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Tuning your radio and amplifier to your amtenna

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hf4me

Tuning your radio and amplifier to your amtenna

Manual tuner - Manual amplifier:

Or, any tuner and amplifier - tune with low power and radio only to start.

I don't use "tune" unless I am using the internal tuner. Set your tune
power setting to 4 watts, place your amp in standby, press xmit (xmit only,
not tune) get your tuner properly adjusted, press xmit to release, turn your
power output down to 4 watts, enable your amplifier, place your radio in CW
mode, tune to a frequency CLOSE to where you want to transmit - NOT on top
of other QSOs, use your CW key to cause the radio to transmit, tune your
amplifier and refine your tuner settings, let off the key every few seconds
to not heat up everything, if your are happy with the current settings,
increase your power out slowly as you watch it on each increase until you
have achieved the output power you are looking for.

1 lower your output power
2 Transmit only a few seconds at a time
3 Find an unused frequency - close is plenty good
4 Tune with your radio without any amp
5 When happy, enable the amp
6 Adjust settings
7 Increase power slowly
8 Readjust if necessary.
9 Tune to your target frequency

73, Jim

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kd7gc

RE: Tuning your radio and amplifier to your amtenna

Hello Jim, In major part I agree with your suggested method for tuning up and amp, but I would never begin my tuning with an output from my transceiver of 4 watts. I have never heard of anyone suggesting that tuning should begin with anything close to 4 watts. I generally go thru 3 or 4 steps, but I start with my transceiver set to about 25 or 30 watts output. I bring my drive up in say 3 or 4 increments until I reach my desired amp output, usually in the range of about 60 or 70 watts of drive, at least for smaller amps. However, when I tune up my Henry 5K I don’t exceed about 45 watts of drive because I would already be over 1500 watts out. At 70 watts of drive I would be running over 3KW, or 3.5 KW on 40 or 75 meters.

HTH

Alan R. Downing

Phoenix, AZ

From: hf4me [via Elecraft] [mailto:[hidden email]]
Sent: Wednesday, August 27, 2014 7:15 PM
To: kd7gc
Subject: Tuning your radio and amplifier to your amtenna

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Jim Brown-10

Re: Tuning your radio and amplifier to your amtenna

On Wed,8/27/2014 9:22 PM, kd7gc wrote:
> I have never heard of anyone suggesting that tuning
> should begin with anything close to 4 watts. I generally go thru 3 or 4
> steps, but I start with my transceiver set to about 25 or 30 watts output.

Agreed. My Ten Tec Titans (a pair of triodes) drive with a bit less than
50W. I have tune settings for each amp for each band on a yellow sticky
next to the amp, so I set those, then hit it with about 25W, tweak, run
drive to see close to 1500, and retune for maximum smoke as indicated by
the SWR/power meter. I tune with dits, so the duty cycle is 50%, less
stress than full power carrier, but gives me correct tuning for full power.

On the other hand, if you're tuning an auto tuner like the KAT500, you
want to tune it with drive power only, the amp off.

73, Jim K9YC
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Charlie T, K3ICH

Re: Tuning your radio and amplifier to your amtenna

In reply to this post by kd7gc

Yeah, I just hate it when my 3CX6000 amp kicks out from too much grid drive.

Chas

----- Original Message -----
From: "kd7gc" <[hidden email]>
To: <[hidden email]>
Sent: Thursday, August 28, 2014 12:22 AM
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Tuning your radio and amplifier to your amtenna

> Hello Jim, In major part I agree with your suggested method for tuning up
> and amp, but I would never begin my tuning with an output from my
> transceiver of 4 watts. I have never heard of anyone suggesting that
> tuning
> should begin with anything close to 4 watts. I generally go thru 3 or 4
> steps, but I start with my transceiver set to about 25 or 30 watts output.
> I bring my drive up in say 3 or 4 increments until I reach my desired amp
> output, usually in the range of about 60 or 70 watts of drive, at least
> for
> smaller amps. However, when I tune up my Henry 5K I don't exceed about 45
> watts of drive because I would already be over 1500 watts out. At 70
> watts
> of drive I would be running over 3KW, or 3.5 KW on 40 or 75 meters.
>
>
>
> HTH
>
>
>
>
>
> Alan R. Downing
>
> Phoenix, AZ
>
>
>
> From: hf4me [via Elecraft]
> [mailto:[hidden email]]
>
> Sent: Wednesday, August 27, 2014 7:15 PM
> To: kd7gc
> Subject: Tuning your radio and amplifier to your amtenna
>
>
>
> Manual tuner - Manual amplifier:
>
> Or, any tuner and amplifier - tune with low power and radio only to start.
>
> I don't use "tune" unless I am using the internal tuner. Set your tune
> power setting to 4 watts, place your amp in standby, press xmit (xmit
> only,
> not tune) get your tuner properly adjusted, press xmit to release, turn
> your
>
> power output down to 4 watts, enable your amplifier, place your radio in
> CW
> mode, tune to a frequency CLOSE to where you want to transmit - NOT on top
> of other QSOs, use your CW key to cause the radio to transmit, tune your
> amplifier and refine your tuner settings, let off the key every few
> seconds
> to not heat up everything, if your are happy with the current settings,
> increase your power out slowly as you watch it on each increase until you
> have achieved the output power you are looking for.
>
> 1 lower your output power
> 2 Transmit only a few seconds at a time
> 3 Find an unused frequency - close is plenty good
> 4 Tune with your radio without any amp
> 5 When happy, enable the amp
> 6 Adjust settings
> 7 Increase power slowly
> 8 Readjust if necessary.
> 9 Tune to your target frequency
>
> 73, Jim
>
> ______________________________________________________________
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>
>
> _____
>
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> below:
>
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> -amtenna-tp7592596.html
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Elecraft mailing list

