The mail lady dropped off the Chameleon URT1 (Universal Remote Tuner 1) yesterday. I ordered it about a month ago.

The CHA URT1 is a remote outdoor tuner for almost any type of antenna and any brand or model transceiver. The CHA URT1 is unique in that it can be used for coaxial cable or wire fed antennas. This wide-range tuner will match wire antennas, such as a vertical, random wire antenna, or a long wire antenna. It can also be used with coaxial-fed antennas, like an Inverted “V” or dipole. Also, the CHA URT1 does not need a transceiver-specific control cable, so it works with any brand or model of transceiver. The rugged Tuner Unit is weatherproof and designed to be permanently installed outdoors at or near the antenna feed point, so loss due to high SWR on the feedline is avoided.

The big idea behind this acquisition is that I have a barn full of QRP transceivers and almost as many auto-tuners, but these disparate units aren’t necessarily great for the entire collection. For instance, I have the AH-705 tuner for the IC-705, but it doesn’t work with other transceivers. The Elecraft T1 works great, but it doesn’t handle more than 20 watts. What I envisioned was one auto-tuner to rule them all and I hope the URT1 will become that solitary solution for my shack.

The CHA URT1 covers 1.8 – 54.0 MHz and has 16,000 memories for quick recall and tuning with previously used settings. It can match any antenna with an impedance of 5 to 1,500 Ohms within seconds and can handle up to 125W SSB Phone & CW, 100W SSB Phone & CW on 50 MHz, 60W all other modes (see specifications). The CHA URT1 consists of two units: a Coupler Unit and the Tuner Unit. The Tuner Unit is in a rugged weatherproof housing and contains the antenna matching network and controller. It is normally installed outside at or near the antenna feed point. The Coupler Unit contains the operator controls and status indicators. It uses a bias-T circuit to send power and control signals to the remote Tuner Unit over the connecting coaxial cable, so there is no need to order or install a separate transceiver-specific control cable.

It covers 160-6 meters and an insane impedence range. Most internal tuners cover roughly 3:1 and Elecraft and TenTec shocked the world when their tuners covered an amazing 10:1 range. Unless my math is off, the URT1 will cover a 30:1 range making it truly a wide-ranging antenna tuner. Plus, I like that the tuner will be installed out near the antenna feed point and the signals required to trigger it use the coaxial feedline. No more special control cables for each different radio, for that matter, no more control cable at all. This should simplify things in my shack.

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