I would not depend on the coax as your return for ground - what if you
accidentally disconnect it from the rig (which has a common ground with
the rest of the station....right?)
You would never get a closure then!
Run 6 and be sure - two runs of house wire makes a good choice for
"fuhgetaboutit" care free usage of an RCS8V.
k4oj
Steve Katz wrote:
>Hi Charlie,
>
>The RCS-8V that I have requires a separate ground wire, in addition to the
>5-wire control cable, in order to function. Each of the five wires between
>the control box and the relay box (tower mount) goes to one "hot" side of
>each relay (5 of them). There is no ground return in the 5-wire cable. The
>ground return, which is common to all 5 relays, is provided by the coaxial
>cable shield. Without it, nothing works.
>
>WB2WIK/6
>
>"If everything seems under control, you're just not going fast enough." -
>Mario Andretti
>
>
>
>>-----Original Message-----
>>From: Charley Schwartz [SMTP:charley@net1plus.com]
>>Sent: Monday, October 14, 2002 9:08 AM
>>To: 'Joe Barnes'
>>Cc: towertalk@contesting.com
>>Subject: Re: [Towertalk] ameritron rcs-8v
>>
>>The RCS-8V uses a control cable as the original poster stated. The RCS-4
>>uses
>>the coax between the control box and the remote box and superimposes a
>>rectified
>>AC signal on the center conductor of the coax.
>>
>>I believe you have the common misconnected to one of the relays. You
>>should be
>>able to verify this by connecting an ohm meter between the relay control
>>lines
>>to the remote box and the coax ground to the box. Verify on the
>>instruction
>>sheet that the common on the controls is also the common on the coax. (On
>>a
>>spare box I have the common control line is common to the metal panel/coax
>>shields). The other lines are several tens of ohms. Note that between
>>relay
>>control lien to relay control line you will see two relay coils and the
>>control
>>cable resistance. The resistance will not just double between the relay
>>control
>>lines and the relay control line to ground.
>>
>>I have used at least a dozen of these RCS-8V boxes and several RCS-4 boxes
>>without problem. I would assume it to be a wiring error.
>>
>>Charley W1TE
>>
>>
>>
>>Steve Katz wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>>>Joe, the RCS-8V gets its ground, normally, by the coaxial cable shield
>>>
>>>
>>on
>>
>>
>>>the main feedline between the shack (station) and the RCS-8V relay
>>>
>>>
>>switch
>>
>>
>>>box. You can add your own supplemental ground if you wish, but if you
>>>
>>>
>>don't
>>
>>
>>>have a grounded coaxial cable running from station to switch box, the
>>>
>>>
>>box is
>>
>>
>>>floating and the relays won't operate.
>>>
>>>WB2WIK/6
>>>
>>>"If everything seems under control, you're just not going fast enough."
>>>
>>>
>>-
>>
>>
>>>Mario Andretti
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>>-----Original Message-----
>>>>From: Joe Barnes [SMTP:n4jbk@bellsouth.net]
>>>>Sent: Monday, October 14, 2002 7:46 AM
>>>>To: towertalk@contesting.com
>>>>Subject: [Towertalk] ameritron rcs-8v
>>>>
>>>>This past saturday I put an ameritron rcs-8v up on the tower, I am
>>>>
>>>>
>>using 5
>>
>>
>>>>conductor #18 wire as the control wire. When I tried to use the
>>>>
>>>>
>>antennas I
>>
>>
>>>>found that the switch was not selecting any of the antennas connected
>>>>
>>>>
>>to
>>
>>
>>>>it. Checking the back of the control box I found that all of the
>>>>
>>>>
>>terminals
>>
>>
>>>>had about 15.8 volts on them. When I disconnected the control box from
>>>>
>>>>
>>the
>>
>>
>>>>wire there was voltage only on the terminal selected. I checked the
>>>>resistance between the wires and found it to be 250 ohms. When I first
>>>>hooked up the switch the tower was not grounded ( just put the tower
>>>>
>>>>
>>up
>>
>>
>>>>the day before) . Does anyone w\know if this switch gets ground via
>>>>
>>>>
>>the
>>
>>
>>>>tower? and does anyone have an idea of what is wrong with my brand new
>>>>ameritron switch?
>>>>
>>>>Thank you , Joe N4JBK
>>>>
>>>>--- StripMime Report -- processed MIME parts ---
>>>>multipart/alternative
>>>> text/plain (text body -- kept)
>>>> text/html
>>>>---
>>>>_______________________________________________
>>>>AN Wireless Self Supporting Towers at discounted prices,
>>>>See http://www.mscomputer.com
>>>>
>>>>Wireless Weather Stations now $349.95. Call Toll Free,
>>>>888-333-9041 for additional information.
>>>>_______________________________________________
>>>>Towertalk mailing list
>>>>Towertalk@contesting.com
>>>>http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
>>>>
>>>>
>>>_______________________________________________
>>>AN Wireless Self Supporting Towers at discounted prices,
>>>See http://www.mscomputer.com
>>>
>>>Wireless Weather Stations now $349.95. Call Toll Free,
>>>888-333-9041 for additional information.
>>>_______________________________________________
>>>Towertalk mailing list
>>>Towertalk@contesting.com
>>>http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
>>>
>>>
>>_______________________________________________
>>AN Wireless Self Supporting Towers at discounted prices,
>>See http://www.mscomputer.com
>>
>>Wireless Weather Stations now $349.95. Call Toll Free,
>>888-333-9041 for additional information.
>>_______________________________________________
>>Towertalk mailing list
>>Towertalk@contesting.com
>>http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
>>
>>
>_______________________________________________
>AN Wireless Self Supporting Towers at discounted prices,
>See http://www.mscomputer.com
>
>Wireless Weather Stations now $349.95. Call Toll Free,
>888-333-9041 for additional information.
>_______________________________________________
>Towertalk mailing list
>Towertalk@contesting.com
>http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
>
>
>
--- StripMime Report -- processed MIME parts ---
multipart/alternative
text/plain (text body -- kept)
text/html
---
|