Well, to me it wasn't easy. If the KPA500 and KAT500 are used together and the
KPA500 is turned on, then the tuner tracks (VFO A only) but I found it necessary
to fuss with some timing to keep the KAT500 from changing tuning states during a
transmission. If the KPA500 isn't tuned on, then the tuner is dumb. IIRC (it's
been awhile), turning on "AI" auto information on the TS-890 fixes this but
introduces the problem that trying to use the "CW-T" (CW auto tune) feature on
the '890 sends the KAT500 into never-never land. Some will argue that r-f
sensing works, which is true if you want to transmit. If you just want to
listen, you are out of luck.
Wes N7WS
,On 5/9/2021 10:23 AM, Bob Wilson, N6TV wrote:
On Sun, May 9, 2021 at 9:33 AM Wes <[email protected]
<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
This despite the claim: "The KAT500 Automatic Antenna Tuner is designed to
be
closely integrated with the Elecraft K3 transceiver and the Elecraft KPA500
amplifier although it may be easily used with other transceivers and
amplifiers."
The last part is simply not true, IMHO, of course.
I guess that depends on how you define "easily". Plug and play cables and
plus some menu configuration seems pretty easy to me, if you have a Kenwood rig.
IMHO, the KAT500 and KPA500 /is/ very easy to use with Kenwood radios, with
VFO A auto-track, once connected property. It's all well documented in the
KAT500 Owner's Manual
<https://ftp.elecraft.com/KAT500/Manuals%20Downloads/E740183%20Rev%20D1%20KAT500%20Owner's%20Manual.pdf>
(pages 16 - 18), and Elecraft can supply KPA500/KAT500 interface cables for a
long list of non-Elecraft transceivers, listed here:
https://elecraft.com/products/75-discount-on-a-kpa500-kat500-power-combo
<https://elecraft.com/products/75-discount-on-a-kpa500-kat500-power-combo>
The S-BOX <https://bit.ly/S-BOX> can provide plug and play interfaces in more
complex environments, when you need even more devices connected to the Kenwood
serial port, such as SteppIR controllers and Bandmaster band decoders.
Some combinations (Icom, Yaesu) do not provide frequency auto-track with just
cables, though Yaesu support should be easy to add to the KAT500 / KPA500
firmware since they've already done the code for the KPA1500. In the
meantime, N4PY Pegasus Plus software <http://www.n4py.com/pegasus-plus.html>
can transform any supported transceiver's frequency into Kenwood format for
the KAT500 as well, plus there are Icom/Yaesu/Kenwood translating hardware
solutions available in some microHAM devices such as the MK2R+.
73,
Bob, N6TV
https://bit.ly/S-BOX <https://bit.ly/S-BOX>
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