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Reviews For: Elecraft T1 Miniature ATU for all Low-Power Transceivers

Category: Antenna Tuners/Matching Networks

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Review Summary For : Elecraft T1 Miniature ATU for all Low-Power Transceivers
Reviews: 63MSRP: 135
Description:
This may be the world's smallest high-performance, stand-alone ATU. At just
4.4 x 2.5 x 0.9 inches, and weighing only 5 oz., it's about one-fourth the size
and weight of other compact automatic antenna tuners.

The T1 has 7 inductors and 7 capacitors to provide a wide tuning range. It
can be used with any 0.5 to 20-watt transceiver or transmitter, and can be
tuned in any mode, even SSB voice. Many L-C settings are saved in the unit's
EEPROM for quick re-tune (typically 1 to 2 seconds).

An internal 9-V battery powers the unit, and battery life is excellent thanks to
the use of latching relays and auto power-off after each use. There's zero
power consumed except when actually tuning.

There's a "smart" adapter cable available for the Yaesu FT-817. This
convenient accessory allows the T1 ATU to track band changes made at the
transceiver, recalling per-band L-C settings without the need to transmit.
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.elecraft.com
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
15634.7
N4UED Rating: 2008-06-23
THE BEST QRP ANTENNA TUNER Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
THIS IS THE VERY BEST QRP ANTENNA TUNER HANDS DOWN.
I USE MINE WITH MY ELECRAFT K-1 AND MY TEN TEC ARGONAUT V.
IT HAS TUNED ANYTHING I HAVE CONNECTED TO IT.

OFF CENTERFED ,DOUBLE EXTENED ZEPPS,ETC USING LADDER LINE AND A 4-1 BALUN.

I HAVE TRYED THE LDG Z11 PRO HOWEVER IT DOES NOT COMPARE TO THIS TUNER.

WHEN IT SHOWS A 1 TO 1 GREEN LIGHT YOU CAN COUNT ON THE T1 ELECRAFT TUNER BEING CORRECT.

I CAN ASSURE ANYONE THAT IT WILL WORK WITH ANY QRP RIG OUT THERE.

BUY ONE DONT BE SHY,IT WILL BE A PLEASURE TO USE.



W5CEM Rating: 2008-03-27
I LIKE IT!!! Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I have been using the T1 to tune my OPEK HVT400 mobile antenna on 17 mtrs. Worked just fine for that. Finally this week I got tired of the noise with my attic antennas and starting experimenting with various lengths of wire outside in the trees, dangling down from the third floor patio, up over the roof, etc. The T1 tuned them all with ease. Hit the button, wait a few seconds and a good match to my FT 817 is there. I have absolutely no complaints with this unit at all. I did build mine in a few nites, which was good to get that solder smell wafting thru the house again. Buy one today if you need a good QRP tuner...
WD4ELG Rating: 2008-03-16
Works like a charm Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Bought it pre-assembled. Arrived on schedule as stated by Elecraft customer service (which was a pleasure to deal with).

Put in the 9V battery, hooked it up, tuned the antenna, and forgot it was there. It just works.

I take it everywhere with my FT817ND as an insurance policy to protect the rig's final amp circuit.

You won't be disappointed.
KC7FYS Rating: 2007-10-14
Good unit. Can't complain. Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I already feel guilty giving this guy a 4, but I suppose the rating system doesn't work if we don't apply it honestly.

I bought it unassembled. It went together in an evening for this semi-experienced assembler. I didn't need the SMDs pre-soldered after building the ATS-3B QRP xcvr! (But that is a considerate touch by Elecraft.) Manuals are well-written. Assembly instructions are written for an almost absolute beginner, no detail omitted. Layout is excellent. No parts missing, everything A-OK.

Now on to that case we've been hearing so much about. Now I build kits because I like solder smoke, I like holding something in my hands that I made with my own gumption--and I don't expect it to look like something off the shelf. Having said that (and I can just imagine Burdick and Swartz rolling thier eyes) I kinda like my BLT better. It looks like I made it. I know that sounds goofy--but building the T1 is like building a kitchen blender. You're whipping up daiquiris, and you say, "You know, I MADE this blender." Still looks like a regular blender.

So it's a free country; I could have mitered this T1 into a Hellman's mayonnaise jar just to get oohs and ahs from my QRP buddies--but the case is exactly right, so what could any builder do? Don't laugh--I'd like a clear plastic case, at least. The guts of this thing look cool, and I'm never gonna see 'em again! Looks good, could be billet aluminum, not pre-drilled, but the folks at Elecraft have been doing this for a long time, and certainly know what works and what doesn't.

I'll still bring along my BLT, though.
M3XEK Rating: 2007-08-14
Brilliant elecraft t1! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Just got my t1 and ft817 lead today and I have run around the house tuning stuff like the table, chairs, the 6m rubber duck that came with the ft817 (tunes perfect on 20m) and I cant fault it!
It gets a better match than my mfj and lake tuners and the link cable means it only does it once with my loft 20m dipole that is my main antenna- it tunes it to all bands down to 80 with perfect swr.
I can recommend this setup to everyone.
As for the comments about the case and build quality, that I thankfully ignored, I think that it is fine; not a metal box you can drive a tractor over, but its small enough to fit your shirt pocket safe out of the way of tractors!
KC2RSP Rating: 2007-06-18
Needs better design Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I got this tuner with very little expecttions. It appealed to me because of its size and compatibility to the ft-817nd.

I got a fully assembled unit with the 817 tuning cable.
But unfortunately the ground nut came off and the tuning cable port broke on the very first day.

The tuning was also inconsistent. Often not changing the tune between bands.

