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Reviews For: Kessler Engineering AT-AUTO

Category: Antenna Tuners/Matching Networks

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Review Summary For : Kessler Engineering AT-AUTO
Reviews: 88MSRP:
Description:
Production of the legacy AT-AUTO was halted per court-enforced settlement and to facilitate product improvement and redesign.

Kessler Engineering continues to service and support the legacy AT-AUTO, and is continuing to develop and release new firmware, which is freely available from the Kessler Engineering website for use on any AT-AUTO.

Although temporarily out of production, this is still very much an active product.

The revised AT-AUTO builds upon the capabilities of the legacy AT- AUTO and will debut shortly. Please contact Kessler Engineering directly for support and information.

Thanks, Don ki6sz@sbcglobal.net

Product is not in production
More Info: https://kesslerengineeringllc.com/tuners.html
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
25884.9
K2GWK Rating: 2012-04-24
Great Auto Tuner Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I have had this tuner for about a week now. I purchased it from a ham who no longer needed it. It was in beautiful shape when I recieved it. I wanted an auto tuner that could be controlled from my FT-950 and handle the output of my Tokyo Hy-Power HL-1.2Kfx. I did quite a bit of research and decided on the Palstar AT Auto. On a whim, I looked in the classifieds and there was one for sale and I purchased it about an hour later.

This tuner is no longer supported by Palstar. It is however, supported by Kessler Engineering. This is not a bad thing because Don Kessler supports the heck out of this product with new firmware updates and excellent technical support.

I wanted to control my radio from Ham Radio Deluxe, while being able to run the tuner in it's Smart Mode allowing the tuner to automatically track any QSY through the bands made from the radio. Because the radio is controlled via RS-232 by Ham Radio Deluxe and the AT Auto is controlled via RS-232 from the radio, a caveat is created. You can not simply parallel your RS-232 connections. This is where Kessler Engineering has done something really neat for AT-Auto users. They make a device they call the USI. It is a small passive pc board device that allows the computer talk to the FT-950 (or a host of other radios)and the FT-950 to talk to the AT-Auto via RS-232. It also allows you to do a firmware update of AT-Auto by setting a switch. The little device is a clever implementation of a Y cable, and a couple of switches. It is well worth the $58 price for the USI and included (3) RS-232 cables.

Operating the AT-Auto in Smart Mode is a breeze. Simply choose your frequency, send a cw or FM signal and it will tune. The tuning is saved and if you go back to the band it will recall the setting.

The motorized roller inductor and capacitor are extremely high quality. It is a well designed auto tuner that works very well. It doesn't get any better than this!

KM7DX Rating: 2012-02-20
Great Tuner - essentially worry free Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have owned an AT-AUTO for almost three years. During that time the tuner has been in almost daily use. I use it to match a HY-GAIN AV-640 vertical, a G5RV and a Force 12 C3SS; and from 100 to 1000 watts. It matches these various load quickly and effectively.
The only problem I have encountered occurred recently when the tuner continued to cycle for a longer than usual time and finally reported "NO MATCH FOUND" on a previously matched frequency and antenna. I think this may well have been a result of operator error and not a fault of the tuner.
I contacted Kessler Engineering through their website and was very surprised when Don Kessler called me, very shortly thereafter, and walked me through a 're-homing' procedure. The fix worked and I am a very happy camper, once again.
In conclusion, the tuner meets my every expectation and the customer support is absolutely first rate.
W8JXM Rating: 2012-02-16
Great Customer Service Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
SUPER tuner es Don's great customer service.. 5+++++
Tnx so much ..... Joe

----------------------
Earlier 5-star review posted by W8JXM on 2009-09-15

After several years of excellent service my tuner would not tune. Called and spoke to Don. After he advises me to try to do certain things to get it to work, he advises I would have to part with this beauty for a few days as it had to be returned to the shop. About 10 days later it arrives back in great shape and just purring along. Where is the bill? I call and there is NONE. If you want the best tuner and customer service, phone the Palstar crew and order one of their great tuners.
N2EAC Rating: 2011-12-17
Amazing and reliable Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have owned the AT-AUTO for about 2-1/2 years. I have it C-IV interfaced with my ICOM IC-7700 going into my (gen 1) PW-1 amp. Sometimes I feel the need to drive the PW-1 with either a fully outfitted Elecraft K-3 or a Kenwood TS-870S.

When running the IC-7700 the AT-AUTO, automatically senses the frequency change and operates absolutely flawlessly. When I use the Elecraft or the Kenwood, I drop about 10 w into the AT-AUTO and it tunes it up flawlessly.

