Stop antenna tuner/Bypass

Rich McCabe

Maybe I dont understand the operation and could not figure it out in the manual.  I recently started using the internal tuner on certain antennas after buying an Array solutions 8 pack that allowed me to use more of my antenna's easily. I have never used it in the two years I have owned the 6500 so its new to me.

Anyway, I am having a hard time easily putting the tuner in bypass without initiating auto-tune again. To make it worse I can't abort the tune and have to endure the tune attempt again on frequency. Shutting off memories seems to work but seems like their should be a dedicated bypass button and way to abort tune.

Am I missing a better option?

Mike NN9DD

If I'm not mistaken, you just hit the ATU button a second time,it will put it in bypass. I don't use often either but will verify later

Mike
N9DFD

Mike NN9DD

Yes just hit ATU again and will stop and go into bypass

Mike N9DFD

Rich McCabe

Does not work for me.  Hitting ATU again does nothing. It has to finish trying to tune before it stops.

Jim KJ7S

Try just hitting the tune button twice in rapid succession without keying the transmitter and see if that'll work. I do that with the mfj 998
 auto tuner to get it to go to bypass.

NX6D Dave

Are we talking about SmartSDR or Maestro? They work differently.

Rich McCabe

SmartSDR.  Just looking for an easy way to bypass tuner without starting tune process again.

NX6D Dave

MEM is your button.  It enables and disables the remembered tuner settings, but that has the side effect of turning the tuner on and off.

If MEM is off and the tuner is off and the ATU button is pressed, the tuner will start a tuning cycle and end up engaged or not.  It won't remember the setting, so pressing ATU turns the tuner off, and pressing ATU again repeats the tuning cycle.

If MEM is on and the tuner knows a setting for the frequency, it engages.  If it doesn't know a setting, it doesn't engage.  Pressing ATU will give the tuner a chance to learn a setting for the frequency.

Things get messy and IMHO the interface breaks down, when the tuner cannot find a tuning solution that meets its criteria for a good match, but can find something that is better than nothing.  In that case it can be difficult to understand what is happening by looking at the display.  That case really needs a distinct output.  If it were up to me, I would modify the interface so that it said "partial" when this case happens.

I agree that the function of the MEM button is not intuitive.  I had the same questions and confusion when I first started using it.

Rich McCabe

Yea I kinda expected that was the case.

Memory functions get ugly regardless when using Auto Tuners that dont know you switched the Antenna.  I have that issue with my AT-AUTO.  If I was not running the 8 pack I would buy Kesslers CX auto or whatever that add on switch is called.

In the end, I would be thrilled with a dedicated bypass button on the Flex. 

NX6D Dave

I wish the tuner settings were remembered in the Profiles.  Just now I started up the radio via Maestro and invoked a global profile that configures the radio for a noon time net I participate in.  The radio selects the correct antenna and the slice receiver is set up correctly, but the tuner is disabled.  I may not notice this and may try to transmit without the correction in place.

If the global profile is going to remember the antenna choices for this configuration, why not remember to engage the auto tuner?

Tim - W4TME

ATU memories are frequency range and antenna port specific and are agnostic of any other profile.  The ATU enabled state is remembered by band (persistence).  I only use the internal ATU on 6m and every time I switch to 6m, the ATU is automatically enabled.

Rich McCabe

I have disabled memories for now.  But sounds like a bypass button would be useful to most of use. That same bypass button could cancel the tune process once started too.

Tim, is it possible to put on your super cape and change to idea thread?  Or just start another?

Tim - W4TME

We discussed this in detail when we designed the UI.  The challenge was "real estate" for another button.  So the decision was made to multi-purpose the ATU memories (MEM) control to put the ATU into bypass when MEM was turned off (disabled). 

Rich McCabe

OK, Thanks for response.  Looks like I need to just buy another external tuner.

If nothing else hitting the ATU button again should stop the tune process.

Tim - W4TME

The tuning process needs to finish once initiated.

Rich McCabe

Why?  If I want to bypass the thing there is no reason it should not just stop and revert to where it was. 

Dave Spencer

I too have the same issue.
Perhaps a menu selection with tick boxes could be employed for the bypass on a per band basis?
eg. If I have an antenna resonant on 20 & 40 and don't need the tuner, I tick the boxes in the menu for those bands which disables any use of the tuner. If I need a tuner for all the other bands, the box stays unticked and the ATU is enabled.
For safety, the ATU is enabled by default. Make it a positive selection to go to bypass.