[Elecraft] Elecraft T1 ATU passes brief stress-tests at 100 W

[wayne burdick]

The T1 is rated at 20 W SSB/CW and 10 W FM/AM/digital modes, but we 
wanted to make sure it could survive brief operation at much higher 
power levels.

One of our field testers set up the tuner on all bands using three 
different antennas, then transmitted at 100 watts intermittently. As 
expected, the T37-size cores in the T1's SWR bridge became quite warm 
and eventually saturated. However, they recovered quickly after they 
were allowed to cool, and there was no damage to the unit.

Another of our field-testers did extensive testing at 40 watts to 
simulate the use of back-packing amps. The T1's SWR bridge transformers 
again got very warm, but did not saturate until he increased the duty 
cycle (by going key down for longer intervals).

These results suggest that operation at the T1's rated power of 20 W 
peak will be quite safe, even with high-SWR loads.

It's nice to know that the risk of damage is low if the operator 
accidentally transmits at 100 W, or might require brief use of the T1 
at up to 40 W in an emergency communications situation.

73,
Wayne, N6KR
Eric, WA6HHQ

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