[Elecraft] Second Antenna Port

[Don Wilhelm]

I originally did not purchase the KAT3 - I have all resonant antennas at 
home.
Then I had thoughts about using my K3 at the local club's Field Day 
location, so I bought the KX3 to help with that situation - yes the club 
has an antenna for each band, but depending on the current hanging 
height, they may not be resonant.  So I "memorized" the tuner settings 
for each antenna into the K3 at the beginning of the Field Day event and 
did not have to change them.

At home, I run the KAT3 in bypass except when I am using my 160/80/40 
meter vertical/inverted L which is quite narrowband.

I do not use the 2nd antenna port because I had previously designed 
switching between the 3 coax runs to the antenna field to one of 3 HF 
transceivers with a relay matrix that lives in the shack, and remote 
antenna switches that live at the entry point to the antenna field.

Your situation may be different, but I suggest that the KAT3 is a good 
thing unless you do not ever think about taking your K3 out of the 
shack.  You can easily arrange antenna switching external to the K3 with 
a little bit of work.  The nice thing about using external relays is 
that you can design the contacts to connect a dummy load to your 
transceiver when the relay box is not powered - no problems with static 
surges when not operating.

73,
Don W3FPR

On 2/11/2012 5:39 PM, WILLIS COOKE wrote:
> I ordered the K3 with the KAT-3 and if I had it to do over, I would order the KAT-3 again.  My antenna is a 3 element SteppIR at 67 feet with the 30/40 kit.  I have found the tuner very useful during the period when Hurricane Ike put my StepIR out of service for a few months and I needed to use my inverted L for the 40 through 6 meter bands.  I find it useful in matching to my Clipperton L amplifier.  I find it useful when using my dipoles for short range contacts when away from the point of resonance.  I am sure that Elecraft has considered offering the tuner board with only the switching components and considered what discount they could offer.  I am not privileged to their inner workings so my estimate is only a guess, but I would expect them to lose money on the deal if the discount was more than $50 and I would not be surprised if they would lose money with no discount at all, considering that they would sell very few items.  What price would
>   you expect for the board with only the switching components and the antenna connector?  As a KAT-3 owner I can see no disadvantage to buying it other than the initial price.
>   
> Willis 'Cookie' Cooke, K3 #1025
> K5EWJ&  Trustee N5BPS, USS Cavalla, USS Stewart
>