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Reviews For: Palstar HF-AUTO

Category: Antenna Tuners/Matching Networks

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Review Summary For : Palstar HF-AUTO
Reviews: 106MSRP: $1695. USD
Description:
* 1 Watt to 2500 watts....average, peak, and peak- hold
* Load into a 10:1 SWR from 1.8 to 54 Mhz
* NO CI-V cables required
* Tunes on SSB
* Digital Display...no analog metering
* Remotable... up to 400'!
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.palstar.com/en/hf-auto/
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
64.51064.8
NA6D Rating: 2013-09-01
Expensive but worth it Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Bought the unit directly from Palstar. Set up was easy and handles tuning on all bands flawlessly. The construction is very good indeed. The AT-40 is built to last a very long time. As opposed to some other auto tuners, the unit is quiet while tuning. It is expensive to be sure, but in this case, you do get what you pay for. Very happy with purchase.
W6NFL Rating: 2013-06-12
Expensive and Worth It Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Ive had Palstar products in the shack for many years now and all are of top notch quality/performance. The HF-Auto is really expensive but wow what a tuner! No loud clacking relays as its tuning and loads even my G5RV on all bands to a perfect match! Basically its a manual tuner inside but controlled by a CPU. It hooks up just like any tuner and is RF sensitive so no interface cables needed. Great addition to the shack.
N0AZZ Rating: 2013-05-28
Never a Problem of any Kind Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
First let me say this is my 4th Palstar tuner started with an AT1KP then a AT2K,AT4K everyone a flawless tuner.

Then last year I sold my FTDX-5000MP and VL-1000 amp and bought 2 Elecraft K3's 1 Elecraft KPA500 amp and a Alpha 87A amp. At the same time ordered the Alpha 4040 auto tuner due for future release (soon I hope) as the Palstar is only good for 1500w.

So I bought the HF-Auto till the 4040 was delivered and thought I would sell it then,, but that is not going to happen now. It will stay as a backup I also have the Elecraft KAT500 auto tuner it can fill in for either of those.

