[Elecraft] KAT500 question

[Ron D'Eau Claire]

You don't have to keep that power level, Bob. You only need it if the KAT500
needs to retune, and then only for the retune cycle. For that you might QSY
a few KHz to a clear spot although between five and twenty watts you are
only talking about a one S-unit difference in signal. 

The next thing is to find out why your antenna is so sensitive to moisture.
There are treatments some fellows use on window line that help it repel
water and so not detune it so much. Or is there a tree branch that touches
the antenna when it's wet with fresh rain. Normally, rain alone won't detune
an antenna enough to matter. 

73 Ron AC7AC


---Original Message-----

On Monday Claire used a Straight-Key to send:
-------------Original Comment-------

> The blinking MODE light says it's ready to tune once you apply enough 
> RF power. Five watts won't do it. The KAT500 cannot tune with less 
> than 10 watts of RF applied (20 watts is required for the most accurate
tuning).

I upped the power to 20w to see if it could tune itself during a transmit
sequence. It seems that it can,  though I only got one chance to see it as
the drizzle let off,

Keeping such high power though on this mode is not only unnecessary but it
also serves to Jam a lot of the other guys who are using this weak signal
mode.

Usually 1 to 5 watts is sufficient for the continents I have worked.
Very occasionally on what seems to be a dead band here, I have used 50 to
work the EU area.

--
Best regards,
Bob  KD7YZ    Win7-64bit + K3