Towertalk
[Top] [All Lists]

[TowerTalk] 9 circle RX array combiner board

To: "tower and HF Antenna Construction Topics." <towertalk@contesting.com>
Subject: [TowerTalk] 9 circle RX array combiner board
From: VE6WZ_Steve <ve6wz@shaw.ca>
Date: Sun, 1 Mar 2020 15:24:02 -0700
List-post: <mailto:towertalk@contesting.com>
Just like some guys enjoy woodworking and making furniture that they may not 
really need, I like to build radio things just for the fun of the project even 
though I may not really “need” it.  For three years I have been using the 
original 9 circle RX array kit that I bought from DX-engineering, and it has 
performed well, but I wanted to build my own and add my own design tweaks.

Using KiCad, I have designed and built a 9 circle RX array combiner with a 
2N5109 pre-amplifier integrated onto the same board.

The phase/combiner circuit and direction switching is the same as that designed 
by John W1FV which was developed with the YCCC and marketed by DX-engineering 
(no longer sold). The pre-amplifier is the 2N5109 circuit developed and refined 
by Larry W7IUV.

I made a YouTube video to show what I did.  I know some guys may not like 
watching videos, but I spent my professional career writing technical papers 
and I have no interest in doing that anymore (I am NOT an engineer, I am a 
geologist).  I can make a video pretty quick and cover most of the basics.

In the video I describe the board layout and explain the basics of how the 
combiner works. I talk about the basic construction methods I use, but this is 
NOT a step-by-step "how to build it" project. If you want to build one of 
these, please carefully read and understand the great documentation that was 
provided by the YCCC (link provided) so you can build the transformers and wire 
things correctly.  This video is only meant to share what I did and provide 
anyone interested with the PCB file if they want to build their own.

On the YouTube page I have a link to the KiCad PCB file if you want to order 
your own boards (I order my boards from OSH park) and a link to an EXCEL file 
for a parts list BOM.

YouTube video here: https://youtu.be/utyJt_Clp3M <https://youtu.be/utyJt_Clp3M>

73, de steve ve6wz
_______________________________________________



_______________________________________________
TowerTalk mailing list
TowerTalk@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
<Prev in Thread] Current Thread [Next in Thread>