Manager


Manager - NA4M
Manager Notes

Reviews For: Palstar AT-500

Category: Antenna Tuners/Matching Networks

eMail Subscription

Registered users are allowed to subscribe to specific review topics and receive eMail notifications when new reviews are posted.
Review Summary For : Palstar AT-500
Reviews: 22MSRP: $439.95
Description:
600 Watt PEP Antenna Tuner
Covering 160 to 6 Meters, the AT-500 features a differential tuning capacitor with 2 stators and 1 rotor, a precision ceramic body roller inductor, and a 4:1 ferrite current balun for balanced line feeds.
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.palstar.com/at-500.php
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00224.5
AA2AU Rating: 2021-06-11
quality , ease of use , rock solid Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Had this tuner over 5 yrs run a ts 480 hx barefoot at 200 watts most times . have a home brew half square wire antenna up 35 feet in the trees . i can tune all bands dead flat 10 thru 80 mtrs . i can even tune 160 after energizing the 160 coil in the at 500 . its very narrow banded on 160 but never the less flat ! i have all my settings wrote down and preset an they are constant rock solid . dial them up to the desired band and key with no fear your flat . the numbers on the inductor could be a bit larger and lit up for my 66 yr old eyes . ive never had the lid off and cleaned it as they recommend but i see no reason to do so as nothing has ever changed it just dials up perfect time after time and im a pretty active ham . now retired and more active then ever . i have confirmed over 300 countries on my wire running barefoot with this tuner so i gotta say it works ! im totally happy with this purchase .
WB4TJH Rating: 2019-10-10
Well buit. Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have had this tuner for more than 5 years and so far it has handled all my needs, using an SB201 and TenTec Hercules II amplifiers. My antennas include a 135 foot dipole fed with balanced feed line and a VK6BKW dipole. It is easy to use, matches everything with no problems. I would probably buy the next model up if I did it over again, but the AT500 has worked just fine all the years I have used it. I have no complaints. It is very well designed and built.

----------------------
Earlier 5-star review posted by WB4TJH on 2011-09-29

I have only had this tuner for a few days,but after an initial familiarity period, I have to give this tuner a very high rating, It is very well built and tunes easily. I especially like the 6:1 vernier drive on the capacitor. This makes it easy to change bands using my previously written down settings,This very accurate repeatability is what really makes this unit so easy to use. Once tuned, it's rock solid, and easily handles my SB201 amplifier on all bands.I have used an external automatic tuner for several years, and while convenient, sometimes the autotuner will not give a a good enough match, and the transmitter will cut back power. That forces you to have to get the autotuner to retune, hopefully for a better match. I find that a bit frustating at times.Also, myu autotuner only handles 200 watts, so I was unable to use my amplifier with it. Yes, the manual tuner takes a little bit longer to adjust, but the the AT-500 is so well designed, it is easy to refer to my list of settings, dial them in and ony have to do the slightest adjustment to the tuner for a perfect match. The At-500 is a bit expensive, but it's quality of construction and design add up to a superb, easy to use piece of gear, and best of all, it's American made. It was a good choice.
K6BBB Rating: 2018-12-12
Good Quality Tuner, but .... Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
As noted by others, the inductor readout is small and not illuminated, nor is there an inconspicuous way to light it. I removed it from the front panel and the only way I found to light it is to drill small holes in the counter box for LEDs. I didn't want to have plastic bits floating around to get caught in the gears, so I gave up on that.

While I had the cover off, I wiped all of the black grease off the inductor guide rail and relubed it with Cal's Custom purple reel grease. The crank turns much easier now without the gritty feeling of whatever was in the factory grease. An added benefit is being able to easily feel and hear when you reach the stops.

On the positive notes, this tuner will match my 148 ft horizontal vee at 1:1 on most bands, 1.2:1 on 40m and about 1.6 on 10m. It will even give me a near-perfect match on 160m. The front panel layout is easy to use and see and the fit and finish is flawless.

I have used LDG Z100+ tuners for a while and then put my reserve tuner (MFJ-945E) in service when the LDG quit tuning on 10m. The AT-500 tunes so much better than either the LDG or MFJ. I thought long and hard about the AT2K but decided this should fill the need with a 500-600 watt amp.

