The ATU requires you to tell it to tune by tapping the ATU TUNE switch. Keep in mind that a 1:1 SWR is pretty meaningless. You won't see any degradation in your signal if your SWR is 1.5:1 or even 2:1.
How far you can QSY before the SWR is an issue depends entirely on your antenna system. The KAT3 ATU retains up to 30 frequencies in each band in memory, so you only need to let it cycle looking for best match once in each frequency range (unless you change your antenna). After that when you tap ATU TUNE it will instantly switch to the memorized settings for that frequency. If you forget to do the initial tune or something in your antenna setup changes, you'll see your SWR is high. Excessive SWR over time will trigger an error message at the K3 - either HIGH SWR or EXCESSIVE CURRENT (since transmitting into poor match will cause the PA current to rise). Tap the ATU TUNE switch to retune. See "Transmit, ATU, and Antenna Controls" in your Owner's manual Quick Start Guide (pg 6 in the Rev 9 manual) for more details. Ron AC7AC -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of tomb18 Sent: Saturday, June 25, 2011 11:59 AM To: [email protected] Subject: [Elecraft] Question about K3: ATU function Hi, Second question: Does one need to press the ATU tune button at each frequency of use? What happens if you forget? Will the K3 automatically try to tune? Thanks -- View this message in context: http://elecraft.365791.n2.nabble.com/Question-about-K3-ATU-function-tp651552 5p6515525.html Sent from the Elecraft 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:[email protected] 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:[email protected] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
