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Reviews For: Tokyo Hy-Power HC-1.5Kat

Category: Antenna Tuners/Matching Networks

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Review Summary For : Tokyo Hy-Power HC-1.5Kat
Reviews: 12MSRP: 1150
Description:
HF Band 1.5KW Auto Antenna Tuner
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.tokyohypower.com
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
23.5124.3
VK2YY Rating: 2022-11-23
The Perfect Tuner Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Works magic with Tokyo Hy-Power HL-2.5 or any THP amp
Tunes all realistic antennas better than 4.1. Works perfect disappointing THP are gone, The range is great mega thousands of memories, just tune less than a blink and press the button and saves into the memory. If you find one hang on to it like any THP products.
KF4TOH Rating: 2022-11-20
Eye candy Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
The auto tuner. Looks good beside the matching THP amp and interface with the amp was easy.
Other then that the tuner
Failed to match most all antennas.
Very limited range. No memories to recall. Only factory presets that are nowhere close. Didn’t keep the auto tuner. Long
YMMV.
W9BB Rating: 2021-03-04
great tuner Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I just added the HC-1.5Kat to my station , I also have the matching HL-1.5KFX amp and they both work perfect together ! I owned the Palstar auto tuner with the Palstar amp, so I have something to compare with and by far the Toyko high power is the best I ever owner for SS. I went from all SS to tubes again .I love Alpha equipment but came across this Toyko high powered station and love them. They work together by keying up . That's it key and go. If you can find a set of these buy them you will not be disappointed ..
VK3YW Rating: 2012-12-21
Great Tuner Time Owned: more than 12 months.
The Tokyo Hy-Power HC-1.5Kat is a fantastic tuner and a perfect match for the HL2.5KFX and my FT5000 the whole station is push button and works a treat
When i first got the tuner i did notice it was a little noisy and as time has passed it progressively got worse and included a buzzing through the case , at which point i said enough is enough
the fan they use( although sealed barring ) is crap and i didn't bother to even try to fix it , it was vibrating so bad between my fingers it made them tingle
i sourced a replacement from jacar and had it installed in no time , and while i was at it installed a pair of 220 ohm 1/4 watt resistors in parallel with the positive line , that dropped the speed nicely while still giving adequate cooling , the fan is only in the switching stage in any case so unless you sit there and change bands 100 times a min your not going to have issues anyhow
the bottom 2 screws of the fan are a pain to get too without pulling the face off , but can be carefully undone with pointy nose pliers , all in all this cheap mod has made the tuner a 10 and will be a keeper for sure , and hasn't affected my 5 score , you cant blame someone for a failed fan , even though it was dodgey in the first place
N4UP Rating: 2012-07-15
A Keeper Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I've been using this for about two months. I love the way it works automatically with my Yaesu FTdx5000mp and THP HL-1.5KDX. It and the amplifier switch bands automatically and all I have to do is hit a few dashes with my keyer and it is done. And of course it places the amplifier in standby for the two seconds or less it needs to tune.

Two negatives. ( 1 ) The high-pitched whine. I called the factory representative and he said just to disconnect the fan. That is not as easy as it sounds. I have learned to live with the noise. ( 2 ) The advertized 4:1 limit on SWR. Other tuners can do much better than that, but not necessarily as fast or as well-interfaced. On the other hand, who would want an antenna with very high SWR.

Another positive. I have had two sudden feed-line failures in two months. The THP HC-1.5KAT saved the day, protecting my equipment. In both cases the "alarm" was triggered. If it cannot tune an antenna that is supposed to be well within the 4:1 SWR range, then it is telling you something is wrong with your antenna or feed-line. And right it was.
NN3RP Rating: 2012-03-11
Very Good but... Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I got me an used unit this week. The thing that I don't like is the high pitch noise that I am experiencing as the unit is on.

I am using it in manual tunning into my 1.2Kfx.

I read here about a fix to the high pitch which seems to be related to the fan inside. It's really annoying and I need to get it fixed.

Rafael / NN3RP
pinoleronica at hotmail com

K3GC Rating: 2012-02-29
Just About Perfect Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I have the THP 1.5 so this tuner is a natural. I could go on and on with praises of my HC-1.5KAT but it suffices to say that it does everything it is supposed to do and does it to perfection.