Despite the non-illuminated inductor counter, plastic insulators (for open line) and cheap UHF connectors, I would buy it again.
G4DWV Rating: 2017-01-05
Overpriced Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I got this as I wanted to get back on the air ASAP after a very long break. I can agree with all the points made in the previous reviews. The thing that annoys me is that the inductor reading/indicator is not illuminated. I like to work at low lighting levels such that my keyboard has to be illuminated too. The price is outrageous. As to performance, it will match my 30m long wire to 1:1 on all bands except 17m, where the best is between 1.5:1 and 2:1. Rating is low due to cost vs quality.
AI4WM Rating: 2016-11-09
Average, but not great Time Owned: more than 12 months.
In some ways better quality than the MFJ tuners I have owned and used, but not all that great. Palstar does not make any of their tuners with good SO-239 connectors or ceramic insulators. Instead they use cheap 4 serration Chinese ones that do not make good contact like the fully serrated ones unless one only uses a 4 nib PL-259 that will properly mate with the SO-259. They are also chrome plated instead of silver plating. Palstar uses nylon stand-off insulators and feed through insulators. These dry and crack. Ceramic are much nicer and will outlast any plastic ones. Then there is the poorly designed front panel with too small to see indexing on the capacitor, incorrectly labelled buttons, like the 3kW scale is silk screened 1kW, and the confusing 12VDC needed to use the normal bands and no power or relay off to use 160. If 160m was the band requiring a relay closure then the only loss of not having 12VDC would be top band and the peak reading meter. The roller inductor (uses a plastic web shaft coupler instead of a good ceramic one) is not better quality than MFJ so why pay for Palstar? As far as matching. It does ok with my dipole and G5RV, has some problems on my vertical. Depending on which antenna and band I'm using it will match to 1.5:1 to about 1.3:1. Some bands it does not do better than 2:2 where my others will do better.
I got my tuner second hand with some other gear I bought. Had I bought it new and paid full price it would get a one rating due to the design and build quality. I gave it a 3 since it matches my antennas ok, but the overall quality is not very impressive.
W3VVV Rating: 2016-08-31
Solid tuner with a few shortcomings Time Owned: more than 12 months.
This is a solid tuner that works very well, but has a few minor flaws.

The faceplate power range button for the meter does select -- as the manual says -- the 300 watt or 3000 watt range. However, the faceplate is marked "1000" and "300". It should be marked "3000" and "300". I reported this to Palstar but they are still marking "1000" on the faceplate.

As another reviewer mentioned, the numbers on the capacitor scale are rather small and somewhat difficult to read.

There is no "soft stop" for the end of the ranges on the inductor. The manual cautions the user to be careful not to bang the ends of the ranges.

Once set, the tuner does work very well. My rig puts out about 120 watts CW, so I don't know if the tuner arcs or has other issues when used with highly reactive loads at its rated limit of 500 watts.

The internals are a work of art. Very clean construction. High quality caps and inductor. Circuit boards that are almost Tektronix quality (in other words, top quality). It is definitely repairable (if needed). Not a throwaway product like so many products nowadays. Should last almost forever.

Would I buy this tuner again? Actually, no. Instead, I would spend an additional $100 for an AT2K or AT2KD. For just 20% more cost, you get a tuner that has almost 4x the power handling capability and is far more robust than the AT-500, which allows for future growth. However, if you absolutely know that you'll never buy a large amp, an AT-500 is a fine choice.
AD4C2006 Rating: 2016-01-16
Same high quality as other PalStar tuners Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I just sold my automatic antenna tuner that in spite of never tripped and could tune any antenna to 1.2 swr in less than 3 seconds, it was very noisy when all relays were choosing the proper combination of LC to tune, that for me was very anoying so I decided to try again another PalStar tuner, in the past I owned for 5 years the AT2KD and it was the best tuner I owned, never had any issue.
So because my amp makes only 650 W on SSB I made my mind on this one and called PS to talk with a tech about if this one really could handle the 600W they claim in the specs, his word was this tuner can handle more than that level of power so I purchased it, its already installed at my shack, it works perfect, no issues at all as expected, it tunes very smooth and the low swr is kept along almost the whole band without needing to tune again.
Only dislike is that certainly the front panel says 1000/300 at the power meter scale switch when it really is a 3000/300 meter, I think in the future panels they should either change the label or better, recalibrate meter scale and internal board to have a real 1000W scale.
Anyway is a well built tuner.

Hector
AD4C
OE3SGU Rating: 2015-03-02
Great solid ATU Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
This is my 2nd Palstar ATU. My AT2K is in service for well over 7 years and works troublefree. The AT-500 is used in my 2nd QTH. It easily handles my AL-811 (and probably even more) without any problems. Tuning is very smooth and accurate. Built like a tank, not to compare with other US manufactured tuners....
KF6BPV Rating: 2014-02-22
Great for use with ALS-600 Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
For a year or more I have been using an auto tuner with my Ameritron ALS-600 solid state amplifier and had problem with the amplifier tripping into load default. The auto tuner was returning even after I had tuned up. I replaced the auto tuner with the Palstar AT-500 and have not had any problem with the amplifier tripping into load default. If you are looking for a manual antenna tuner consider the Palstar tuners they are a great product.
N0MEU Rating: 2014-01-26
Two Thumbs Up! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Well made. Works great. Easy to use. I do agree that the capacitance dial scale could be made a bit easier to read.