Upgrades on older K3's

Hi All I'm looking at buying an older K3 #<1000 What upgrades has been completed since that vintage, and how would I know if they are done, Seller is not original owner, Thanks Trevor EI2GLB Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPhone
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Johnny Siu

Upgrades on older K3's

Hello Trevor,

It should not be too difficult, all the required information is given in:

http://www.elecraft.com/K3/k3_app_notes.htm

I did that step-by-step and completely renovated my older K3.

73

Johnny VR2XMC

________________________________
寄件人︰ Trevor Dunne via Elecraft <[hidden email]>
收件人︰ "[hidden email]" <[hidden email]>
傳送日期︰ 2014年08月28日 (週四) 8:07 PM
主題︰ [Elecraft] Upgrades on older K3's

Hi All I'm looking at buying an older K3 #<1000 What upgrades has been completed since that vintage, and how would I know if they are done, Seller is not original owner, Thanks Trevor EI2GLB Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPhone

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Mike Reublin

Re: Upgrades on older K3's

In reply to this post by Elecraft mailing list

Trevor -

The Elecraft website lists the mods at http://www.elecraft.com/K3/k3_app_notes.htm

73, Mike NF4L

On Aug 28, 2014, at 8:07 AM, Trevor Dunne via Elecraft <[hidden email]> wrote:

> Hi All I'm looking at buying an older K3 #<1000 What upgrades has been completed since that vintage, and how would I know if they are done, Seller is not original owner, Thanks Trevor EI2GLB Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPhone
> ______________________________________________________________
> Elecraft mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
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Mike K2MK

Re: Upgrades on older K3's

Hi Trevor,

If the seller has no documentation you would have to pop it open and spend some quality time doing research. Or just assume that none have been performed and then the price you pay should reflect you're having to purchase and add all of the upgrades found on the Elecraft website.

Remember also that the DSP upgrade is considered an enhancement and therefore might not be listed along with all of the other hardware modifications.

73,
Mike K2MK

Mike Reublin wrote

Trevor -

The Elecraft website lists the mods at http://www.elecraft.com/K3/k3_app_notes.htm

73, Mike NF4L

On Aug 28, 2014, at 8:07 AM, Trevor Dunne via Elecraft <[hidden email]> wrote:

> Hi All I'm looking at buying an older K3 #<1000 What upgrades has been completed since that vintage, and how would I know if they are done, Seller is not original owner, Thanks Trevor EI2GLB Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPhone
> ______________________________________________________________
> 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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Phil Wheeler-2

Re: Tuning your radio and amplifier to your amtenna

In reply to this post by Jim Brown-10

Good point in the "On the other hand", Jim. I'm
not sure the original poster specified
KPA500/KAT500 or a 3rd party amp -- and it does
make a difference.

Phil W7OX

On 8/27/14, 10:50 PM, Jim Brown wrote:

> On Wed,8/27/2014 9:22 PM, kd7gc wrote:
>> I have never heard of anyone suggesting that
>> tuning
>> should begin with anything close to 4 watts. I
>> generally go thru 3 or 4
>> steps, but I start with my transceiver set to
>> about 25 or 30 watts output.
>
> Agreed. My Ten Tec Titans (a pair of triodes)
> drive with a bit less than 50W. I have tune
> settings for each amp for each band on a yellow
> sticky next to the amp, so I set those, then hit
> it with about 25W, tweak, run drive to see close
> to 1500, and retune for maximum smoke as
> indicated by the SWR/power meter. I tune with
> dits, so the duty cycle is 50%, less stress than
> full power carrier, but gives me correct tuning
> for full power.
>
> On the other hand, if you're tuning an auto
> tuner like the KAT500, you want to tune it with
> drive power only, the amp off.
>
> 73, Jim K9YC

hf4me

Re: Tuning your radio and amplifier to your amtenna

I always set my tuner first with only the radio into it and at 4 watts.
When it is good, increase the scale on the meter and enable the AL-1500Q amp
at 4 watts giving me 200 to 400 watts out and tune the amp and then tweek
the tuner if necessary. 4 in gives 400 out, 25 in gives 1500 out on some
bands - NO I am not going to start tuning at full power.