I have it setup in a SO2R fashion where it tunes 3 multi-band antennas and 2 wire antennas with the Alpha. It has worked great every time used and remembers the antennas well if you stay on one for very long and the steppir motors are very quiet.
KC2WTG Rating: 2013-02-20
great tuner Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
had my hf auto for week now like to say real nice tuner i also have ldg and mfj tuners in the past did not work to well on 160m 75/80m like to its few more dollers but you like the tuner had the ver 1.22 went the ver 1.23 very nice well made i very happy
N3BM Rating: 2012-12-26
Wonderful tuner! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This is my second auto tuner, but the first from Palstar. It's the best - by far - that I've ever owned! It's high quality, built like a tank and built by hand in Ohio. It is an automatic inductor tuner, with auto sensing, which means that there's no cable connection necessary to any rig - including vintage rigs. I've had great support from Paul and Palstar in general. Paul answered new guy questions quickly and honestly. Feature request discussions on the users group site resulted in changes to the firmware within a matter of weeks. I especially like the automatic antenna selection based on frequency feature. The previous version assigned the antenna ports based on a range of frequencies but the result was that antenna port three always ended up for 6 meters only. That's great, but if you've got a dummy load on port three, not so much. The new firmware - version 1.23 - solves this problem and makes it extremely easy for port three to be assigned to the dummy load for tuning. It's a pricy tuner but worth every penny!
K6STN Rating: 2012-11-24
Excellent tuner! Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I purchased the HF-Auto tuner directly from Paul at Palstar, thus getting the latest version of firmware already loaded.
The tuner has performed flawlessly since I installed it about 3 months ago.
The 3 antenna ports allows me to use two antennae, and a dummy load.
The auto antenna feature if selected from the menue, allows the tuner to automatically select which antenna to use depending on how you set up the frequencies. For instance, I use the tribander for 20 and up, when I switch bands to say 15 meters, the tuner automatically switches to the yagi.
The firmware is periodically upgraded on the website, and can be downloaded and installed in minutes.
I own several pieces of Palstar equipment, and as always I am impressed by the quality of construction and components used. A very solid piece of gear.
Andrew
K6STN
N0FSD Rating: 2012-09-05
Great Product Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I purchased a Palstar HF-Auto tuner for three reasons, flexibility, power handling ability, and ergonomics. I have to say this tuner meets these criteria with high marks.
Over the years I’ve accumulated a number of HF rigs. Most of these are tube radios and have no interface for an automatic tuner. I’m happy to say the HF Auto works as well with the SB-34 radios I restore, as well as my Yaesu 950. I’ve also used this tuner with a Kenwood TS-830 and it works perfectly.
The interface allows the tuner to come up in any mode the user desires. For my use I have placed a dummy load on antenna 3 and have the tuner in bypass mode on power-up. This is ideal for tuning up tube rigs and loading amplifiers. And, it removes the possibility of high power tuning before the tuner has matched the antenna.
As far as power handling is concerned this tuner has had no problems with any of my amplifiers. I have used it with a sweep tube SB2-LA rated at 1,000 watts input, a Heathkit HL-2200 dual 3-500z amp, and a Ten Tec Titan running a pair of 3CX-800’s. I’ve had no problems with arcing on any band from 160 to 10 meters.
I’m very pleased with the ergonomics on this tuner. Switching between antennas and modes is a snap. The large display is a welcome sight to my eyes and I can read it easily from six feet away. The frequency readout is topnotch. When I’m using 60 year old vacuum tube radios that have a tendency to drift I can see exactly where I am. The tuner is quick and responsive and has been able to match my W9INN fan dipole with no problems.
K6JPA Rating: 2012-09-03
Works for me Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I previously had the AT-AUTO, and replaced it with the HF AUTO when it came available.
As others have stated, nice build quality, very much like the AT-AUTO. Tunes each of my antennas quickly (within 5 or 6 seconds). I have yet to experience any issues, although I don't run full legal power with it. Rather simple to use, and does what it is supposed to do.
Nice product, as far as I'm concerned.
KC0IFW Rating: 2012-08-28
Piece of Junk times two Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Palstar experience was awful. In the second week of August I purchased the Palstar HF auto and installed it according to the rather basic instructionns including hooking up the Transmitter Key line to tbe Palstar and running a second key line from palstar to the amplifier. The key line interlock was to prevent the tuner from tuning at high power. The amplifier keyed only twice and then quit. After recycling the tuner power the amplifier keyed only once or twiced again. In addition, when the power to the Palstar was turned off the antanna would not go into bypass which meant the antenna was not grounded within the shack system. I returned the Palstaar to Ham Radio Outlet and John gteh manaager promptly made an exchange. When I returned and hooked up the new Palstar I made a percautionary call to Paul at Palstar to make sure the key line was hooked up properly. In essence he told me the key line was a pain in the ____ and I should make sure I tuned with the Amplifier on standby and don't even hook up the key line to the Palstar. I did as was told and tuned properly, however on 20 meters I notice that diring SSB transmissions the tuner was tunin and I had popping and arking within the Tuner. Back it went to HRO and manager John adn I made a joingt call to Paul who argued and seemed to interrupt our every statement and concern including the iteration of the software and te age of the product. Both HRO and myself had a very unpleasant experience with Palstar adn I udnerstand the chief buyer for HRO is presently having words with Palstar. It seems that one of the issues was Palstar shipping old itterations of product which had not been perfected or well thougfht out. Unfoprtunate since other Palstar products seem to be competent and well built. The unfortunate proce tag for this abortion is approximately $1500.00. I suggesgt any potential purchasers wait for the careful development and testing of the forthcoming ALPHA autotuner. Meanwhile back to my old MFJ989C. I needed the exercise anyway.
W9BHI Rating: 2012-07-26
Best tuner ever! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I just got my HF-Auto yesterday and it sure beats the pants off the AT-Auto!
It tunes ALL of the 160 meter band as well as ALL of the 10 meter band.
Finds a match in less than 5 seconds on most bands.
The frequency programmable antenna switching is great!
The last tuner you will ever need period.