Palstar
| Palstar | |
|---|---|
| Type | Private company (Palstar Inc.) |
| Founded | 1990s (sources give 1996 or 1999) |
| Founder | Paul Hrivnak |
| Headquarters | Piqua, Ohio |
| Amateur radio | |
| Known for | Manual antenna tuners such as the AT2K and AT4K; HF-Auto tuner; LA-1K amplifier |
| Other products | Wattmeters, dummy loads, keyers, speakers |
| Status | Active; products in dealer stock in 2026 |
| Website | palstar.com |
Palstar is an American maker of amateur radio station equipment based in Piqua, Ohio. It is known mainly for high-power manual antenna tuners built around roller inductors and large variable capacitors, and it also makes an automatic tuner, a solid-state amplifier, wattmeters, dummy loads and accessories. The company was founded in the 1990s by Paul Hrivnak and was active as of 2026.
History
Palstar Inc. is based in Piqua, a small city in western Ohio north of Dayton. According to the company, its founder, Paul Hrivnak, began his career as an electrical engineer at Ford in Detroit, later worked in cable television, and in the 1980s started an earlier amateur radio business, Vectronics. He founded Palstar in the 1990s, after becoming a US citizen. The company gives no exact year, and business directories give both 1996 and 1999. It has remained a small company. Hrivnak's wife, Eva Hrivnak, is its vice president, and its European distributor credits her as co-founder, responsible for the design and appearance of the tuners.
Palstar's manual tuners for HF stations form the core of its range. Alongside them it makes the HF-Auto, an automatic tuner for high-power stations, and the LA-1K, a 1,000-watt solid-state amplifier designed to work with the HF-Auto. Palstar equipment is sold through amateur radio dealers in the US and in Europe, and in October 2026 most of the line was listed as in stock at a large US dealer.
Amateur radio products
- Manual T-network tuners: the AT2K, rated at 2,000 watts PEP for 1.8 to 54 MHz, with two variable capacitors on reduction drives, a roller inductor with a crank and a built-in cross-needle meter; the higher-rated AT4K and AT5K; and the lower-power AT-500.
- Differential tuner: the AT2KD, which uses a differential capacitor, two capacitor sections on one shaft so that one increases as the other decreases, to simplify tuning.
- Balanced tuner: the BT1500A, a tuner for balanced feed lines such as ladder line, rated at 1,500 watts.
- Automatic tuner: the HF-Auto, rated at 1,800 watts and covering 1.8 to 54 MHz.
- Amplifier: the LA-1K, a 1,000-watt PEP solid-state amplifier for 1.8 to 54 MHz.
- Accessories: the PM2000A cross-needle wattmeter, the DL1500 air-cooled dummy load, an electronic keyer, and communications speakers.