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[TowerTalk] Remote Antenna Switches

To: <towertalk@contesting.com>
Subject: [TowerTalk] Remote Antenna Switches
From: stevek@jmr.com (Steve Katz)
Date: Tue Feb 4 15:27:27 2003
> Steve,
> 
> This switch will work very well at VHF and UHF frequencies.  See:
> <http://www.eham.net/classifieds/detail/75982>
> 
> Big photo at: <http://www.w2fla.com/switch.jpg>
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Sherm
> W2FLA
> 
        [Steve Katz]  Hi Sherm, I looked at the photos and I don't see why
this design would work at VHF or UHF -- lots of series inductance shown
there (buss wiring between rotary switch and SO-239 connectors), lots of
stray capacitance in such a design, too.  I'd wager to guess that on a
network analyzer, this switch looks bad above about 50 MHz, but if you'd
like me to measure it, I surely can, in about five minutes.  The Transco
switches I referred to aren't anything like this, they are built as a
rotating 50 Ohm coaxial line section activated by a motor, kind of like a
motorized Bird Electronics coaxial switch (the kind you have to push,
rotate, then pull, to move from one port to another).  That's the kind of
design that has <0.2 dB loss at 1 GHz and >60 dB port to port isolation.
-WB2WIK/6











> At 11:01 AM 02/04/2003 -0800, you wrote:
> 
> 
>       Homebrew switches using relays do not fare well at VHF, and less so
> at UHF.
>       Relay and wiring reactance takes over pretty quickly.  Even using
> small form
>       factor relays interconnected by a good circuit board layout such as
>       Ameritron does, performance drops off pretty quickly above 144 MHz
> for the
>       "control line" version, and the "biased through the coax" version is
> worse.
>       
>       For VHF-UHF remote antenna switching, I'd go with surplus Transco
> motorized
>       coaxial switches.  Pretty much what everybody uses at VHF and above,
> most of
>       the Transcos are good to at least 2 GHz, some higher.
>       
>       -WB2WIK/6
>       
>       "Success is the ability to go from failure to failure with no loss
> of
>       enthusiasm." -Winston Churchill
>       
>       > -----Original Message-----
>       > From: KG4QDZ [SMTP:kg4qdz@arrl.net]
>       > Sent: Tuesday, February 04, 2003 9:46 AM
>       > To:   towertalk@contesting.com
>       > Subject:      Re: [TowerTalk] Remote Antenna Switches
>       > 
>       > I am trying to design something similar.
>       > Have you measured loss? How do you think these would do at VHF/
> low UHF
>       > freqs? Has anyone tried these at higher freqs?
>       > 
>       > 73 Skip (KG4QDZ)
>       > 
>       > 
>       > ----- Original Message ----- >
>       > > I made my own switch box.  I used 10 amp Radio Shack relays.  I
> have had
>       > one
>       > > relay burn up on me when I was having trouble with one of my
> mono
>       > banders,
>       > > and I burned the insulator on an SO-239 when the PL-259 barrell
>       > loosened.
>       > I
>       > > run 1500 watts cw & ssb, 160, 80, 40, 30, 20, 15 & 10, and the
> box has
>       > been
>       > > in service for 9 years.  1500 watts into 50 ohms will have about
> 5 1/2
>       > amps
>       > > of current.
>       > >
>       > > And the relays are very similar to the ones in an Ameritron
> relay box
>       > that
>       > > was given to me.
>       > >
>       > > As long as the spring contacts have sufficient power rating, a
> little
>       > follow
>       > > (wiping action) when the contact makes or breaks, and mounted so
> the
>       > relay
>       > > springs are vertical (so any dust will fall out), You should be
> able to
>       > use
>       > > just about anybodies box.
>       > >
>       > > de Paul, W8AEF
>       > 
>       > 
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