KAT-500 Bypass SWR seems wrong

[Bob Harvey - K2PI]

I've been noticing for some time now, that my KAT-500 bypass SWR seems
completely wrong.  I have resonant antennas that on other meters and even on
my K3 have SWR's that are much lower.  For instance, on 40M and 20M I have a
beam and a resonant dipole, both of which have bypass SWR's of close to 1:1,
but the KAT-500 consistently reports those SWR's as being between 1:7 and
1:8.  

Even on a dummy load this occurs.  

Is my KAT-500 reading the SWR differently, or is something wrong with the
way these frequencies have been memorized?  It otherwise performs just fine,
but when an antenna is resonant, it seldom goes into bypass, as monitored on
the KAT-500 utility.

73
Harv
K2PI



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[Don Wilhelm]

Harv,

Have you set those antennas to Bypass using KAT500 Utility?

If you have done that, then you may need calibration on the KAT500
wattmeter.

If you have not set those antennas to bypass in KAT500 Utility, you are
likely to see what you are observing.

73,
Don W3FPR

On 4/28/2018 5:50 PM, Bob Harvey - K2PI wrote:

> I've been noticing for some time now, that my KAT-500 bypass SWR seems
> completely wrong.  I have resonant antennas that on other meters and even on
> my K3 have SWR's that are much lower.  For instance, on 40M and 20M I have a
> beam and a resonant dipole, both of which have bypass SWR's of close to 1:1,
> but the KAT-500 consistently reports those SWR's as being between 1:7 and
> 1:8.
>
> Even on a dummy load this occurs.
>
> Is my KAT-500 reading the SWR differently, or is something wrong with the
> way these frequencies have been memorized?  It otherwise performs just fine,
> but when an antenna is resonant, it seldom goes into bypass, as monitored on
> the KAT-500 utility.

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[Bob Harvey - K2PI]

Hi Don:

No, I have not set them to bypass.  I do not understand why I would since
these are resonant antennas that I wish to use on those bands.  Am I
misunderstanding you, or wasn't my post clear?

These antennas have actual SWR's that are lower than the KAT-500 reports as
the "bypass SWR".  Why should that be?

73
Harv
k2PI



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[Don Wilhelm]

Harv,

If you have resonant antennas, you should set the tuner in the KPA1500
to bypass when those antennas are selected.  That will bypass the L/C
elements in the tuner in the KPA1500.

73,
Don W3FPR

On 4/29/2018 5:04 PM, Bob Harvey - K2PI wrote:

> Hi Don:
>
> No, I have not set them to bypass.  I do not understand why I would since
> these are resonant antennas that I wish to use on those bands.  Am I
> misunderstanding you, or wasn't my post clear?
>
> These antennas have actual SWR's that are lower than the KAT-500 reports as
> the "bypass SWR".  Why should that be?
>
> 73
> Harv
> k2PI
>
>
>
> --
> Sent from: http://elecraft.365791.n2.nabble.com/
> ______________________________________________________________
> Elecraft mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
> Post: mailto:[hidden email]
>
> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
> Message delivered to [hidden email]
>

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