As it claims it tunes all frequencies in about 1 sec. My SWR across the board is 1.1 or lower after tuning. My antennas are resonant but on the edges there was still some risk to a very expensive amp not to mention fluctuating SWRs due to rain or ice.

It is expensive but the best usually is.
KC4CP Rating: 2010-04-22
Works Great! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I own the THP 2.5 Amplifier, so the matching tuner was a natural choice. I drive the THP equipment with a FLEX 5000. Here is what I have discovered:

PROs:
* Having 3 Antenna Connections is great! I have an MA5B beam (5 bands, 10-20m), 40m dipole, & 80m dipole. No antenna switch needed! (The Palstar Auto Tuner has only 1 Antenna Connection.)
* Virtually the same price as the Palstar Auto Tuner.
* Though I don't yet have it set up for "Full Automatic" (I am lazy - but I will get there), I do have it connected to my THP AMP. In this configuration, it tracks with the AMP Band Selection and tunes when it first detects RF. No need to ever touch it. Sweet!
* Tuning time is never more than 2 seconds.
* It handles Legal Limit +++.
* It is amazingly small and takes up very little space on my operating desk.
* Easily tunes much higher SWR than advertised. On 80m, it tunes 5:1 or higher SWR!

CONs:
* (Really I wouldn't call the following item a "CON" because I don't think any AT would be able to do this - but it is note worthy). It tunes 10-40 with ease. On 80m it needs a little help on the lower end. Tuning is possible 230 Khz either side of resonant frequency = 460 Khz total. However, my dipole is resonant at 3.880 - so it tunes through 3.999 with ease, but 3.650 is as low as it will go. IF I ADD SOME LENGTH TO MY DIPOLE & make it resonant at 3.770, I would be good down to 3.540! Can't ask for much better. I run the 80m antenna out of the THP tuner and through my Palstar 2K manual tuner. I keep the Palstar tuned for 3.770 and I am then good from 3.540-3.999. You could do the same with 160m. Again, no legal limit Auto Tuner is going to be able to tune more than this.
* I do miss the cross needle meter.

Well, there you have it ... my review of the THP HC-1.5Kat. If you have a THP amp, this should be a very easy decision. And it should work fine with any other amp/rig.

73,
David WR4N (ex - KC4CP, AC4CP)
W1JUS Rating: 2008-03-28
Silence is golden Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
Just received my HL-1.5Kat back from AVAL in VA. The turn around time at their shop was TWO days!! It's now as quiet as a church mouse!!! I routinely tune
SWR's over 3:1 on 80 by using the presets (you'll need to experiment to see what works on what freq on
80 &40 with high SWR ). I thought about giving Expert a try but didn't like no one answering the phone & the Bible quote on web site turned me off big time.

----------------------
Earlier 5-star review posted by W1JUS on 2007-11-08

I received the HC-1.5KFX about a month ago and I
really like only having to talk into the mic to tune. Another plus its size, lots of room for the flow of air - 1k tuners need to be a certain size! - maybe thats the reason users are not instructed use 1/2 power when contesting,talking longer than 3-5 min and to keep swr under 1.6!
The presets for 160 & 80 are very useful.
When I first used the tuner with the HL-1.5KFX it
showed virtually no Pr - I thought there was no Pfwd until I checked - full 1K. What a tuner !!
W6VA Rating: 2007-12-27
SWR Problem/Fan Noise Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
The tuner failed to handle even a 3:1 SWR(claims to handle 4:1). Tried to load up on 40 meters with no more than 3:1 and faulted out every time.
Tuner did work on 2:1 or less so it was working. The fan noise has a high pitch whine to it which is very annoying. The amplifier fan is much lower in pitch and is not intrusive but for some reason the tuner fan is much higher pitch and possibly louder which makes for a very unpleasant sound in the shack. On the plus side it does match the amplifier nicely and band tracks as the amplifier and rig change. Manual tuning is very confusing. All in all I can't see this being worth the asking price. It is a shame since the amplifier (an HL1.5) is very good. Ended up not keeping the tuner.