73, Jim KG0KP

-----Original Message-----
From: Elecraft [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Phil
Wheeler
Sent: Thursday, August 28, 2014 10:14 AM
To: [hidden email]; Elecraft Reflector
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Tuning your radio and amplifier to your amtenna

Good point in the "On the other hand", Jim. I'm not sure the original poster
specified
KPA500/KAT500 or a 3rd party amp -- and it does make a difference.

Phil W7OX

On 8/27/14, 10:50 PM, Jim Brown wrote:

> On Wed,8/27/2014 9:22 PM, kd7gc wrote:
>> I have never heard of anyone suggesting that tuning should begin with
>> anything close to 4 watts. I generally go thru 3 or 4 steps, but I
>> start with my transceiver set to about 25 or 30 watts output.
>
> Agreed. My Ten Tec Titans (a pair of triodes) drive with a bit less
> than 50W. I have tune settings for each amp for each band on a yellow
> sticky next to the amp, so I set those, then hit it with about 25W,
> tweak, run drive to see close to 1500, and retune for maximum smoke as
> indicated by the SWR/power meter. I tune with dits, so the duty cycle
> is 50%, less stress than full power carrier, but gives me correct
> tuning for full power.
>
> On the other hand, if you're tuning an auto tuner like the KAT500, you
> want to tune it with drive power only, the amp off.
>
> 73, Jim K9YC

Elecraft mailing list

Re: Tuning your radio and amplifier to your amtenna

Well, I have to put in my 2 cents worth. First off, putting a carrier on the air to tune/test/analyze a antenna is probably not the correct thing to do. The reason is simple, if it is a new antenna you have no idea what the R and X numbers are for where the j0 point is, correct? Then with all of the antenna analyzers out there, take a look at the antenna wideband........ That's right, wideband. Why spend endless amounts of time trying to "Tune Match" the antenna and cause unnecessary signals on the air if you don't have to??????

Second, use the modern tools available. And not just a ATU. The whole idea of putting up a antenna is to understand what it is and how best to put RF power into it. Sure the ATU can match an antenna that is a MegaHertz high in frequency and at your target frequency it is 200 ohms. Why not use a 4:1 balun and make the ATU not absorb the loss of matching?????

OK, My method is not new, but I think it serves repeating.

New amplifier. Not automatic, one that requires band and tuning settings. DO it into a dummy load, write down the numbers.

Take the analyzer and find out where the antenna is resonant. Yes, it will be more efficient if it is resonant where you want to operate.

Of course if it is a weird configuration, then at least write down the R and X numbers for the frequencies of interest.

Then take the steps necessary to limit the loss in the system. Baluns if necessary, tuners of your choice. But use the analyzer to "tune and match" the antenna, record the numbers.

Then hook up the radio, amplifier, tuner, etc and if necessary fine tune the final settings and record them for future use.

Next time you decide to switch bands just use the presets you recorded. Less interference on the bands, and less stress for the equipment.

OK, There is my 2 cents worth, like someone else said, back into my hole.

Mel, K6KBE

On Thursday, August 28, 2014 9:54 AM, Jim Miller <[hidden email]> wrote:

I always set my tuner first with only the radio into it and at 4 watts.
When it is good, increase the scale on the meter and enable the AL-1500Q amp
at 4 watts giving me 200 to 400 watts out and tune the amp and then tweek
the tuner if necessary. 4 in gives 400 out, 25 in gives 1500 out on some
bands - NO I am not going to start tuning at full power.

73, Jim KG0KP

-----Original Message-----
From: Elecraft [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Phil
Wheeler
Sent: Thursday, August 28, 2014 10:14 AM
To: [hidden email]; Elecraft Reflector
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Tuning your radio and amplifier to your amtenna

Good point in the "On the other hand", Jim. I'm not sure the original poster
specified
KPA500/KAT500 or a 3rd party amp -- and it does make a difference.

Phil W7OX

On 8/27/14, 10:50 PM, Jim Brown wrote:

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Jim Brown-10

Re: Tuning your radio and amplifier to your amtenna

On Thu,8/28/2014 10:39 AM, Mel Farrer wrote:
> First off, putting a carrier on the air to tune/test/analyze a antenna
> is probably not the correct thing to do.

If I understand the original post, this discussion is not about a new
antenna, it's about tuning an amplifier when changing bands. It's
something I would do several times during a contest, and before doing
it, I listen to find a clear frequency. If I can't get the amp tuned in
10 seconds or so starting from settings I've written down, something's
wrong.

73, Jim K9YC
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