KX3 Antenna Tuner Settings

[Jay Sissom]

Is there any way to determine the settings that the antenna tuner
determined were necessary for an antenna?  I would like to be able to move
my antenna around and determine which one is a better match for the
frequency being used.  It would be awesome to do this with just the radio
instead of needing an external device.

Thanks & 73
Jay
W9IUF
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[Wes Stewart-2]

Your dummy load would always be the better match.  So why select any other
load?  Now if you want to communicate, you should probably select the antenna
that provides the best gain/lowest noise, etc and NOT worry so much about the match.

On 7/25/2016 10:06 AM, Jay Sissom wrote:
> Is there any way to determine the settings that the antenna tuner
> determined were necessary for an antenna?  I would like to be able to move
> my antenna around and determine which one is a better match for the
> frequency being used.  It would be awesome to do this with just the radio
> instead of needing an external device.
>
> Thanks & 73
> Jay
> W9IUF

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[Kevin - K4VD]

​I think SWR is not a good indication of which antenna is better. As Wes
mentioned, a 50 ohm dummy load has a near perfect match and is about the
worse possible antenna.

A dipole fed with 600 ohm ladder line provides a terrible match before the
BALUN (and sometimes after) but generally is a fine performer because of
the low loss.

The better antenna is the one that can hear the signal you are after better
than the other you are testing against. And then only for that signal, in
that direction, at that time of day, on that band and with that particular
propagation mode in play.

I think this is why you find some of the happiest hams are the ones that
have enough land for enough antennas to switch between them as the need
arises.

Kev / K4VD
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[Jim Brown-10]

On Mon,7/25/2016 11:37 AM, Kevin - K4VD wrote:
> ​I think SWR is not a good indication of which antenna is better. As Wes
> mentioned, a 50 ohm dummy load has a near perfect match and is about the
> worse possible antenna.

Absolutely right.

> A dipole fed with 600 ohm ladder line provides a terrible match before the
> BALUN (and sometimes after) but generally is a fine performer because of
> the low loss.

And sometimes that "low loss" is a fiction.

> The better antenna is the one that can hear the signal you are after better
> than the other you are testing against.

And also that the other station hears you better. The difference is
efficiency (loss) in the antenna system, which generally does not matter
on RX, but does matter on transmit.


> And then only for that signal, in
> that direction, at that time of day, on that band and with that particular
> propagation mode in play.

Yep.

> I think this is why you find some of the happiest hams are the ones that
> have enough land for enough antennas to switch between them as the need
> arises.

Yep.

73, Jim K9YC
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[Nr4c]

I’m sorry, but I understood that Jay is looking to interrogate the ATU in the KX3 for the settings that the tuner made to match the antenna,

And unfortunately this feature is only available on the K3(s) KAT3(A).  i thought it was also available the KX3 ATU.

maybe in a futeure FW release.

…bc nr4c

> On Jul 25, 2016, at 1:06 PM, Jay Sissom <[hidden email]> wrote:
>
> Is there any way to determine the settings that the antenna tuner
> determined were necessary for an antenna?  I would like to be able to move
> my antenna around and determine which one is a better match for the
> frequency being used.  It would be awesome to do this with just the radio
> instead of needing an external device.
>
> Thanks & 73
> Jay
> W9IUF
> ______________________________________________________________
> Elecraft mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
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[Bob N3MNT]

Connect the KX3 utility it will show you the exact values the tuner has chosen to match the antenna.

[thelastdb]

Hi Bob,
Which tab is that under?
Myron WVØHPrinted on Recycled Data -------- Original message --------From: Bob N3MNT <[hidden email]> Date: 7/25/2016  3:05 PM  (GMT-07:00) To: [hidden email] Subject: Re: [Elecraft] KX3 Antenna Tuner Settings
Connect the KX3 utility it will show you the exact values the tuner has
chosen to match the antenna.



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[John Oppenheimer]

The command is:
AK (ATU Network Values; KX3/KX2 only, GET only)

Programmer's Reference Page 3.

The KX3 L and C values can be found from the schematic. Wayne sent an
email some years ago with the list of L can C values.

I don't believe that the KX2 L and C values have been published.

John KN5L

On 07/25/2016 04:12 PM, thelastdb wrote:
> Hi Bob,
> Which tab is that under?
> Myron WVØHPrinted on Recycled Data -------- Original message --------From: Bob N3MNT <[hidden email]> Date: 7/25/2016  3:05 PM  (GMT-07:00) To: [hidden email] Subject: Re: [Elecraft] KX3 Antenna Tuner Settings
> Connect the KX3 utility it will show you the exact values the tuner has
> chosen to match the antenna.
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[John Oppenheimer]

Here is Wayne's email referencing the KX3 ATU L and C values:

On 08/02/2012 12:29 PM, Wayne Burdick wrote:
> We're still working on getting the schematics formatted for
> publication. Meanwhile, here are the approximate L and C values:
>
>   L:   8, 4, 2, 1, 0.5, 0.25, 0.12, and 0.06 uH
>
>   C:   1360, 680, 330, 164, 82, 39, 18, 10 pF


John KN5L

On 07/25/2016 04:36 PM, John Oppenheimer wrote:

> The command is:
> AK (ATU Network Values; KX3/KX2 only, GET only)
>
> Programmer's Reference Page 3.
>
> The KX3 L and C values can be found from the schematic. Wayne sent an
> email some years ago with the list of L can C values.
>
> I don't believe that the KX2 L and C values have been published.
>
> John KN5L
>
> On 07/25/2016 04:12 PM, thelastdb wrote:
>> Hi Bob,
>> Which tab is that under?
>> Myron WVØHPrinted on Recycled Data -------- Original message --------From: Bob N3MNT <[hidden email]> Date: 7/25/2016  3:05 PM  (GMT-07:00) To: [hidden email] Subject: Re: [Elecraft] KX3 Antenna Tuner Settings
>> Connect the KX3 utility it will show you the exact values the tuner has
>> chosen to match the antenna.
> ______________________________________________________________
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>

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