The AT-AUTO allows you to also bypass the auto tuning circuitry or manually tune the tuner (a nice feature, but not needed becuase the auto tune feature works so well).

I operate multiple wire antennas on bands ranging from 160m to 20m, from AM to SSB to PSK to CW. The AT-AUTO never complains.

If you can find one. Buy it and hold onto it. It is a keeper. It is worth every penny you will spend.

My only wish is that like the PW-1, there could be multiple radio inputs and multiple output coax connectors. In recent reading, It seems that the output coax issue is resolved.

73, from N2EAC
K2CAN Rating: 2011-11-10
Excellent AutoTuner Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Don Kessler has done an excellent job upreving the firmware and hardware for this tuner. Don is very professional and a pleasure to do business with.
With the latest firmware I am able to tune virtually any wire I have put up on any band.
If you looking for a high quality auto tuner, this is the one. I highly recommend Kessler Engineering's products.

- Mark K2CAN
W4LSC Rating: 2011-07-14
Upgraded by Kessler Engineering Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Puchased new S/N 02521 Firmware 1.01
Unit was purchased in anticipation of my retirement. That didn't happen for a few years but I decided to check and see what might be available for software/hardware upgrades. Sent my email to Don at Kessler Engineering and rx'd a response over the weekend. He supplied a complete list of options for my consideration. I basically took all of the options. The original release of this product did not include a bypass mechanism and I don't like operating without that capability.

The product was returned in mint condition with all options added. Have used it for roughly 90 days without any problems. Have been using it at home and in "field day" environments without a glitch.

Don kept me informed as to the progress of the mod's (less than a week to complete) and called me directly (prior to shipping) to confirm/preset the menu for the rig I was going to use it with first.

I am very pleased with the upgraded product and support provided by Kessler Engineering.

73 de W4LSC
N2DY Rating: 2011-01-20
Cool Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I am using the AT-Auto with a Yaesu 9000D and a Tokyo Hy-Power HL-2Kfx Amp. It tunes my 130 foot off-center-fed dipole to any frequency within the HF bands with ease. It tunes very fast to a perfect match and since I am using a no-tune solid state amplifier, I can switch bands or frequencies within a particular band quickly. I have been a ham for over 30 years and I guess I have become a bit lazy, but the thrill of tuning up the amp and the tuner manually is long gone. It is too bad that this unit is out of production. So far it works like a champ. Time will tell if it holds up.
KC6ZWH Rating: 2010-12-13
Read the manual Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I was on the learning curve when I got mine.It is very important to read all of the manual. That being said it is a great unit. Evan tuned my 80 meter dipole and my 40 meter vertical for 160 meters. Yes I am impressed. The only thing I do not like is having to rely on 1 knob for all of the different funtions. It takes 3 steps to go from auto tune to manual, for amp tuning, back to auto.Just dont complain to the factory as Paul is a bit sensitive. If you upset him he will not return your emails.. Also the ICOM cord is definatley to short for my application. Other then the minor issues it is a very good well built unit and tunes wonderfully.
AA4XE Rating: 2010-12-10
Palstar AT-AUTO Service Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have had this tuner for over a year without problems of any kind. It matched everything on my horizontal loop on all bands as well as the Air Force MARS frequencies. It is feeding an Alpha 8410 and does it on both coax and open wire line feeds.

I recently had a problem with it not recalling the memory settings and called Palstar. First, no long waits. Second, their interest and concern was always evident during their response to many calls from me, and service was outstanding. Tom gave me a few suggestions to see if it would solve the problem, but nothing worked. I sent it back to them via UPS and got it back in less than a week. It worked like new, and is back in service. There was NO charge - even return shipping - for this speedy repair.

The manual warns against turning off power when it is storing settings, since the memory may be corrupted and require resetting at the factory. This is likely what happened. The tuner is automatic and may find a new setting and store it without the operator noticing the warning message in the window. Be sure it is not storing a memory before cutting the power.
N5ALE Rating: 2010-10-28
Built like A TANK Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I bought this tuner at the last Dayton Hamfest and had it shipped home. It is nice to have the swr tuned to 1.05 or less on any frequency you care to use. I use a solid state amp and the other switching tuners don't get the swr low enough to make the amp happy. I use this tuner with a Cobra dipole all band antenna using a 9 to 1 balun and with a 43 foot fiberglass pole wrapped with @160 foot of wire [resonate on 1.855mc] works very well. Cost a lot but you get what your paying for with this tuner.