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Reviews For: PalStar AT1500CV

Category: Antenna Tuners/Matching Networks

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Review Summary For : PalStar AT1500CV
Reviews: 68MSRP: 429.95
Description:
Antenna Tuner with CERAMIC roller inductor. 1500 Watt.
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.palstar.com
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00684.8
G3OZN Rating: 2005-12-23
operation superb but? Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Took delivery and had to tighten allen screw on counter shaft (counter was intermittently inaccurate), one cabinet foot had come off and the nut was adrift in the cabinet, foot in the packing;the instruction book was out of sequence (all sheets were there but in wrong order!) all "faults" easily corrected.
This tuner will tune anything and handles power ok.
The "faults" could have occured in transit? and the instruction book, well no big deal.
Can say buy with confidence, but you might require a very small allen key!
KF8RX Rating: 2005-11-28
Great Tuner, Great Service Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I run 1500 watts at night on 75 meters into a dipole and in the morning on 40 into a windom. The tuner never complained even when I would be slow to tune up. Though rated for 1500 pep I think it could run RITTY at the legal limit all day if the SWR is not too high.

The meter started to stick slightly when it was out of warrantee. Plaster sent me a new one for only $20. I had it and installed it by the end of the week. Other than that it has been trouble free.

Tuning on 160, if the antenna sucks, won't work. However, even a $1,000 Nye Viking can't do that.

Eric, KF8RX
W3DBB Rating: 2005-10-09
impressive offering Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have owned the AT1500C for a few years and find it to be an outstanding piece of equipment.

I progressed from using a Johnson Viking Matchbox to this tuner and find the Palstar is capable of tuning certain loads to a lower s.w.r. than the Johnson. I use balanced feedline antennas exclusively on 80 through 10 meters.

Palstar's quality of construction, fit & finish, paint, component selection, etc., are first rate. The black wrinkle finish paint is outstanding and remniscent of pre-W.W.II communications gear.

And if you like this tuner, he has come out with some other models in the years since I purchased the AT1500C, including at least one model that dispenses with the 4:1 balun on the output when tuning balanced lines.
KILOWATT Rating: 2005-10-08
Great piece of equipment Time Owned: more than 12 months.
This thing will tune the proverbial barbed-wire fence. I've owned this tuner for about a year and have attached it to the craziest and most illogical antenna arrays and it has never once complained. Bear in mind that I never run more than 100 watts and I usually pull the rig back to 5 watts/QRP and so this tuner, that is rated at 1500 watts, just skates along at the outputs that I run. All the more reason to purchase it, I say. This tuner allows much room for variance. Maybe you're QRP for now but one day you'll decide to buy a 1Kw amp and you will be set with the tuner you already have. Overkill is a good thing sometimes.

Palstar is to antenna tuners what Ten-Tec is to CW rigs, Kenwood is to wideband audio and what Yaesu is to just plain all-around AWESOME radios!

Whenever I stop to think about the improvements that I could do for my station(daily), the tuner is never even considered. I bought a Palstar from the get-go and will never have to worry about antenna matching ability ever again. Save yourself a whole lot of heartache and buy yourself one. You will never worry about the coax and wire beyond the tuner. I promise you.

And no.....I don't work for Palstar. I just know and understand antennas, antenna matching and quality.
K0WA Rating: 2005-04-20
A Very Good Tuner Time Owned: more than 12 months.
This tuner has given me no trouble the year or so I have owned it. I purchased mine from another ham who had purchased it when it first came out. I was using it on 160 meters with a long wire and it didn't seem to have enough capacitance to find a good match. A e-mail to Palstar gave me a quick answer and a solution. The answer was that there was not enough capacity to tune 160 when faced with certain impedances. The answer was replacing the 240 pf variable caps with bigger caps around 320 pf. For $75, Palstar sent me the replacement caps and I got to keep the old ones too. I had to drill two holes because the new caps were longer. A piece of cake and fun to do. According to Palstar, they made a change in the unit after the manufactured day of my unit. Hey, luck of the draw. The unit tunes my 160 long wire very well now. Service was great and rather "to the point." The tuner works on all my antennas when I need to use it and have found nothing it could not match. I run very little power so that is not an issue. It takes my 500 watt amp with out pause...as it very well should. The metering is good with the cross needle scheme. The tuner also tunes very well by the numbers. Once the tuner is set, the numbers can be recorded and reset from band to band. The tuner can be set by the numbers quickly and very little fiddling is needed after that. I like the looks of the tuner and matches well with current great I own. As far as a tuner is concerned...it is a very good tuner...but there are a lot of good tuners out there. I think that the 1500CV is an good piece of equipment that any ham would like to have in the shack.
KC5CQD Rating: 2005-04-19
Built like a tank! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
What can I say? It works exactly as advertised. Smooth controls, attractively packaged(sounds like a woman, huh?) and tunes everything I attach it to. A little pricey but I've learned over the years that you ultimately pay the price for compromise when it comes to ham equipment. Spend the extra bucks and get a piece of equipment that you never need to upgrade. This tuner is just that. I've owned several of the Mississippi-built tuners and although they worked, I was always wishing I had got something a little better. I finally got something a lot better.

73's

KC5CQD
GW0JLX Rating: 2005-02-19
A Paradigm ATU Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I bought the AT1500C version of this tuner several years ago now, and have to say it is the best - without doubt - and it will tune anything - even wet string !

I have used it with G5RV's, Doublets, W3EDP's and assorted verticals and the results have always been consistently good.

Worth every penny of the cost.

The roller coaster does benefit from a clean with a suitable evaporable fluid and Q-tip every 12-18 months, just to remove any tarnishing and maintain first class contact (clean very gently).

73's all,
Andy D
G0JLX / ZD8AD
G4TRA Rating: 2005-02-01
Great match for my Acom 1000 Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
A superbly built lifetime ATU and good value too when compared to other lesser quality tuners on the market. It matches my Acom 1000 linear real well. Easily repeatable settings allow me to tune quickly on all other bands using my 350 ohm fed 132' doublet. Would have liked a 500 or 1000 watt meter scale for the UK 400 watt limit and even an illuminated inductor window, but that silky smooth roller inductor makes up for it. Great tuner go get one, you wont want any other.
M0HDX Rating: 2004-11-21
GREAT BUY Time Owned: more than 12 months.
paid £150 boxed with manual and original purchase document **great buy at that price** my amp supply lk450 is coupled up to the palstar and i have never had any arcing,pops or bangs from the tuner,the reduction ball drive for the capacitors makes the tuner very smooth to tune.great buy for me and i am very happy with the tuner,it is far better than the 3kw mfj tuner i used...now thats a different story/nightmare.

jim, M0HDX
PA3HGT Rating: 2004-11-13
Works good Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've the AT1500CV for more then a year.The antennetuner works very good and is good constructed.
There's one weakness in the construction of the antennetuner and that's the inductor,there are several tiewraps used too hold the coil together.
That's why my rating is a 4.
I use the 1500 with my vertical in combination with QRO and that will give no problems ... no arc or other difficulties with 1 Kw+.
The AT1500CV looks very good and will be a keeper in my shack.
Tuning my antenna is very easy because i use a cheat-sheet,HI.