My goal for 2022 was to automate the process Option 2: This would be my “dream” setup With the station and antennas optimized to our liking, only issue we had was switching antennas. Of course we complicate things over the years by adding a tower with a beam and multiple antennas. It started as a simple 2 station effort with wires in the trees. I help out with a small (private) field day operation. Field Day Option With 2X IC-705, 2 PCs, Router/Switch, KK1L 2X6 w/ FreqEZ, BPFs, Triplexor and Antennas (Goal 1) One is for a 2A (2 Station) field day option and the other is for home. I have two goals in mind for this project. It was developed for all sorts of hardware and applications.

For anyone planning to follow along, The FreqEZII wasn’t developed FOR the KK1L 2X6. Larry (K8UT, FEZ2 dev) was currently developing features such as constraints to also prevent multiple radios from choosing the same antenna. Ron assured me that even if something happened with the software/controller, it won’t be able to connect both radios (inputs) to the same antenna (output) as designed by the hardware. Larry (K8UT) also assured me that it could work but at the time wasn’t sure about preventing the hardware and/or software from having both radios choose the same antenna. Yes they will! Even Ron (KK1L) was interested in the FEZ2 and was implementing it into his station. Larry also developed software for Windows that could take data from BCD, UDP broadcasts from certain logging software (N1MM, DXlabs) to automatically switch antennas and you can also control it manually through the software. I had a few Raspberry Pis laying around from other projects (ADSB, RTLSDR). It utilizes a Raspberry Pi (RPi) and to top it off, he developed hardware that uses the RPi’s GPIO pins. It had everything I wanted in a controller.

While researching another project (MORRTY) and from a suggestion from a fellow ham on IRC, I came across the FreqEZ II by Larry, K8UT (Will call it FEZ2 from now on) I didn’t think much at first until I clicked on the link. During my research I was unaware there can be multiple ways to control the relay board. However, I wasn’t really a fan of his controller and held off purchasing the 2X6 because of it. Ron only sells the PC boards but he does provide a really nice mouser list that you can import into your shopping cart. I’m aware of many people who have purchased it and use it in their shack without much issue. KK1L 2X6 Kitįirst was the KK1L 2X6 PCB Kit. I found it’s possible to create a 2X6 automated switch that can be networked controlled if you combine two projects. Since I didn’t have much knowledge in creating a RF friendly PCB and don’t know how to create the code for an Arduino or Raspberry Pi project, I looked for people that already done to the work. It’s possible to do an automated antenna switch yourself but that depends on you value your time. – There are many options of automated/remote switching out there but either it didn’t support automated switching what I wanted or the price was just too much Do It Yourself Snaptekk, Remoterigs, DXEngineering and others. There is also development being made for a 2X6 which is promising. For around $250USD (switch + bias T) that’s not bad at all. It’s controlled by Wifi (ESP32 Module) with a web interface and uses the coax to power the relays using a Bias-T circuit. I’m looking for a 2X6 configuration and SO2R support I wasn’t interested in this project at the time because it was being developed as a 1X4. As of writing this article, it appears they are in production. Team-XCR 4 Way Remote Switch – When I was initially researching switches, I’ve heard about this project but it was still in development. However, it’s quite expensive at around $875USD and that’s just the switch itself. The ‘Antenna Genius’ has everything I want in an antenna switch. Commercial OptionsĤO3A Antenna Genius– Ranko makes some quality products for the serious contester.

In a SO2R or 2O2R (2 operators, 2 radios) environment using two computers, I’d would like each computer to know what antenna the other is using.Īfter doing some research, there were a couple options. Goal is to have an automated antenna switch that can be controlled over the network and/or the internet. I needed some type of automated antenna switch. There are plans to add SO2R (Single Operator, 2 Radio) operation and have the option to use the station remotely in the future. After putting up multiple antennas at my QTH, it was frustrating having to manually switch between antennas.

Tuning fork and pvc pipe frequency lab