> On Apr 7, 2019, at 9:15 AM, Dr. William J. Schmidt <b...@wjschmidt.com> wrote: > > There isn't really much in the way of smarts on the clone board. It's simply > the tuner elements (coils and capacitors), a few relays, the relay driver > chips, and gas tubes. The actual tuning smarts comes from elsewhere within > the K3. This isn’t much of a stretch for a clone. >
That's correct. The heart of any binary-weighted L-network ATU is in the firmware, which we've been improving since I first wrote the code for the KAT2. The latest incarnation of this code is in the KAT1500, the ATU included in the KPA1500 amp. My colleague K6KR has done a great job of tweaking the algorithm to eek out that last tenth of an SWR unit on every match. Wayne N6KR > > -----Original Message----- > From: elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net > [mailto:elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Doug Person > Sent: Sunday, April 7, 2019 11:00 AM > To: elecraft@mailman.qth.net > Subject: Re: [Elecraft] BIZARRE OFFERING FROM MFJ > > MFJ has been a leader in automatic tuner technology for years. It was > probably a very simple engineering process for them to use what they have to > create a K3 tuner. You may have a dislike of MFJ products. But, that doesn't > preclude the fact that their tuners work very well. They have been selling > the K3 tuner for years. It doesn't seem the least bit surprising given the > modular nature of the K3 and the long history MFJ has with automatic tuner > technology. Maybe it's actually a complement to Elecraft that MFJ takes the > K3 so seriously. > > Doug --KJØF > > On 4/7/2019 10:26 AM, KENT TRIMBLE wrote: >> Ozarkcon yesterday. Break-time. Pile of MFJ catalogs on a table. Took >> one back to my seat to kill time. Opened it up to the second page and >> in the lower left corner is a box-ad with the following: >> >> >> "MFJ ATU PC Board for Elecraft K-3 Rig. MFJ-950K3 is a super clone of >> the KAT3 optional tuning board for the superb Elecraft K3 transceiver. >> MFJ-950K3 is a direct plug-in PC board for the Elecraft >> K3 10 Watt or 100 Watt model. Covers 1.8 to 54 MHz. This automatic >> antenna tuner PC board features an L-Match design and can match SWR up >> to 10:1. It handles 100 Watts. The ATU PC board has a second antenna >> port, and a sub-rx SMA port. All antenna ports are protected with gas >> discharge tubes. Super sensitive relay allows excellent low current >> drain. MFJ-950K3 is 4W x 3 1/2H x 1 1/4D inches and easily slides >> right into the K3’s tuning board slot. Weighs less than 1/2 pound. >> Pick up this great accessory for your K3 today and save $$$!" >> >> >> What in the world is that all about? What possible market are they >> shooting at? Who would put anything "MFJ" in anything Elecraft? >> >> Someone enlighten me! Did I sleep through April 1st? >> >> https://www.mfjenterprises.com/Product.php?productid=MFJ-950K3 >> >> 73, >> >> Kent K9ZTV ______________________________________________________________ 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
