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| Reviews Summary for Palstar AT1500BAL |
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Reviews: 13
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Average rating: 4.9/5
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MSRP: $$695
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Description: DOUBLE L (TWIN BALL BEARING BELT DRIVEN EDGEWOUND SILVER PLATED ROLLER INDUCTOR)160m to 10m BALANCED LINE ANTENNA TUNER
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More info: http://www.palstar.com
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SV2BWM
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Rating: 5/5
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Jan 5, 2009 05:12
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I like this tuner !!!
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I read the QST (Sept.2004) article and I was not pleased with the inside balun of Ten-Tec 224B in the lower bands 80m & 160m, so I thought to give it a try. A local store (Radio 741) had it, so I bought it. Wow! That tuner is really a TANK! Heavy constructed chassis, big slow-turning capacitor with precision knob, two coils with a belt, two RF relays etc. The reports for 80m & 160m were +5db more! Thanks Palstar...
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WB7TDG
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Rating: 5/5
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Sep 12, 2008 13:09
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Excellent!!
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Time owned: 3 to 6 months
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I use my Palstar BT1500A to tune a 235 foot horizontal loop up 30 feet with about 15 ft of 400 ohm ladder line to just outside the shack wall and then use 600 ohm homebrew feeders from the ground to the antenna feedpoint, for 80 thru 6 meters.
I have even found settings that allow me to use the transmatch on 6 meters, and by strapping one of the output terminals to ground, can use it as an end fed top loaded antenna on 160 with fair results.
Despite the size...as big as some small linears..it's efficiency and tunability ensures that this transmatch will have a home in my shack for a very long time!
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W7ND
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Rating: 5/5
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Nov 24, 2007 09:08
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Top notch tuner
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Time owned: 3 to 6 months
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I bought this tuner used from a ham radio dealer. It was advertised as being mint. The tuner cover got dented due to a poor packing job. I called Paul at Palstar to find out how much a new cover would cost me. He insisted on sending one to me for no charge and he paid the shipping.
The tuner is great with ladder line. The balanced L design has ended my RFI problems. It's built like a tank. I am able to load my 40 meter inverted vee on all bands from 80-6, including WARC. I can use it with my Acom 1000 amplifier with no arcing.
If you need a tuner to use with ladder line, this is the one.
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NL7W
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Rating: 4/5
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Aug 30, 2007 03:05
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A True & Efficient Balanced Line Tuner
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I have enjoyed using this dependable tuner over these last three to four years. Without a doubt, it's a fine and sturdy design that easily handles my Alpha 374A on and between 80 and 15 meters. However, it will not tune my open-wire fed, 135 foot doublet on 10, 12, or 160 meters. I am sure those bands present impedances near or beyond the specified range of the tuner.
It has been and will remain a fine addition of quality American made gear in my shack. Moreover, when a nearby strike from a rather rare, Alaskan electrical storm took out the small signal diodes (1N914 or equiv) in its wattmeter/bridge, Palstar quickly answered my request for replacements -- free of charge. That's good customer service!
I look forward to purchasing other Palstar products.
73.
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REEF2K
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Rating: 5/5
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May 14, 2006 16:38
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very impressed... but !!
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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bought a used one at a great price but noticed the inductor crank a bit stiff at times so removed the top cover and found that one of the contact/tracking discs that rotates around the inside of one of the coils had some segments missing which had broken off and were sitting on the bottom cover. ive e-mailed palstar but have yet to receive a reply, so i dont know if this has happened to other units or im just unlucky.im only using 100w at present so these bad contacts are holding up ok,but i will have to replace the disc before i use my acom amp.having had a good look at these roller inductors,and despite them looking well built,im not sure how long this design can last without service or contact disc replacement.
however,with the bad news out the way i must agree with previous reviews and say that the overall build quality is of a high standard with a nice attention to detail,like little plastic washers behind the case screw. the components used are alot bigger than on my AMERITRON ATR-15 so this thing is probably conservativly rated at 1000W/1500 pep. tuning is easy,smooth and precise,making it a pleasure to use. im only using it on a 80m doublet at present,but it'll tune 160-20m with ease and would probably tune the higher bands if i trimed the feeder.
overall im very impressed,its the best tuner ive owned and despite my issues with the roller inductors i would recommend this tuner as it must be one of the best around,although they dont come cheap here in the UK at the equivilent to around >$800.
