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Ah 4 Control Cable

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My current antenna is the B.A.L. -- a large, horizontal loop that's about 150 meters of wire about 15-20 meters up in the trees around the yard. I think it's a great all band antenna.

Control cable for ICOM AH-4 (AH-3), replace your damaged or missing cable or buy the longer version to replace your shorter original cable. Four high quality 18 gauge stranded real copper wires, 100% shielded (foil) with shield runner wire that is tied to the black wire of the control cable at both ends. Best light torrent. Whocrashed portable download for windows 10.

  • The AH-4 is enclosed in a weatherproof housing and is capable of being permanently installed outdoors. It interfaces to the radio with the coaxial feed line and a 4-conductor control cable. The cable carries the 12 volt power and ground, and the KEY and START control lines.
  • Control cable for ICOM AH-4 (AH-3), replace your damaged or missing cable or buy the longer version to replace your shorter original cable. Four high quality 18 gauge stranded real copper wires, 100% shielded (foil) with shield runner wire that is tied to the black wire of the control cable at both ends.
  • Icom AH-4 and AH-3 ( automatic antenna tuner ) connection to any radio Both AH-3 and AH-4 are similar. Here is a redesign of connection digram of the ICOM IC-AH3 and IC-AH4 by 5B4AEZ. There is four wire control cable coming out beside coax cable. Control cable has White: Start tuning.
I buried a couple of coax runs from the shack wall to a spot about 15m away behind a large bush. The ladder line from the loop falls down to this spot so I do not have wires directly hanging off the house (which makes the YL happy). I was using a DX Engineering MAXI-CORE Balun and was happy with the results. (As an aside: I love hamfests! I picked up this used balun for a song.) I used this setup for a few years and have been pretty happy with the results.
Since the loop is a non-resonant antenna, the SWR can be high. I've been using the tuners built into my transceivers (Elecraft K2 & K3) but have been concerned about loss in the coax. Since I only run 100 watts or less, I want every bit of power to get to the antenna and not be used to heat the coax. Placing a tuner at the end of the coax run is supposed to reduce the coax loss. I had always planned on adding a remote tuner when the budget allowed. When I buried the coax, I also threw in a couple of runs of CAT-5 cable that I had laying around for use for some sort of remote control.
The remote connection at the end of the coax run
I recently acquired an Icom AH-4 remote antenna tuner. I am using one of the CAT-5 runs as the control cable for the AH-4; I simply used each twisted pair together for the power and control signals. I no longer use the balun.
All connected and ready to go!
Since I am using this tuner with a non-Icom radio, I needed a way to tell the tuner to initiate the tune cycle. I whipped up the circuit described as the universal controller and it seems to do the job. (Edit Jan 2019: The link to the universal controller diagram http://www.k2.dion.ne.jp/%7Esradio/AH-4En.htm no longer works! There is a discussion on eham with a diagram that I think is similar.) I do plan on building a better controller that will initiate the tune cycle and then key the radio automatically.
The 'controller' in the shack
I've been very happy with the tuner so far. It finds a decent match (less then 1.5:1) on all bands and I believe it has made a difference. I don't have empirical evidence to support that, though! At least I no longer worry about loss in the coax..

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Using antenna tuner AH-4 with IC-705

Shipment of IC-705 to retailers has started. Download imagenomic for mac. The antenna tuner for the IC-705 is 'to be released', but 'I want to use the wire antenna with the IC-705 soon', so I tried to verify whether the AH-4 can be used with the IC-705.

IC-705 TUNER Jack and plug pin assignment

The IC-705 has a 'TUNER jack' on the right side, and is said to be 'connectable to an IC-705 dedicated antenna tuner that will be released at a later date.'


IC-705 TUNER jack position.

The TUNER plug is a 3-pole stereo plug with [KEY], [START], and [GND] assigned from the tip.


Pin assignment of IC-705 TUNER plug.

