Ditto - get the ATU. Very useful for non-resonant (er, non-50 ohm feedpoint) antennas.
I run the ATU on a 160m dipole used on all bands 160m - 10m. No worries. Just make sure the feedline is 1/8-wave on the lowest band and the ATU will bring your K3 50 + j0 ohms. I also use the ATU on a homebrew vertical for 40-30-20-17m. It helps touch up the SWR just a little at the band ends. Early on, I found that running the ATU in the presence of RF feedback generally doesn't work so well. Just what I was taught (the K3 was unhappy too). But the right choice of long wire length will let it do its thing comfortably. Just make sure the feedpoint is reasonably distant from the shack. 73, matt W6NIA K3 #24 On Wed, 18 Nov 2009 11:59:31 +0100, you wrote: >Phil Hystad wrote: >> I am not a K3 owner but I plan to be sometime soon. I am still in my >> research stage where I want to learn as much as I can about the K3 before I >> buy. I do have a couple of questions... >> >> 1. Are there options that I would be foolish not to get right up front? My >> plan is to at least get the 100 watt option and I am seriously considering >> the ATU. > >Get the ATU. For me, it's tuned everything my manual MFJ tuner would tune. >If you're interested in digital or CW, get a narrow filter - I'd say 400 or >500 Hz. > >73 >Jon LA4RT >______________________________________________________________ >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
