Both the Keystone and Fireview have ports on the back where you can put in a catalyst probe thermometer. It comes in more or less parallel to the face of the cat. The stock probe is 8". When you have the bypass open and are ramping the stove up to temp so you can close the bypass and light off, the probe reading will go to...well, I don't know how high it would go because I always cut the air and level it off at about 1000. After holding there for about 10 min. I close the bypass and the cat will start glowing...but the probe temp falls to under 900. 
From watching the probes on the Dutchwest and the Buck 91, I know that when the cat is glowing, the probe should be reading 1000-1600. Checking into this, I found that the tip of the 8" probe doesn't quite reach over the edge of the cat. So I called Condar and she told me they had a 9" probe. I said 'Great, I'll take it." Well, they sent me an 11". Fine, whatever, I'll cut it off, even though it will corrode faster without the plating on the end. Installed, it was reaching over the edge of the cat frame and I figured I would get a good reading. I had to bend it slightly to get the tip to sit where I wanted it.
So I fire up the stove, get up to temp, and light the cat. The 9" probe is reading even lower than the 8"! Ay, caramba!
Now I'm thinking that when the probe gets that long, it can't transmit the temp at the tip all the way back to the dial. The Buck probe comes in at the same angle, but it's only 6"...works fine. I guess the only way I'm going to get a true cat reading on this stove is to drill through the top and heat shield like @Todd and @fox9988 did, where it comes in at a right angle to the cat face and is only a couple inches long like the Dutchwest, or else figure out how to get a themocouple in there...
From watching the probes on the Dutchwest and the Buck 91, I know that when the cat is glowing, the probe should be reading 1000-1600. Checking into this, I found that the tip of the 8" probe doesn't quite reach over the edge of the cat. So I called Condar and she told me they had a 9" probe. I said 'Great, I'll take it." Well, they sent me an 11". Fine, whatever, I'll cut it off, even though it will corrode faster without the plating on the end. Installed, it was reaching over the edge of the cat frame and I figured I would get a good reading. I had to bend it slightly to get the tip to sit where I wanted it. So I fire up the stove, get up to temp, and light the cat. The 9" probe is reading even lower than the 8"! Ay, caramba!
Now I'm thinking that when the probe gets that long, it can't transmit the temp at the tip all the way back to the dial. The Buck probe comes in at the same angle, but it's only 6"...works fine. I guess the only way I'm going to get a true cat reading on this stove is to drill through the top and heat shield like @Todd and @fox9988 did, where it comes in at a right angle to the cat face and is only a couple inches long like the Dutchwest, or else figure out how to get a themocouple in there...
When the stove is low on coals, I push 'em back and put a couple of splits in the front row (E-W loader,) the top split a flat one. I put shovel a few big coals on top of the flat split, then load a couple splits in the back row. I put a couple tiny tinder slivers or a SuperCedar chunk in with the coals and let that flame up while I finish loading the back. Then I put a couple kindling pieces on the front tinder and close the door. I watch the fire and adjust the air to keep lively, but not roaring, flame in the box. The surface meter on the rear-vent tee, about 6" back, may rise faster than the "flue-exit meter" (cat probe) at this point, depending on the amount of flame in the box, and weather any wood is blocking the path of that flame to the flue exit. My goal is to level the tee meter at 500 or so, and the flue-exit meter at about 1000. Then I cut the air to hold there for about 10-15 min. At that point, even though the stove top meter is reading well below the 250 suggested in the manual, maybe only 150-170, I can close the bypass and get a reliable light-off, with the cat glowing in a minute or less. I may then leave a little flame in the box for a few minutes, depending on how vigorously the cat has lit off. Then I cut the air to my final setting in a couple of steps, somewhere between .5-1.0.
