[Elecraft] How accurate is the K3 SWR meter

[Vic K2VCO]

If the K3's antenna tuner is not set to 'Bypass' then there will almost certainly be a 
difference, since the external tuner is reading the SWR between the output of the internal 
tuner and the antenna, while the K3's reading is between the K3's final amplifier and its 
tuner. This difference can be very great, because the internal tuner is doing its job!

If your K3 does not have an internal tuner or you have set it to Bypass, then there may be 
a small difference due to inaccuracies in the tuners, and stray inductance and capacity in 
the K3's output circuitry. You can ignore this -- I would use the K3's reading in this 
case because it represents what the K3's final amplifier is seeing.

On 3/19/2012 6:42 PM, Robert G. Strickland wrote:
> I am pretty new to the K3 world and just getting acquainted with the
> radio. I have a Vectronics Vector 500 antenna tuner with a cross needle
> swr meter. I notice a disparity between the swr readings on the K3 and
> on the antenna tuner. So, how accurate is the K3 swr reading? I can
> imagine that the Vector cross needle reading is not particularly
> accurate, but I don't know that for fact. I don't have access to a high
> quality swr bridge, so I'm trying to figure out which reading to trust.
> Any comments are much appreciated.
>
> ...robert

-- 
Vic, K2VCO
Fresno CA
http://www.qsl.net/k2vco/