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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
N4RAP Rating: 2010-09-05
Glad I got it ! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I got this tuner from AES about 1 month ago, and I love it. I wish that it would tune while you talk, but it needs a CW carrier. Oh well...my manual tuner (MFJ) needed a carrier, too. The machine is quiet and pretty to look at, as well. It has an accurate meter and I do like the Cross-Hair feature as well as the Peak-Hold feature. I leave it in the Fully Automatic Mode and when changing frequency...I just hold the key until the motors stop and I start talking. I don't even have to look at it anymore. The tuner takes 4 or 5 seconds on a new frequency and a fraction of a second or instantly on a "memorized" frequency. I have an older rig so it is not "slaved" to the Kenwood TS 850, but could be if I had a more modern rig. My antenna is the Zero Five 43 foot vertical and I run 1000 Watts through the tuner everyday.
Wayne N4RAP
W5ZZT Rating: 2010-08-08
Great Tuner! Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
This tuner is great and will match just about anything. I can't imagine ever owner another tuner.
KE4WY Rating: 2010-08-08
Never a Problem Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Never a problem. Matched anywhere I needed, flash updates always went without a hitch and not one problem.

Great tuner.

----------------------
Earlier 5-star review posted by KE4WY on 2006-12-25

Very satisfied. The tuner has tuned all I have asked it to tune with no issues.

VE2DC Rating: 2010-08-07
Now out of production. Mine has been troublesome. Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Perhaps my experience has not been typical, but I have issues.
1. When new, it wouldn't match a 50ohm dummy load on parts of 10M. Apparently due to self-resonance of the inductor. Managed to fix this but now I can't match the lowest part of 160M.
2. I am unable to flash update my firmware.
3. From time to time it jams when trying to re-calibrate and I have to open it up to reset the limit switch.
When it's working, which is most of the time, it's a good tuner and handles the full output of my Alpha amp.
K6FEW Rating: 2010-07-21
A great tuner - well designed and well built. Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've had this AT-AUTO for a couple of years and wanted to post a review because it's been such a solid performer through a variety of antennas and transmitters. The tuner is extremely well built, tunes just about any antenna you could imagine on most any band with minimal loss and has a very functional RS-232 interface. The peak metering has been very helpful and accurate in a variety of situations. The firmware updates and support have all been very helpful. All-in-all nothing comes to mind that needs improvement. It’s been a tremendous help at this station. I know this sounds overly positive, but this really is a good product…..
KH6DC Rating: 2010-05-19
Excellent Replacement Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
After many years of using the Palstar AT1500CV, I decided on getting an automatic tuner for the home base station and use the 1500Cv for DXing/Field Day. This auto tuner is amazing as it tunes verticals, random wires, dipoles, G5RVs quickly and easily without breaking a sweat. It continuously tunes in the automatic mode. I'm always pleased with Palstar products now will get their antenna analyzer. I'm spoiled now with this tuner so maybe I'll sell the 1500CV.
N0YXE Rating: 2010-05-07
AN OLD FRIEND IN THE SHACK Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've had the AT-AUTO for a couple years now. I use it with my Icom Pro III and Toyko Hy Power amp, and generally most all the time. I've had to lubricate the metal sliding wheel inside once, due to a squeaking sound when it was moving back and forth. A shot of Teflon spay did the trick. Every once in awhile the unit has to be turned off and on to reconnect it it to radio, especially when switching bands. No bid deal. The only other thing that I can complain about is the fact that I cannot tune the FM frequencies on 10 meters. When I called the company they told me it was not programmed for it. Perhaps it is now? Also, i would love to have 6 meters on it. This tuner is a very nice one, and probably one of the very best in its class. It probably could tune a coat hanger on any band, too! You will enjoy having one.
W9CN Rating: 2010-02-07
A great tuner Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I looked around for a legal limit auto tuner to use with my new Tokyo Hy-Power HL-1.5kfx linear amp and after comparing specs and reviews I purchased the Palstar.

Although you can just connect it up and go, to get the maximum benefit out of the tuner you need to spend sometime with the manual.

Once you have read the manual you will be treated to an auto tuner that will simply amaze you. I am running a Yaesu FT-920 with a Tokyo Hy-Power HL-1.5kfx. I am running the CAT RS232 line from the FT-920 to the Palstar and the Yaesu band data to the Tokyo Hy-Power and the TX line looped through the Palstar.

Via the CAT RS232 interface the tuner chases the radio. Anywhere I go I am tuned up and ready to transmit.

Typical tuned SWR are less than 1.05 to 1.00 from 80 meters through 6 meters on my three band fan dipole (80, 40, 20). The dipole is an inverted V and its low at 40 foot in the center which means that the SWR on 80 is running 6 to 1 and on 40 its 4 to 1 without the tuner. Tuning time is very fast with less than 10 seconds from 80 meters to 6 meters.

