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Reviews For: Palstar AT4K

Category: Antenna Tuners/Matching Networks

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Review Summary For : Palstar AT4K
Reviews: 62MSRP: 895.00
Description:
The AT4K is a premium quality American-made matching network
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.palstar.com
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
11624.6
K5DSQ Rating: 2015-09-05
Work Horse Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Like WM5L's review below, I feed my AT4K each day with my Alpha 91B at or near legal limit power on 160, 80 and 40 meters. In a year or so of operating into a 600 Ohm balanced line dipole I have never had a problem. I am not a big fan of roller inductors but this one seems to work well and I do make it a point to clean it as suggested about every 6 months or so. No complaints here with this brute work horse!

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Earlier 5-star review posted by K5DSQ on 2014-05-07

I previously had a Palstar AT1500DT which I loved. I never had any issues with it so when the decision was made to acquire a legal limit amp another Palstar product was a no brainer. In addition to greater power capacity I wanted something that would handle my 600 Ohm balanced lines utilizing a more conventional approach than the typical balun on the output side of the tuning network. The AT4K fit that bill to a T along with the needed power requirements. I have yet to have any issues with the AT4K operating it on 160/80/40 at legal limit every day. First time users need to follow the suggested settings versus the select band otherwise they will get very frustrated trying to find the tuning sweet spots. The AT4K is big, has impressive operating specs (verified in QST) and is built like a battle ship!
WM5L Rating: 2015-08-15
works great Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I feed my AT-4K daily with a Alpha99 near wide open on 15,17,20,40, and 75 without any problems. It is a big tuner so it takes up a lot of space but I can not complain about its performance. I would but again and recommend to others. Mine was bought used From HRO as an open box 2 years ago.
W8MQW Rating: 2014-10-29
Confused excellence Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
My unit is one week old (S/N 23419). They have redesigned the front panel controls without rewriting the manual or rewiring the indicator lights. As a result you will have to remove the cover to trace the circuit to discover how to operate the unit. The manual and the controls are in direct contradiction. For instance, the "COAX" pilot lamp lights when the tuner is switched to balanced line mode. A work in progress. (Works great once you understand how.)
WW1I Rating: 2014-10-22
Paul followed up and helped. Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I want to follow up on my situation.

I want to be very clear, I have never abused my AT4K in any way. I treat all my gear with care and respect. I buy the best and take care of it. Paul has made it clear that the AT4K's roller doesn't do well on the higher bands where less of the inductor is used. In my case, I had a burn spot on the coil and wheel, and it was right on my setting for 20 meters. This is a tuner that has published specs. for 10-160 meters, but in truth, has issues at high power above 40 meters.

After my email thread with Paul, he did come through and send me a new roller inductor for free. The new one puts much more pressure on the roller wheel than the old one. When I now turn the crank for the roller inductor, I feel much more resistance, as a result of the increase spring pressure. The old part was not making solid contact between the roller wheel and the inductor coil, and my guess is that it never did from the day I pulled it out of the box.

So, in summary. Pual did send me a new roller inductor for free and did support his product, and it has solved my issues. It now works again, as if new. I'm still only going to use this tuner at reduced power on 10-20 meters, as I'm afraid I'll destroy it again and get to replace yet another roller.
W6PC Rating: 2014-09-25
EXCELLENT Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Just purchased an AT4K directly from factory to replace a less capable unit.

I must say, I am impressed with design, construction and especially the operation.

As mentioned by others, new users should refer to the manual regardless of how smart you think you are, life will be easier for preset tuning spots.

A little on the expensive side, but you definitely get what you pay for in this instance.