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K3KLC
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Rating: 5/5
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Oct 15, 2005 18:33
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Beautiful Coupler
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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This unit replaces a home brew coupler that used BC-610 (plug in) coils and a huge dual section bread slicer. The AT-1500BAL works wonderfully and adds a lot of flexibility to my shack. Someone said that it reminded them of early collins gear. I'll second that, and recommend it for anyone using tuned feeders with moderate to high power. I'm running a Ten Tec centurion and a 3.5 Mhz Dipole fed with about 70 feet of 450 ohm ladder line. I've used the AT1500BAL on 80, 40, 30 and 20 with excellent results. I can achieve a 1:1 SWR on any frequency on those bands. I highly recommend this coupler. It's a winner!
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K0CWO
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Rating: 5/5
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Oct 5, 2005 14:14
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Wonderful piece of equipment.
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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Very well built. I have used this tuner with a 160 meter doublet fed with 600 ohm ladder line on 160, 75 and 40 meters. Very efficient, with a wider matching range than my Johnson Matchbox. It now takes a back seat only to my Palstar AT5K. Customer service is second to none
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AK2A
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Rating: 5/5
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Jan 3, 2005 16:10
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Best Customer Service
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I had a problem with a very early version of this tuner. paul REPLACED the tuner,he not fudge a fix. This represents the highest degree of honesty and pride in work/product. Paul and people like him give free enterprise a good name. Very happy with the new tuner and Palstar. Thanks Paul.
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K7EC
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Rating: 5/5
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Nov 8, 2004 10:01
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The BEST Balanced Tuner made!
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I have owned my Palstar AT1500BAL since Jan 2003. I use it mainly on 75M with occasional operation on 40M and 20M. I feed a random length inverted V antenna with 450 ohm twinlead.
This antenna tuner works so amazingly well that my signal reports while using it are typically 1 to 2 S units better than when I use my MB5-A tuner!!
Recently, while tuning the tuner into a High SWR, I forgot to place my amplifier into the standby mode. The result was instantaneous and terrible (not only killing the tuner but also the amplifier)! I called Paul at Palstar and explained what I had done and made it clear that it was TOTALLY my fault. This happened shortly before the CQWW SSB contest and I really wanted to operate on 75M during the contest. I asked Paul if there was a chance to get the tuner back for use in the contest and he replied that they would do their best. I sent it to them and was really delighted to receive it back in ample time for use in the contest! When I looked inside the tuner to see what they had done to fix it, it was obvious that not only had it been repaired beautifully, it had been completely updated to current production specifications! This was all done at a very minimal cost to me!
If you use a balanced antenna system, this is clearly the best balanced balanced tuner to use! PALSTAR really provided me with amazingly good service!
I highly recommend both the AT1500BAL and PALSTAR!!
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KD5RD
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Rating: 5/5
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Apr 11, 2004 18:39
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Best tuner ever!
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I have owned 5 tuners in 24 years as a ham and with out a doubt the very best tuner has to be the Palstar AT1500BAL. Indeed, I do prefere balanced line feeders for my wire antennas and after looking at the hamfests at some of the prices for the old balanced line tuners and the construction quality of Palstar I personally think that the obvious choice would be to go with the Palstar. The first tuner that I owned was a used full size Heathkit tuner and it was splendid. After a number of years "out" of amateur radio I got back into things and not really knowing any better purchased one of the "lower power" MFJ tuners. What a piece of JUNK. After it BURNED UP I purchased the largest MFJ tuner and it lasted a shorter time than the first one did, all of this at 100 watts or less I hasten to add. I later found out that there is an acronym for MFJ that is very well deserved. After these fiascos I purchased an Ameritron ATR-30 tuner and will have to say that it has performed admirably. However, after discovering for myself the advantages of 450 ohm ladder line feeders and some of the benefits of "true" balanced line tuners I started looking and thankfully found Palstar. I first called the company and spoke to Paul, the owner, and had an in depth discussion about tuners etc. From the get go this tuner has performed flawlessly. I currently use an 80 meter loop that I feed with 450 ohm ladder line and was never able to tune it very well on 160 meters with my Ameritron tuner. When I did and tried to apply power with my Alpha 76CA amp there was so much reactivity that it basically was impossible no matter how many tuning nulls I tried. Well, not with the AT1500BAL, I was able to tune my loop and apply a full legal limit of power with out any problems what so ever. That is, no problems with the amp or the tuner. Unfortunately, I think that many hams these days are unaware of antenna dynamics regarding feedline lengths. If you find you have a problem tuning with any tuner change feedline lengths, ie., longer or shorter and you will probably fix your situation sucessfully. However, this did not make a difference with my Ameritron tuner. I would purchase anything that Palstar offers because they use quality components, intelligent engineering, and stand behind their products 110%. If you call them you will get an answer and it is actually by a HUMAN. KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK!
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