Elecraft KAT500
firmware v2.13
Elecraft · Released Sep 12, 2023 · First seen Sep 14, 2026
Source:
elecraft.com
v2.13 is not the latest firmware for the Elecraft KAT500: the current version is v2.16 (May 29, 2024). Go to v2.16
In short — summary by updatemystuff.com
New ATU settings per bin feature limits stored settings per frequency segment; fixes band-change stutter.
- Adds "ATU settings per bin" feature to manage stored settings per frequency segment
- Fixed band-change stutter when using frequency counter with low power and high SWR
- BYP LED now illuminates when ATU is bypassed in AUTO and MAN modes
Written from Elecraft's release notes, which are printed in full below.
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What's in this update
Add "ATU settings per bin" to limit the number of ATU settings that can be stored in any given "bin" (frequency segment) for a particular antenna.
Each "bin" has room for 6 ATU settings, shared by all three antenna connectors.
For example, If you're using all 3 antenna connectors for a particular band, you might limit the maximum number of ATU settings for each antenna to 2.
If you're using 2 connectors on another band, you might set ATU settings per bin to 3.
See the updated KAT500 Automatic Antenna Tuner Serial Command Reference AB command for details.
An updated KAT500 Utility may be used to configure ATU Settings per bin.
Illuminate BYP LED in modes AUTO and MAN when the current ATU setting is "bypassed".
DM command response trimmed, now shows the number of unused ATU settings on one line.
Band, bin, and EEPROM address were removed.
BYP relay shown only when bypassed.
Added trailing ; CR LF.
In some low forward power high SWR scenarios when only the frequency counter is used to detect band change, the ATU was reluctant to change bands and full search tunes "stuttered".
Full search tune requires more than minimum power to compute an accurate SWR, 20 watts is suggested.
Use last-measured SWR bypass when capacitor or inductor is manually changed.
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