If you need a good coupler, your search is over!
NW3Y Rating: 2014-08-19
Very smooth Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Purchased the Palstar AT4K new as a replacement for another tuner that just was not of good quality. The AT4K looks and feels like it is very well built. It is smooth to operate and tunes nicely. The roller inductor is soft and consistent. The background lighting is nice and the front panel is operator friendly. It handles the power loads well as I use it on 80 and 160 dipoles. It just went in the station a few weeks ago, so I can report more on this as contest season progresses. Right now I would highly recommend this tuner.
KF4OKF Rating: 2014-01-24
Great tuner Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
After considering many tuners on the market I decided on the AT4K since I wanted to add an amp to the station. My antenna is a delta loop for 160 M fed with 450 Ohm ladder line so I needed a tuner that would tune up all bands from 160 through 10 M. Taking the tuner out of the box I was amazed at the quality and sturdiness . The tuner easily handles the loop and takes 600 W out of my Ameriton ALS 600 with ease. If you are looking for a tuner that is well made and has the ability to tune a loop antenna take a look at the AT4K. Thanks to Palstar for making a great product.
K1BZ Rating: 2012-11-11
Looks like a Keeper! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Installed at K1BZ a week or two ago to tune a wire vert on 160 and 80. So far I'm very pleased, smooth as silk tuning & handles a KW with ease. /DL
K9CTB Rating: 2012-07-11
Excellent across the board! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I purchased my AT4K to replace an aging Vectronics HFT-1500 (Pre-MFJ unit). Now, I admit that I gave the Vectronics a 5 in my review here. That said, then hands-down the Palstar deserves a "10"!!!

I could use the Vectronics to match any and every antenna I used, including for kicks, my rain gutter system. The problem was using anything more than 400 watts on 80 or 40 -- as stated on others' reviews, it was creative lighting at it's finest!

Those days are OVER!! The Palstar AT4K *is* what I had hoped the Vectronics would be -- the last tuner I would ever have to purchase. I use two antennas for 80 and 40 + MARS. One is a reg'lar dipole cut for right around 4MHz. The other is a standard sized G5RV, except that I exchanged the close-spaced twin-lead with standard window-line.

I have found the AT4K to work extremely well with either of these antennas. It allows me to operate effortlessly on my favorite frequencies on 80 and 40 as well as any of the MARS frequencies I need. While I have been happy operating in the 100-200 watt range, I have been working on a project amplifier, which literally came from a dumpster. With a lot of help from Dan at radiodan.com, I have a complete and perfectly operational Henry 2KD-5 amplifier. I'm rather proud of the fact that, although I got a lot of technical and parts support from Dan, I did all the labor myself -- so naturally I want to use the amp I worked so hard to restore. This is what justified the expense of the AT4K. Palstar hasn't let me down!!

I have been trying to determine why the Vectronics has such a difficult time operating QRO, so I have compared it to the Palstar AT4K and have an anecdotal idea of what may have gone wrong. In addition, of course, to very high quality components in the Palstar (the roller inductor and capacitors look very similar to what you would find in REAL mil-spec gear), as mentioned by other reviewers, most other tuner manufacturers place their built-in baluns on the output side of the "Tee" network. Palstar, on the other hand, places their balun on the input side of the matching network. Palstar explains why they take this approach on their website, but I believe that there must be some huge fields built up during extreme matching cases where voltages on the input capacitor are more than large enough to arc-over. and as stated, at 400W or above, that's exactly what happens with the Vectronics. The AT4K on the other hand, can take every bit of the 1400 watts my Henry amp delivers without raising a fuss at all -- on any band, 80 through 10 (I don't do 160 - and neither does the Henry - just yet).

Overall, I wish I had saved the money I spent on other antenna tuner solutions and went directly with the Palstar AT4K from the beginning. Sure, I learned some lessons, but I think the tuition was a bit steep! :-)

73,
K9CTB
W0AW Rating: 2012-05-04
Built Like A Tank! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
After many years of frustration with an MFJ-989C that would eat the SWR bridge every few months, I finally gave up and purchased the AT4K. I didn't want any more tuner related problems so I went into overkill mode with the AT4K. The tuner has worked very well until this past January. The unit suddenly refused to tune anything. Shipped the unit back to Palstar where it was pronounced functional & no problem found. The unit was returned and functioned fine,...for about eight weeks, then wouldn't tune a dummy load. Sent it back to Palstar and was again told that it was fine. Put it back into operation and it wouldn't tuna fish, let alone an antenna. Finally took it to K0GX for repair and Gary said it worked. While demoing the unit I noticed that the SWR would occasionally jump. Finally found a fractured solder joint at the back of the roller inductor. No doubt, this was the problem. The unit is back inline and working fine. I don't consider the fractured solder joint an issue for Palstar. The fractured joint could have been a result of shipment issues. Would I buy another or recommend it to a friend? In a heartbeat!