[Elecraft] auto atu

[Mychael Morohovich]

Nigel-

As Ron AC7AC has said to me on more than one occasion, there isn't anything
magical about the W3EDP antenna. The theory behind it is interesting and it
has certainly worked well enough for me, but essentially it is a random wire
that works in conjunction with an rf ground wire to provide impedances that
are purportedly easily matched on the major bands of interest with the use
of a good transmatch.

If you are leaning toward a simple wire antenna, what I advise is putting up
the longest end fed wire you can manage, making an effort to stay away from
lengths approaching 1/2 wl or multiples on your favorite frequencies. Get an
MFJ Artificial Ground and put up as long a counterpoise as you can muster,
and/or cut and try different lengths of wire until you find those that work
the best for you as an rf ground.

You shouldn't have any problem with a KAT1, and as David W1EUY mentioned,
you can always adjust the antenna length as needed. You could also always
experiment with adding a series capacitance or inductance to augment the
tuner with the intention of manipulating the reactance of the antenna enough
to get a good match on any problematic bands.

Lots of options, and half of the fun is in the experimenting!

Mychael AA3WF
K2 #1025