With the QRO keying you don't have to worry if the tuner is tuned before running the amp which makes hunt and pounce contest operations a snap.

The Palstar AT-Auto is a great tuner that is built like a tank and works beyond my expectations.

If you are looking for the ultimate auto tuner this is worth a serious look.

Mike Pappas
W9CN
K8OCN Rating: 2010-02-05
I will keep mine Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I have had a few MFJ tuners and for the most part never had any real problems with them. I picked up a AL-1200 amp and wanted a Autotuner for it.

I looked for awhile and found the Palstar AT-AUTO, and its American Made. It cost a bit but I think I will have this for the rest of my life!

If I have any complaint is the cables you buy from them are a little short if your tuner is not on top of your Amp. No real problem I just extended the cable a little and off to the races.

I purchased my first one new but liked it so much I found a great deal on a used one for my cabin, I only have 600 watt amp there but I just love this tuner.
WA4AOS Rating: 2010-02-05
Nice Tuner Nice Support Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I bought my AT 1500 about a year ago and have been very pleased so far. Since it turns a roller inductor and variable capacitor, don’t expect it to tune fast like an LDG. However, there is one huge advantage to this method of tuning. There’s not a zillion relays to pit and give one headache after another. Worse case tuning time of this Palstar Auto Tuner is about 30-seconds. Going from 40 to 20 meters is usually under 3 to 4 seconds. I would say the average band tune time is about 5 seconds only because I operate 160 a good bit. If you are not using 160 expect fairly fast tuning.

I always tune any tuner with the minimal amount of power needed; often 10 watts or less. I know others who don’t seem to understand high power being switched whilst the tuner is looking for a match is a big NO NO; technical term.
I bought an LDG tuner from epray about 3 years ago and it obviously had been misused and abused. Within a week or two I found intermittent problems with it not finding a match. I spent considerable time trying to isolate the faulty relay(s) and finally called LDG. After talking with support there, they offered to let me trade my intermittent unit in for a new model. Of course, I would have taken a beating over what I had paid online to start with. I ended up throwing it in the junk box.

As you might guess, the previous owner, a KF4 call sign, swore he never had a problem. The price you pay when dealing with ebay and some new operators. No insult meant to many of the fine newer ops that are trying to learn the ropes and are trying to be an asset to the hobby. Just one thing though. If you create a problem with a piece of equipment because you made a mistake, don’t try to pass it on as if it was in perfect operating condition. We have all messed up something from time to time. I have been licensed for almost 40-years and have fried two transceivers from leaving the antenna plugged in during summer and during lightning season. I once dropped a Drake R 4B, boy did that ever make me sick! If you mess it up, be honest with the next person. You will not get top dollar but you can be proud of the fellow looking back at you in the mirror. Anyone can be a crook !

Anyway, operating during the CQ 160 CQ contest recently, I had my first problem with the Palstar. It lost tune and started trying to retune. After a few moments it started to make a growling sound. I switched to another antenna and went up to 40-meter CW just to eliminate the 160 antenna. Sure enough, the problem followed indicating a failure of the Palstar. Quickly, I installed my Ten Tec 238 tuner and started to load up on 160 and again, no match could be found. Hum.. A switch to 40-meters and my 238-tuned fine..

At that point, I was sure I had an antenna problem with the 160 antenna.. The next day, I inspected the 160-meter dipole and found half of my dipole had separated from the ladder line. I basically had a long wire with and no ground reference. In technical terms: NOT GOOD ! !

Later, I called Palstar and Dr. Don was quickly online with me. I explained the problem, sure that there was nothing majorly wrong with the unit.. He felt like the roller inductor was lost and the inductor wheel was behind one of the limit switches; BINGO, that sounded plausible. I opened the tuner and saw how each end of travel of the roller inductor is to meet a plastic disk on the arm of a limit switch. In my tuner the inductor wheel had managed to get behind the limit switch arm nearest the front of the tuner. It took about 5-minutes to effect the repair and I was back in businesses.

Now, I can hardly blame the tuner for the antenna failure and looking at the limit switch arms and the mentioned plastic disk, it all looks stout and well designed. Dr. Don was kind and courteous and gave the info to help resolve the problem. I guess that is the price you pay for convenience of having a microprocessor tuner that tunes antennas. Even with this minor set back, and as much as I like my Ten Tec 238, I will continue to enjoy not having to fiddle around trying to match my transmitters to loads.

The workmanship, fit and finish, support and product quality, of the Palstar Auto Tuner rate exceptional in my book; I highly recommend this product.

My only complaint is no schematic for future repairs making my support of the tuner a function of whether Palstar stays in business. My guess is they will be around for many years to come.