The existence of lightning means that I don't want any "extra" wires running from the antenna farm inside to the shack, especially wired straight-up to my radio. This leads to come additional requirements that might be considered for this market segment: 1) The remote relay box should be controlled wirelessly, perhaps RF or an LED down a fiber optic line (all plastic). Not a low voltage signaling or DC cable. 2) The remote relay box should be battery powered, and this obviously implies magnetically-latching relays (zero power to hold). Just a few mA in standby. 3) A small external solar panel can recharge the battery in the remote relay box during the day, without bringing power lines into the house. The end result of this design concept is that there is only *one* cable that runs into the house (the RF coaxial cable), and that can be heavily protected with lightning arrestors (and ultimately disconnection, air gap). P.S. I saw a video of a remote base where the owner used remote control linear motors to open a 50cm (2 foot) air gap by remote control. Very nice design.
Question. If you had multiple Antenna switch Box’s. Like 2 of the four unit . Is there a way to get them to talk to each other?? By the way . I’ll be purchasing one of you units. They look like fun to build . KG7JBL
The switches aren't designed to communicate with each other, but you can connect more than one to your computer and run multiple instances of the companion application. Not sure what your use case is, but would be glad to discuss possibilities with you - if you have some programming chops, you would be able to write something to link the switches together. 73 - WA4MCM
I’d like to be able to control it remotely. I have a raspberry pi (running digipi) controlling my ft-991a. Is there an API I can use to develop an app Instead of using the companion windows app?
Yes, the api is published in the operations manual: wa4mcmkits.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/RAAS-8a-Remote-Antenna-Switch-Operation-Manual-rev1.7.pdf
The existence of lightning means that I don't want any "extra" wires running from the antenna farm inside to the shack, especially wired straight-up to my radio.
This leads to come additional requirements that might be considered for this market segment:
1) The remote relay box should be controlled wirelessly, perhaps RF or an LED down a fiber optic line (all plastic). Not a low voltage signaling or DC cable.
2) The remote relay box should be battery powered, and this obviously implies magnetically-latching relays (zero power to hold). Just a few mA in standby.
3) A small external solar panel can recharge the battery in the remote relay box during the day, without bringing power lines into the house.
The end result of this design concept is that there is only *one* cable that runs into the house (the RF coaxial cable), and that can be heavily protected with lightning arrestors (and ultimately disconnection, air gap).
P.S. I saw a video of a remote base where the owner used remote control linear motors to open a 50cm (2 foot) air gap by remote control. Very nice design.
Interesting points.
I bought one at Dayton. Just finished building it. Very happy so far. Good job Don!
Don, I look forward to building and testing your product. 73 KN4YBA
Your kit is on its way!
Nice implementation...
How long can the control cable be and still have the remote relays operate reliably?
It depends on the wire size used. 24 gauge telephone wire will run at least 100 ft. Heavier wire will be able to run longer distances.
Question. If you had multiple Antenna switch Box’s. Like 2 of the four unit . Is there a way to get them to talk to each other??
By the way . I’ll be purchasing one of you units. They look like fun to build . KG7JBL
The switches aren't designed to communicate with each other, but you can connect more than one to your computer and run multiple instances of the companion application. Not sure what your use case is, but would be glad to discuss possibilities with you - if you have some programming chops, you would be able to write something to link the switches together.
73 - WA4MCM
I want one!!
I’d like to be able to control it remotely. I have a raspberry pi (running digipi) controlling my ft-991a. Is there an API I can use to develop an app Instead of using the companion windows app?
I see there’s RCforb server but it’s also windows. Anything like this in the Linux space ?
Yes, the api is published in the operations manual: wa4mcmkits.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/RAAS-8a-Remote-Antenna-Switch-Operation-Manual-rev1.7.pdf