[Boatanchors] Re: [Heathkit] ant. coax relay

[Glen Zook]

What you are looking for is a relay manufactured by
Dow-Key (and others).  If you can't find one at a
reasonable price, you can make your own antenna
changeover relay that will work fine on HF.

What you need is a heavy duty DPDT 120 VAC relay from
Radio Shack (less than $10 the last time I looked), a
minibox of the appropriate size (about $2 at Radio
Shack - they actually have a pretty good deal going on
aluminum project boxes as they call them), and 3
SO-239 connectors (again, you can get these from Radio
Shack).  

Mount the three antenna connectors on the larger piece
of the mini-box.  If it were me, I would mount one
connector on each of the three sides.  Drill two
additional 1/4 inch holes in one side (probably the
"long" side").  From one set of the DPDT connections
on the relay connect a piece of about 20 gauge wire
(or heavier, but 20 gauge works fine with lower power)
from each to an SO-239.  The center of these goes to
the antenna, the normally-closed to the receiver, and
the normally-open to the transmitter.  Make sure to
label the connectors appropriately.

Connect wires to the coil of the relay.  These will be
connected to the transmitter.  Connect three wires to
the other set of relay contacts.  These can be used to
mute the receiver, turn on a VFO, or whatever
depending on whether or not you use the normally-open
or normally-closed contacts.

Stick the relay to the small secton of the mini-box
when you are closing up the assembly using
double-backed foam tape.  The relays from Radio Shack
are all enclosed in a clear plastic cover.  Put in the
4 sheet metal screws to hold the mini-box together and
you have a working antenna changeover relay that works
fine on 160 through 10 meters (will work OK on 6
meters as well).

The easiest way to connect this assembly to the
transmitter is to use a double male connector to
connect directly from the SO-239 on the back of the
transmitter to the relay assembly (the transmitter, of
course - it works best if this connection is on one of
the smaller ends of the mini-box).

If you use just a little care, the assembly will look
good, work good, cost less than $20, and you will have
the satisfaction of building it yourself.

Glen, K9STH


--- Michael Stoller <k4rdd1@comcast.net> wrote:

All I need now is a coax ant. change over relay for my
DX 60. Seems to require 110 vac coil. Does anyone have
one available for sale or know where I can buy one?


=====
Glen, K9STH

Web sites

http://home.attbi.com/~k9sth
http://home.attbi.com/~zcomco

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