Phil, What is your untuned SWR on your antenna(s) at those frequencies, and how much power are you running? If I remember my readings correctly, if you get above the 500W nominal power rating of the KAT500, by design it will only match a "native" SWR of about 3:1. Others on the list who are more knowledgeable, please feel free to correct any factual errors I may have made.
Thanks and 73, --Ian Ian Kahn, KM4IK Roswell, GA EM74ua [email protected] K3 #281, P3 #688 HRD v5.x/6.0 Test Team On Thu, Dec 6, 2012 at 12:40 AM, Phil Hystad <[email protected]> wrote: > I am having trouble getting a reasonably low SWR on the 80-meter band with > the KAT500. Maybe someone can help by confirming that this is the best I > should expect or maybe give me hints to see if something better is > achievable. > > On the frequency 3.569 MHz I regular operate each evening on a CW Net. My > best SWR from the KAT500 has been around 1.75:1 and tonight the best I was > able to achieve was 1.99 to 2.01 to 1. > > Yet, using my other manual tuner, my Palstar AT1KM, I easily tune to a > 1.0:1 SWR, absolutely flat. > > Another puzzle is that I can get a descent SWR on another much used > frequency (3.975 MHz) of about 1.25:1. But, on the AT1KM I can also easily > achieve a 1.0:1 SWR. Indeed, the tuned position for inductor and capacitor > for the 3.569 and the 3.975 frequencies are not too far apart on the AT1KM > but the KAT500 really struggles to get an SWR below 2:1 and half the time > it does not. > > Note: all of my SWR readings are measured by multiple devices that all > indicate similar readings and the KAT500 I am also using the KAT500 Utility > to see the SWR and it is very close to my other readings so I am fairly > sure these SWR values are reasonably accurate. > > Has anyone else had trouble using the KAT500 to tune an antenna to a > particular frequency where other manual tuners have had an easy time at it? > > I appreciate your comments and suggestions. By the way, no problems at > all on all other bands and testing using two different antennas. It seems > the only problem is on the low end of the 80 meter band. > > 73, phil, K7PEH > > ______________________________________________________________ > 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
