With a direct connection from the rig to the ladder line, there may be a balance issue on some bands. At least that is what I saw with my antenna without a balun. I used an MFJ Balanced RF Current Meter to see this. The SWR was always 1 to 1 so you cannot tell if there is unbalance unless you specifically measure for it.
I have recently tried a Balun Designs "Tuner" balun and it seems pretty good from a total current flow and also balance standpoint. I put the RF Current results with the Balun Designs balun on my website (see QRZ.com for the link). I have replaced my Johnson Matchbox with the KAT3 and Balun Designs balun. I am happy that I can use the KAT3 with its tuner settings memory for each band. QSY is really easy now with no extra tune up needed. The balun does not seem to heat up so I assume that the loss is relatively low. 73, John W2XS I use a low doublet of 2 x 88ft straight into the K3 antenna PL via a short length of ladder line. OK 10 - 160 David G3UNA -- View this message in context: http://n2.nabble.com/ATU-vs.-External-Tuner-tp1382313p1383096.html Sent from the Elecraft mailing list archive at Nabble.com. _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [email protected] 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
