[Elecraft] K3- How Robust iis the Tuner?

[Steven.Zabarnick at notes.udayton.edu]

Maybe it needs to be more robust? Last week I was attempting to tune a
short ladderline fed (via a balun) doublet on 80 meters using the KAT3. The
tuner successfully tuned the system for the cw part of the band, but had
trouble on 75 meters. I tried retuning a few times, and noted smoke and a
burning smell. Now antennas connected to the ANT1 connector are deaf, while
using the ANT2 connector the tuner works fine.

I've successfully used this antenna on 80 meters using an external manual
Palstar balanced tuner, but never got a match using the internal tuner in
my IC756. While the IC756 tuner cannot provide a match, it never was
damaged in my attempts.

On the bright side, Elecraft support is sending a replacement KAT3, no
questions asked.

Steve N9SZ