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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
K4TJ Rating: 2010-01-18
Definitely a Keeper Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Magnificent engineering masterpiece. The case screws even have teflon washers!

A great aid for contesting, especially with the amp lockout feature. Teamed with my no tune Alpha 78, it has really made operating a pleasure.

Meter agrees with my LP-100A and the peak function really works well. Fits in well in my all american-made station.
K8JHR Rating: 2010-01-10
Outstanding Results Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I use the Palstar AT-AUTO with my Ten-Tec Omni VI and a DX-Engineering 43 foot vertical monopole antenna. This tuner really tames my big stick, which is, by design, not resonant on any ham frequency, and which can present some rather high (and low) SWR - even using really heavy duty coax feed line. A good heavy duty tuner is a MUST with this antenna.

The AT-AUTO finds a match more quickly and more accurately than I can do with my Palstar AT2K manual tuner (which is also a great tuner.) The AT-AUTO connects to the rig with a serial port cable, and tracks the frequency as I tune the dial - and it tunes automatically as I change frequencies and bands. You can run it automatically or in a manual mode, where you adjust the L and C yourself. You can have it tune automatically, but only when you direct, also. The QRO Key Line feature cuts the linear amp if SWR exceeds a (user) set figure, and puts it back on line when tuning is complete. Could not be easier.

I also have a multi-band fan dipole at modest height. The AT-AUTO quickly finds a match and gets me on the air in no time. I have timed it... it takes less time than I can do with a manual tuner, if I consider the time to set the manual tuner before I hit the tune button on the rig. To be fair, you gotta include all the time needed to tune up after you change frequency - and the auto tuner is slow, but very deliberate, and can beat my manual tuning time at least 90 % of the time. Sometimes the manual tuner is quicker to use, but mostly the auto tuner wins the race.


Checking the resulting SWR with a separate watt/SWR meter confirms it is doing better than I was doing with the manual tuner. Therefore, it is doing exactly what I want.

So, far... knocking on a wood-look Formica-type laminate surface ... so good, and I am a very happy customer.

Happy trails. ---- James -K8JHR -----

W3DCB Rating: 2010-01-08
Built Like a Tank. Set it and Forget it! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have had the AT-AUTO for a few years now. I just had a hunch when I saw it in QST even though it was a bit pricey. I run my station remote with several rigs. I do not bother to have the AT-AUTO follow my rigs or anything like that. I just his x-mit and reliably I am tuned up ready to go without any intervention what-so-ever. It is truly a set-it-and-forget-it piece of equipment which is VERY reliable. Built like a tank! Software updates are available from time to time with continued improvement in performance. Keep up the good work Palstar!
Daniel C. Baral W3DCB
N2QQF Rating: 2010-01-08
Follow Up!!!! Great Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have had my AT-Auto over a year now and at first I gave it a good review but after having my tuner for some time now I must admit this unit is still great unit. I was previously using just the internal RF sensor to tune but I recently received the CAT cable interface for the radio (FT-2000) to the tuner and holy cow what a difference. I am now utilizing the cable connection to the tuner interfaced with my radio and the Tuner is much much quicker at tuning and very easy to use. In fact I regret not doing this sooner. This is a great tuner that can handle much more than legal limit SSB, not that I use it but I did test to see its abilities.