To connect AH-4 to IC-705

IC-705 does not have AH-4 connector like IC-7610 or IC-7300, but connect each control line from AH-4 side and GND to TUNER jack, and separately add 13.8V to AH-4. Once supplied, the IC-705 will also be able to use the AH-4…

Cable


Connection diagram of AH-4 and IC-7300. The AH-4 is powered by 13.8V from the radio itself.


Connection diagram of AH-4 and IC-705. Connect AH-4 and IC-705 to the same external power supply, and ground properly from the GND terminal.

To connect AH-4 to IC-705, connect each control line (KEY and START) and GND line from AH-4 side to the tip and ring of Φ3.5 stereo plug so that 13.8V can be supplied separately. To process. You can get a Φ3.5 stereo plug at a parts shop, but if you just want to verify the operation, a screw-type conversion connector is convenient.


The screw-type conversion connector that can be wired directly to the 3-pin terminal is convenient for wiring confirmation.

To connect the IC-705 and AH-4, prepare either of the following cables.
(1) AH-4 control cable that is specially processed for IC-705 connection using Φ3.5mm plug.
(2) A conversion cable to be attached to the AH-4 control cable connector using the AH-4 connector (female side) parts.

In the case of (1), the control cable attached to the AH-4 will be processed, so I would like to avoid this, and use one side of the separately purchased 4-core shielded cable as the J2 connector of the AH-4 and the other side. Processed so that it can be connected to IC-705. (Red part of the above connection diagram)

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The purchased 4-core shielded cable. It can be purchased in units of 1m, and there is a discount if it exceeds 10m.

In the case of (2), a cable of several tens of centimeters is sufficient, so if there is no problem with shortening the control cable that comes with the AH-4 standard, cut the required length from the AH-4 main unit side before using. Would be fine. The shell and pin of the AH-4 side connector (female side) of the conversion cable can be requested for purchase (cash on delivery) from the Icom Support Center mail form.


Parts for AH-4 connectors can be ordered from the Icom Support Center mail form.


A conversion cable that I made by ordering the AH-4 connector (female side) parts.

Control Cable Inc Baltimore Md

Connection and operation check

Since the IC-705 has not arrived at hand, I borrowed the display machine of the ham shop to check the operation. When checking the IC-705 function screen before connecting the AH-4, it is natural that [TUNER] cannot be selected.


IC-705 function screen before AH-4 connection.

Next, connect both AH-4 and IC-705 to the same stabilized power supply with the power off, and turn on the power in the order of AH-4 → IC-705. When I checked the function screen of IC-705, the text [TUNER] was displayed in white this time, and when I touched it for a long time (about 1 second), it changed from OFF to ON.


IC-705 function screen after connecting AH-4.

When tuning is started with the external antenna tuner, the [TUNE] display flashes red in the upper left of the IC-705 screen, and when tuning is completed, the [TUNE] display changes to lit.


TUNE display on the upper left of the IC-705 screen. When tuning is done, it lights up as shown in the figure.

Precautions when using the AH-4 and expectations for a dedicated antenna tuner

Shielded Control Cable

By connecting AH-4 to IC-705, it was confirmed that it works theoretically. I was able to tune without any problems, but it seems that there are some bands whose detection of tuning completion is more severe than other radios. The tuning power of the AH-4 is 10W, and the instruction manual for the AH-4 also states 'If you are using a 10W machine, set the transmission output to high power (10W).' In conclusion, I feel that it is possible to operate with IC-705 connected to AH-4, but it is also necessary to divide it from provisional operation.

The IC-705 is compact and can be operated with a battery. In order to maximize the enjoyment, I wanted a dedicated antenna tuner as soon as possible!

Icom Ah-4 Control Cable


At the summit of Asahidake, Hokkaido. I used RH-770 to communicate with ID-51 in the 144MHz/430MHz band.
With the IC-705 and a dedicated antenna tuner, the fun of wireless is likely to spread.

Enjoy the RICE CRACKERS AND LANTERN





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