conclude that the feedpoint impedance of the antenna is beyond the matching range of the KAT100. Remember that the KAT100 is not an "automatic tuner" that will initiate a TUNE when it detects a high SWR - the operator must do a TUNE into the antenna for each band, and then afterwards, those settings will be remembered by the KAT100, and restored when you return to that band. As long as you do not change the antenna, those settings should be good, but first, you must do a TUNE on each band to allow the KAT100 to find a match for that band/antenna. 73, Don W3FPR On 5/4/2011 7:49 PM, Paul Agoglia wrote: > I ran a transmit test today on my recently built (serial 7059) K2/100, with > SSB adaptor, KAT 100 antenna tuner and elecraft balun. For the station > antenna, I have an 80 meter dipole with each leg currently cut to 66 feet. > The center of the dipole is not quite 40 feet high. The two ends are > inverted downward and are each 10 feet off the ground. All three points of > the antenna are anchored in trees. > > The antenna is fed to the shack with 165 feet of The Wireman 'window' ladder > line > > I used my microphone to call a CQ on 40 meters, and the KAT 100 lit up like a > Holiday Tree. SWR all the way to the red zone. I tried this at various > power settings up to 100 watts, and only transmitted long enough to see how > many lights I got. Always to the end of the scale. I used a separate SWR > meter and was getting readings of 7:1. > > I switched to a 300 watt dummy load from the 80 meter dipole, and the SWR > reading on the KAT 100 was perfect. Just one light lit up. > > I also did a continuity check between the two lines on the ladder line to > verify I did not have a short. OK there. > > Any suggestions? Is it possible that all I need to do at this point is trim > the antenna? Or do I have something internal going on? > > 73 de WN2K > Paul Agoglia > > ______________________________________________________________ > 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 > ______________________________________________________________ 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