I also recently had an issue which I thought was the tuner but it turned out I had a failure at the balun that failed and that was the issue as opposed to the tuner. The point of this all is that I called Palstar to discuss and we were not sure what the issue was but after determining it was the antenna it turned out they happily spent the time on the phone assisting me all the way. They were very helpful and I think their customer service is also great. Great product, great customer service and good quality what more do you need to know. 5 out of 5 all the way.
N8CL Rating: 2009-12-07
A pleasure to use Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I've been using the AT-Auto for about 6 months and would add a few comments:
1. The CAT feature works flawlessly, and is right on the money. Makes frequent band changes when RTTY contesting a breeze.
2. I made the mistake of flipping the band from 80 to 15 before the unit finished seeking (no power--just CAT) and the inductor fell off the end. Took one minute to fix, and has never happened again. Wait for tuning to stop before band switches!
3. The QRO feature can be tweaked for SWR threshold, so minor adjustments will take place during a quick contest contact, and as prescribed the unit will un-key the amp for larger mis-matches. Very nice!
4. The manual is sometimes a tad difficult to decipher: it would be nice if they had an online pdf massaged by a writer, not a PhD.
5. All in all, if you do fairly frequent band switches, especially contesting, this tuner makes a quantum improvement in operating pleasure.
K8ALM Rating: 2009-12-04
Works great after a trip back to Palstar Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
Pretty rugged tuner however, I had to ship mine back to Palstar because it would not hold the tuning on 40-80-160 meters. They told me they had to recalibrate the unit. Fortunately it was still under warranty. I told Palstar that the inductor tended to squeal when tuning 160 meters also and when my AT-Auto was returned from the factory it stopped squealing for a bit then started again.
RUSS324 Rating: 2009-12-03
Awesome! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I just recieved my new Auto Tuner today. Hook up went well. I have a odd setup so I asked the yahoo group for assistance. This tuner is BIG. I have a Palstar AT2K manual tuner that also works great. The tuner is very well packed for shipment. I really appreciated the owners manul be spiral bound. What a nice touch. I have been playin with the tuner all day and it works just as expected with a product from Palstar. Keep up the great work. Russ K8QF.
N7EO Rating: 2009-11-03
Excellent Tuner Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
Use the AT-Auto to tune a 160m loop feed with 450 ohm ladder line using the internal balun with fantastic results. Using an external current balun and short length of coax to the tuner would not work on 160m. Reading are accurate and the tuning is quick. No complaints thus far from this user.
K4AJL Rating: 2009-09-23
ABSOLUTELY THE BEST Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I HAVE HAD TWO OF THESE. SOLD MY FIRST ONE AND FELT LIKE KICKING MY BACKSIDE. FOUND ANOTHER ONE, ITS A KEEPER. YOU CAN TUNE A WET NOODLE WITH THIS TUNER. I LOVE IT. HOOK IT UP WITH THE CONTROL CABLE AND IT CHANGES FREQUENCY ALONG WITH THE RADIO. TUNES ITSELF. IT HAS 500 MEMORIES TO PUT ALL OF YOUR FAVORITE SPOTS IN. PEAK READING METER IS VERY ACCURATE. IT MACHES MY ALPHA 4520 AND MY BIRD ALMOST PERFECT. YOU CAN'T GO WRONG WITH THE TUNER. IF YOU BUY ONE YOU WILL LOVE IT. IT WILL HANDLE 2000 WATTS. MANUAL SAYS 1500 BUT IT HAS LEEWAY. I RUN IT WITH A ICOM 756 PRO3 AND A ZERO FIVE 43 FT VERTICLE. WOW, WHAT CAN I SAY! GET ONE, YOU WON'T REGRET IT.
N2EHG Rating: 2009-09-22
Great Tuner Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
From seeing Palstar products are Dayton and reading online (eham, etc) I knew the tuner would be well made , and well built. I also knew the company was great. The tuner had all the stuff you would expect. It wasn't until I purchased one did I truly begin to appreciate it's design.

My set up is prob a bit different than most, I have My MarkVF interfaced to my computer thru a MicroHam band Decoder. It controls my 419b, my RatPac and it's PW1 interface to the AT-Auto. Just checked a few settings on the tuner and it was plug and play. Super easy to use, well written manual.

Now when I tune just my turning the dial the tuner is tracking yes even on RX, neat... On Tx it tunes fast and the digital readout really tells you what is going on . The analog meters what can I say also nice. If I had sat down to make a wish list of tuner features the AT AUTO would still have twice as many :)

73
N2EHG
Dav