I am not quite sure how this tuner got such high marks. I am guessing its bcause its made in America and the same reason why a person would buy a Ford despite its obvious flaws. Generally I am seeing remarkably high marks for elecraft. I'll leave it to conjecture the marks would not be so high if the units were imported. Also the pride of making it one self probably has a lot to do with it.

I have no such bias and see things for what they are.

However, I did like the customer support. I dread talking to customer support but elecraft was not stressful, even pleasant, so I gave it a 2. I also liked the compact size.

I have time to assemble a all band rig and I am taking my time trying out different equipmnt. The LDG tuner I replaced the elecraft with is built sturdier.
AB8XX Rating: 2007-05-23
Works well! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I have used this tuner to load up short whip antennas for backpack use and it works great. It loaded up a 30' random wire with ease from 80-6m. It is so small and lightweight, wish I would have got one a while ago. This unit came assembled. I would recommend getting one already made for a few more bucks. The case could be better though.
N0XE Rating: 2006-10-22
Works Well Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
Like any electronic device regardless of make or model, a problem may occur, with most users finding this tuner to work well I would expect a problem with the paticuliar unit if anyone is having problems tuning , my T-1 worked perfect and tuned several non resonant antennas with ease. I found it to work very well, but agree that the case leaves a lot to be desired.
73 Jim N0XE
FROMABQ Rating: 2006-07-01
Well made but doesn't work very well Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I bought my T1 assembled from Elecraft. It seems to be well made but, in all honesty, it doesn't work very well.

I typically use it to tune twin-lead-fed doublets on multiple bands during portable ops. When tuning, it often cranks and cranks away for quite awhile without finding a match. Apparently tuning attempts are time-limited since, after two or three successive attempts, it will often come up with an acceptable match.

Unfortunately, your rig is transmitting into a high SWR during the long period it's searching.

This all might be OK once but apparently it doesn't save info about settings once it's found them since, after changing away from then back to a band, it usually ends up cranking and cranking through multiple lengthy tuning attempts to again find a match.

The antenna's I've used it with aren't difficult to match -- I can match them in no time with my manual tuner.

I own some other Elecraft products and have been very happy with them but can't say the same for the T1.

Mike - ke5akl


NS6Y_ Rating: 2006-05-29
Elephant-Craft Never Forgets Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
That it's a tuner! Which the LDG AT-897 sure did, most of the time it seemed to think it was a rock. So I returned it, and put in an order for this kit right away. The kit arrived a few days later (ordered on friday, arrived the following tuesday).

Now, if you lack time or quail at building a kit, you can get this already built by the factory for about $50 more, and they earn that $50. It's a good deal. There are about 10 toroids in there to wind, and one uses 2 cores stacked up, which it's best to epoxy together.

There are a bunch of relays too, and they have you install them after installing some other parts, some of which stick up higher than the relays, making their suggested method for installing the relays moot. So, I used to one-at-a-time method, holding each one down with my finger, tacking one leg in place, then checking and soldering them all. One row of relays has .1uF SMT capacitors between the legs, so solder those carefully! In fact, solder everything carefully, and use a small iron. A pointed tip 700 degree iron is perfect, and an 800 degree wider tip for the BNC connectors.

Now, for the toroids, my preferred method is the burn the enamel off of wire with a soldering iron. Since the 700 degree tip is a bit cool for this, it would make sense to wind all the toroids at one step, and strip the wire with your 800 degree tip. I've found you don't need to strip the whole length of the wire tail, just the inch or so next to the toroid - you can leave the enamel on the ends, since they're just to stick in the hole and go on through. I try to get the stripped area right up to the core, since in installing relays you pull on the wire a little to get them seated on the board so they don't rattle around. There's one, the smallest value, that's wound left-handed and only has a few turns, that one will be a little bit loose when installed but that's minor.

There are a couple of parts that are installed on the bottom of the board, I didn't have any trouble with those although one cap is kinda big and I just made sure it didn't stick out too far off the edge of the board, and it was no problem when the board was put into the case. It can stick out a little!

On the Control Board, the parts leads need to be trimmed pretty close, just solder "the Elecraft way" without leaving big fillets and it will be no problem. The goal is for nothing to touch the top of the CPU when the kit is all assembled and my parts all cleared it nicely. The 3 LEDs for some reason gave me some trouble, I wonder if the LED standoffs, being an odd sort of rubbery plastic, swell under heat - that could account for the LEDs ending up sitting crooked at first. I just reheated their pins and got 'em right, and clipped off the resulting extra lead length.

On the CPU, you're putting it into a high-reliability type socket in a tight space, so make sure you have those pins at a nice 90-degree angle and make sure all the tips of the legs go into the holes in the socket naturally before you start pressing down. DIP chips can occasionally fold a leg, which will make contact ok.... most of the time. It's a devilish bug to debug. So take care, and don't trim the CPU socket pins! It' a low-profile type and those pins are hollow, holding the legs of the CPU.

This took me a couple of evenings, and when it was all put together it worked just fine. Its simple language of LED blinks and 2 button presses is easy to learn and understand, and it tunes things up just fine. I went to the park with my FT-897 and put 12-ft of wire in a tree, with a counterpoise, and talked to some folks in Minnesota. This is on 20W. This was a welcome change from last week, which consisted of lots of calling and no one hearing, with the LDG tuner. The thing with this tuner is, it will tell you your approximate SWR, power out, and how well it's been able to tune. Since this tuner will work at very low (sub-watt) power levels, it will tune even if the original match of the antenna isn't very good and the rig is using its foldback. At 20W I'm operating at the maximum rating for this tuner, but I'm not too worried. And it's simple enough that if a part fails, I feel it will be easy to fix. I'm just very, very, impressed with this tuner.