Remote site high power automatic antenna tuner recommendations

Ron W4RDM

 Due to having an implantable cardioverter defibrillator I'm moving my 6400 a few miles away to allow higher power operation. I'm limited to 200 watts at the present.

 Looking for recommendations for a remote site plug and play high power (1000 watts +) Auto Tuner.

TNX,

Ron W4RDM

Jim Gilliam

Remoting for 3 years with a Palstar HF Auto. It can memorize hundreds of frequencies and settings and will automatically switch up to three separate antennas. Never had any problems with this tuner for remote use.

Steve WU3I

using an AT Auto for 3 years now from 1000 miles and works great.  Added SPE 1.3K last year now 1300 watts flawless.

Paul - K6HR

I'm also using Palstar AT-AUTO. It works seamlessly with Flex. I connect it to the radio's USB port and it follows along perfectly. The AT-AUTO's 1800 watt power handling makes it a great match for use with my SPE 1K-FA. All completely automated via Flex USB.

henrylance

Ron, may I ask what kind/type of antennas  ???

Ron W4RDM

40, 80, and 160 meter dipoles and a hexbeam 20-10 meters. 
The auto tuner will be used mainly on the 160 and 80 meter dipoles to make the amp happy.

Ron W4RDM

The AT Auto looks good if I could find one.

Ron W4RDM

Again, the AT Auto looks good if I could find one.

Ron W4RDM

Jim, What amp are you using with the tuner?

Ron W4RDM

Anybody using the Elecraft  KAT500 (auto tuner) and KPA500 (amp) at a remote site?

Steve Bunting

I have an expert 1.3 and internal atu deals with dipoles and beams no problem. I have also run an Acom 600 and elecraft kat500. I’ve never been as happy with that as I monitoring both remotely is more difficult. I leave an old laptop at the remote site running 24/7 and vnc into it to watch the amps (and do some other control stuff) Have fun with qro! Steve m0bpq

Dan KG0AQ

I also use the Palstar AT Auto remote and it is awesome. I also have the Palstar CX Auto 8 position coax switch and the combinations are endless. Using Alpha 87A and Ameritron ALS-1306 for seamless operation. If you can find a good used one go for it. Second choice would be new Palstar HF-Auto. Have fun out there! 73 Dan

Mark_WS7M

I don't have these, but a number of users of FRLogger do have KPA500/KAT500 and they work quite well.  Another benefit is that BOTH can be talked to remote over RS-232.

Personally I use a Palstar HF-Auto but I leave it in "auto" mode so I just go to the desired freq, put 10 watts in, it turns then re-enable the amp which is a SPE 2K-FA

JohnK2CIB

My ham partner and I used a Palstar HF-Auto remotely back when SSDR was version 1!  Wonderful tuner.  Used it for 80 and 160 dipoles and the lower portion of 40 (the beam was not quite resonant low enough).  The amp is an Expert  2K-FA which normally loafs at 1 KW.  We had to take the station down, but are putting it back together again now and will continue to use the Palstar.  I own both a KPA500 and KAT500 for use here at the house, locally with a TS-590 and Flex-5000.  They work very well but I have not remoted them.  The supplied software seems to be adequate for remote use with TightVNC or similar program to view the remote desktop and use the software, like we did with the Palstar.
John, K2CIB

N2WQ

The antennas you list are resonant type of antennas and do not need a tuner. If you need a tuner for them you have a different problem, not an amp problem. Here’s a picture of what your dipoles should look like, obviously for different resonant frequencies.

Ron W4RDM

I agree. But 160 and 80 meters is a problem with a solid-state amp going from one end of the band to the other. 40 has never been a problem.  The bottom line is the amp has to be happy.  I also have a non resonate doublet that I use most of the time.  

Ron W4RDM

John, I just looked at your remote site page. Looks great. Built my first remote site in the 80's on Capshaw mountain near Huntsville Alabama where I had a UHF repeater interfaced with a Kenwood TS-440 for an HF remote. We had a great time using it for about 15 years.

JohnK2CIB

Way to do it. Mark and I both live in restrictive HOAs and are getting older. Seemed like the right time to put up a competitive dx machine. Worked like a champion for a little over a year. I am happy that we finally bought land for it and we should have it operational again by the end of March. 73, John

Steven WA8Y

RF-KIT

Santiago Mejia HI8O

I just got my HF Autotuner working and it works wonders. I normally do remote operations and it is working nice.

Chris

I can recommend the KAT 500.Have been using it since several years without any problems. The ATU has been started its work with an 1.3k Amp. It can handle 1.5k with an SWR better than 3. With an SWR up to 10 it can handle 500W. The remote capability is very good. I‘m using the Elecraft Remote software or DDUTIL on Googles Remote Desktop. With an iPad it is quit perfect to work split screen. On the one half there is the SmartSDR iOS App and on the other half the Google Remote App. Best regards from a power combo user Chris DM5HF

KC9EI - Dave

I use the Palstar HF Auto as well. Great tuner!

KC9EI - Dave

Bought mine new and haven't looked back. Nice stuff.

JohnK2CIB

You must mean KAT 1500...

Chris

John, I do not. Elecraft about the KAT500 (official):
73 Chris

Rich McCabe

I have a collection of Palstar tuners including AT-Auto and HF-Auto. Both work well.  The HF-Auto has a few issues on 160 meters that are common to many users. The W1TR software for the HF-AUTO would be a nice addition for you remote if you are planning on running a PC at the remote location.

JohnK2CIB

Thanks, Chris.  I have one but did not know that the power specs were that high.  I use it with my KPA500.

Chris

Hi John, yes the combo is superb :-) I started with an 1.3k amp but this one was not capable for remote so I switched over to the KPA. I lost several hundreds watt (okay...nearly 3 db) but won a comfortable remote station...