I do not have need of a tuner for any antennas so I am looking at this from a K3/K3/KPA500 configuration
The Magic Box to control: - Minimum of 4 antennas per bank. Additional banks can be added so if you have an antenna per band for bands such as 160-6M or more you can accommodate them. - There could be Bank A - which could have multiple banks to cover multiple antennas to give you Bank A1, A2, A3, A4, etc. - There could also be Bank B (and also C, D, etc.) which also could have a set of antennas - Using the K3 Ant1/Ant2 switch to control two antennas per band - Bank A and Bank B. (This is the one feature that isn't available off the shelf, at least I can't find it). - Auto position so the programmed antenna for a particular band tracks the K3 or multiple K3's. - Manual position (on the Magic Box or on the PC screen) with indicators to select and show which Bank (antenna) has been selected. The indicators can be programmable for a particular antenna. - An easy way to select antenna in a stack Hey, maybe two KRC2's with a DIGIOUT1 interface controlling which KRC2 is selected? That would take care of my needs. 73, N2TK, Tony -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Eric Swartz - WA6HHQ, Elecraft Sent: Wednesday, July 13, 2011 2:13 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [Elecraft] KPA500 and KAT500 Ports I'd like to redirect this discussion to what is be desired for an external antenna / rig switching add-on box for the K3/KPA500 and/or KAT500. This question may have been missed in my original posting (below). From that posting: A much better solution for those needing more than two auto-selected antennas is to use an external relay switch box, controlled by the radio. This has the advantage of getting the cables, clutter, and switching network off the desktop and either under the table or outside. There are certainly a number of external antenna switches out there that can do this, but if we offered something that was tightly integrated with the K3 (and KPA500/KAT500) as a product, what features would be desirable? (Number of antennas, rigs inputs, switching options etc.) 73, Eric WA6HHQ --- www.elecraft.com On 7/12/2011 3:34 PM, Eric Swartz - WA6HHQ, Elecraft wrote: > Hi Gary, > > Having 4-5 RG8 antenna cables, plus the input cable, hanging out the > back of the desktop ATU is both likely to pull the ATU off the desk, and > will easily not fit in the box size we are planning. It also adds a lot > of complexity and cost to the basic ATU in order to accommodate more > connections with the needed isolation etc. We certainly do not want to > price the ATU out of the range of most hams, or make it too large. > > Many of us use manual or automatic switches external to the amp / tuner > to provide these functions. > > A much better solution for those needing more than two auto-selected > antennas is to use an external relay switch box, controlled by the > radio. This has the advantage of getting the cables, clutter, and > switching network off the desktop and either under the table or outside. > There are certainly a number of external antenna switches out there that > can do this, but if we offered something that was tightly integrated > with the K3 (and KPA500/KAT500) as a product, what features would be > desirable? (Number of antennas, rigs inputs, switching options etc.) > ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[email protected] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[email protected] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
