[TowerTalk] Ameritron RCS-4 question

[Al Kozakiewicz]

I have a lifetime supply of 70's vintage TTL.  Until I discovered the PIC, I probably would have done what you suggest with a BCD decoder chip.

I personally think the Arduino is an oddball device, though it is open source and already assembled.  The PIC has a very large user base and the basic IDE and assembler are free.  Supported high level languages like C and VB are not free. For simple combinatorial logic and sequencing, I found the assembler sufficiently easy to learn.

At any rate, unlike the Arduino, a PIC based decoder can be made for less than $10 in parts and the parts count would be about the same as the hard wired BCD circuit.  You'll need a couple extra parts if you're going to use the digial inputs that are shared with the programming pins on some devices. Adding support for both Icom and Kenwood in addition to the Yaesu BCD would involve only software changes.

IMO, and I have no special knowledge of QSTs editorial policy, a PIC based programmable device would have more publishing appeal based on the opportunity to teach new technology than the hard wired circuit.

Since I got beyond the hump in the learning curve, I'll never go back to hard wired logic even for simple circuits.

To give you an idea of the range and power, the ARI-500 auto band switcher for the Ameritron AL-500 and ALS-600 amplifiers and the MFJ-259B analyzer are both PIC based designs. The essence of the ARI-500 is functionally identical to what you are trying to accomplish.

Al
AB2ZY

-----Original Message-----
From: towertalk-bounces at contesting.com [mailto:towertalk-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of Charlie Gallo
Sent: Tuesday, September 27, 2011 10:13 PM
To: towertalk at contesting.com
Subject: [TowerTalk] Ameritron RCS-4 question

Hi Gang,
I hope this is considered "On topic" as it's antenna system related

Back in May, when I put in my new antennas, I put in an Ameritron RCS-4 antenna switch, and I still think it's the right switch for my use (only 3 antennas, so no need for more than that, and not having to run an extra cable for the remote switch was a big factor for me).  

Anyway, the RCS-4 has no way to automate it for band switching.  Does anyone know of a retrofit kit to add this?  I'm in the middle of designing one, but I'd LIKE to not reinvent the wheel if there is already out there Designing one is  not hard to do for myself (Ardunio and some relay drivers, and a small matter of code), but I'm also thinking of designing one around a BCD decoder chip, 4 transistors, a few  relays etc and the like (MUCH MUCH cheaper, and would not take a computer to reprogram), and submit an article to QST




--
73 de KG2V - Charles Gallo
Quality Custom Machine-shop work for the radio amateur (sm)

My Website: http://www.thegallos.com

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