[Elecraft] KAT500 tuning behavior when the load is impossible to match ?

[Phil Hystad]

Your story reminds me of a scene from that Godzilla movie with Matthew Broderick where he is “pumping” over sized worms from the ground using electricity.

73, phil, K7PEH


> On Apr 2, 2017, at 10:05 AM, Mike Rhodes <w8dn.mike at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> No practical experience with the KAT500 but can tell you that, years ago, while guest operation at a contest station, a 160 meter vertical was strung up between a couple of the towers. The operator went in and successfully tuned the antenna to a 1:1 match and then loaded the KW amp to full output. He then went S&P to get warmed up but heard very little and could not work any of the few stations he did hear. We went out and discovered that the vertical wire had snagged on the ground rod! The tuner was manual but imagine the same principal applies. Yes, you can often get a "perfect" match but that may not count for much! Have often wondered if the earth worm population in that area ever recovered.
> 
> Mike / W8DN
> 
> On 4/2/2017 12:42 PM, Phil Hystad wrote:
>> I got my second KAT500 tuner to use with my new backup rig and while setting up and testing and tuning with my two different antennas I made a mistake.
>> 
>> I first observed the results displayed on the utility program operate page where the tuned SWR was 1:1 and the bypass SWR was something like 54:1.  I immediately realized that something was not right and discovered that my coax cable was not switched to the antenna but rather my dummy load but the cable to the dummy load was disconnected (because I was moving things around).
>> 
>> OK, fixed that little problem but I was curious about the behavior when the KAT500 tuner is faced with an impossible match. Does it give up?  I assume it gives up but then I didn’t see anything to indicate that the tuning operation gave up.  In fact, it seemed like it found a tuned LC solution but one that was matched with a bypass of 54:1.
>> 
>> My first question:  If KAT500 fails to find a valid solution does it report an error.  I ask this because at times I have had red LED lights flashing on a failed tune but I did not have one this time.  I am wondering if I missed the error report on the utility program.
>> 
>> My second question:  Is it possible that the KAT500 did resolve a tuned LC solution with basically 6 feet of coaxial cable unconnected with anything?
>> 
>> Thanks,
>> 
>> 73, phil, K7PEH
>> 
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