I had the privilege of talking with Julius, W2IHY about a new product that he is working on, hoping to have it ready to show by Dayton 2010. He called it a "Coax Switch", but after reviewing the information he sent me, I think it's much more appropriate to call it a "Station Switch".
In its most basic form, this new switch is a 3x3 coax switch, switching between 3 radios and 3 antennas. The switching is performed via high powered relays, with load protection built in to prevent accidentally keying a radio into a high SWR antenna. There is also one additional output port for a dummy load. From this basic description, the device sounds fairly basic, although useful. However, it gets way better from here.
The switch also has an intermediate output and an input port. This means that you can take up to three transceivers, output them from the switch to an amplifier and tuner, and then input those back into the switch to select your antenna. In reality, this switch is a 3 transceiver input to 1 output, then 1 input to 3 antenna (+1 dummy load) output. The switch is capable of handling legal-limit-plus power...Julius estimates 2KW, no problem. Using this new switch, it's conceivable that you could have three different rigs, one tuner and one big amplifier followed by three different antennas, using the switch to change transceivers and antennas. That sounds marvelous to me.
As if that wasn't enough, the kicker is that this station switch also has ALC input & output so you can send multiple rigs' ALC output into the switch with the ALC output to your amp controlled by the same switch as the rig switch. It also provides the amp keying circuit so you can key your amp from any of the three rigs hooked up. If you use two of the W2IHY Station Switches, it's conceivable that you could use 3 rigs with 3 amps, and 3 antennas!
Lastly, the whole switch is able to be remotely controlled by the W2IHY iPlus Mic switch. The stand alone purpose of the iPlus is to switch a common audio input between 3 rigs. If you hook this up to the new station switch, you can use one Mic with the W2IHY audio gear, hook up multiple rigs and antennas, and switch between all of them by just a press of the button on the iPlus. For me, this sounds like a must have piece of equipment for anyone with more than one antenna and more than one rig!
I promised Julian that I would not share the diagrams and detailed information that he sent me, but rest assured, this will be a very cool accessory. The block diagrams I've graciously been provided are not for public release, so Please don't bug Julius for more information about this device before it is ready to be previewed at Dayton.
I've provided all of the information that he wishes to be made public at this time, so stay tuned and check back here for more details as they become available. While I've not seen prototypes, the schematics and descriptions that he has provided to me truly impress. I already have a need for this device and have wished on many occasions that there was such a device. I'm sure others will express the same sentiment.
Look here for more info as it becomes available.
In its most basic form, this new switch is a 3x3 coax switch, switching between 3 radios and 3 antennas. The switching is performed via high powered relays, with load protection built in to prevent accidentally keying a radio into a high SWR antenna. There is also one additional output port for a dummy load. From this basic description, the device sounds fairly basic, although useful. However, it gets way better from here.
The switch also has an intermediate output and an input port. This means that you can take up to three transceivers, output them from the switch to an amplifier and tuner, and then input those back into the switch to select your antenna. In reality, this switch is a 3 transceiver input to 1 output, then 1 input to 3 antenna (+1 dummy load) output. The switch is capable of handling legal-limit-plus power...Julius estimates 2KW, no problem. Using this new switch, it's conceivable that you could have three different rigs, one tuner and one big amplifier followed by three different antennas, using the switch to change transceivers and antennas. That sounds marvelous to me.
As if that wasn't enough, the kicker is that this station switch also has ALC input & output so you can send multiple rigs' ALC output into the switch with the ALC output to your amp controlled by the same switch as the rig switch. It also provides the amp keying circuit so you can key your amp from any of the three rigs hooked up. If you use two of the W2IHY Station Switches, it's conceivable that you could use 3 rigs with 3 amps, and 3 antennas!
Lastly, the whole switch is able to be remotely controlled by the W2IHY iPlus Mic switch. The stand alone purpose of the iPlus is to switch a common audio input between 3 rigs. If you hook this up to the new station switch, you can use one Mic with the W2IHY audio gear, hook up multiple rigs and antennas, and switch between all of them by just a press of the button on the iPlus. For me, this sounds like a must have piece of equipment for anyone with more than one antenna and more than one rig!
I promised Julian that I would not share the diagrams and detailed information that he sent me, but rest assured, this will be a very cool accessory. The block diagrams I've graciously been provided are not for public release, so Please don't bug Julius for more information about this device before it is ready to be previewed at Dayton.
I've provided all of the information that he wishes to be made public at this time, so stay tuned and check back here for more details as they become available. While I've not seen prototypes, the schematics and descriptions that he has provided to me truly impress. I already have a need for this device and have wished on many occasions that there was such a device. I'm sure others will express the same sentiment.
Look here for more info as it becomes available.
