This is an antenna tuner for the BC-610 and/or T368 Transmitter that would have been for the AN/GRC-26D — I received this unit and it turns out to be missin…

If you’ve always fancied having an antenna tuner up the tower or mast but have been put off by the complication of controlling it this could be for you. Plea…

32 replies
  1. AndyDaviesByTheSea
    AndyDaviesByTheSea says:

    Hi Mick only just got this message, don’t know why that should be? I’m not
    sure about the servo route, It was while I was looking at servos that I
    came up with the idea of the linked drive that doesn’t need any electronics
    to drive it as, as you say, not a good idea to blast a little receiver with
    a high diet of RF. Yep, if someone said ‘I’m going to hit your thumb with a
    16 ozs claw hammer with all the force they’d to use to knock a 4” nail with
    you’d give them the secret code. Andy GWØJXM

    Reply
  2. thefekete
    thefekete says:

    I haven’t actually sat down and modeled the mechanism but there’s a video
    showing how solidworks can simulate linkages, gears, pulleys and chains.
    Since youtube won’t let you post a link, you’ll have to search for
    PRGDUnWR8a0, then it should show up as “Creating Blocks within Sketches for
    Synthesizing Linkages, Cams and Gears”. I didn’t make that video, but it
    demonstrates the functionality.

    Reply
  3. Ricardo Caratti
    Ricardo Caratti says:

    Terrific. Really simple and efficient. Congratulation for the project. I
    will try do that in my home-brew Antenna Tuner. Thanks. 73. PU2CLR. Ricardo.

    Reply
  4. AndyDaviesByTheSea
    AndyDaviesByTheSea says:

    Hi John, the magnetic loop is one of the driving forces for this device,
    I’ve struggled on with bits of string around the capacitor trying to keep
    out of the loop to avoid electrocution and affecting the SWR but I’ve
    always thought it would be too much hassle to make a drive with a stepper
    motor etc but this device is fail safe in mechanical terms. I’ll post a
    video of the magnetic loop tuning unit when I build it. Kind Regards …
    Andy

    Reply
  5. DENNIS N
    DENNIS N says:

    Hi Andy just thinking if you used two mometary push button switches instead
    of your rotary it may be faster response for direction and more accruate 1
    for positive other for neg voltage Dennis wis

    Reply
  6. AndyDaviesByTheSea
    AndyDaviesByTheSea says:

    Hi Ricardo Thanks for the feedback; I’d be really interested to hear how
    you get on making one. As you see in this video I had limited travel of the
    capacitor but I change that in the next video a little bit. Hopefully I’ll
    upload that video tonight. Do please remember to let me know if you make
    one. All the best … Andy GWØJXM

    Reply
  7. AndyDaviesByTheSea
    AndyDaviesByTheSea says:

    Good idea Dennis, I picked up the first switch I saw in the junk box but
    I’ll go down the push button route as it’s got to be a quicker response.
    Thanks for the input. 73’s … Andy

    Reply
  8. AndyDaviesByTheSea
    AndyDaviesByTheSea says:

    Hi Dennis, I’ve been thinking about your notion of using push button
    control for rapid reaction switching and I wondered if you had some
    preconceived idea about how you’d go about this? As you know I try and keep
    things simple and I’ve been scratching my head to see if I could come up
    with a neat method that used two single pole switches and say diodes but no
    relays or electronics. Still scratching, is there a simple way that I’m
    missing without multi poles?? Kind Regards … Andy

    Reply
  9. AndyDaviesByTheSea
    AndyDaviesByTheSea says:

    OK, when we introduced AutoCad (many years ago) at my factory in
    Cheltenham, England, the one draughtsman that was the most resistant to
    change was in fact the first guy to let his drawing board go. It was a real
    shock to me as I thought he was going to fight me all the way but he soon
    saw the advantages. I’d love to have the time and mental space to play with
    Solid Works but I bet it can drive you nuts at times. All the best … Andy

    Reply
  10. AndyDaviesByTheSea
    AndyDaviesByTheSea says:

    Спасибо вам, пожалуйста, обратитесь к следующему 4 видео 73’s … Andy
    GWØJXM . Thank you; please see the next 4 videos 73’s … Andy GWØJXM

    Reply
  11. AndyDaviesByTheSea
    AndyDaviesByTheSea says:

    Hi Dennis, thank you. Hey Dennis I’m in the UK and we don’t celebrate
    thanksgiving here. As I’ve said to another guy from the US, I’m sure the
    marketing men will try to persuade us to buy Thanksgiving Day cards the
    same as they’ve talked our kids in to adopting Halloween. The only problem
    is some louts see Halloween as an opportunity to terrorise the old folk, it
    not the same as in the US. Have a great holiday. Kind regards … Andy

    Reply
  12. thefekete
    thefekete says:

    Great job! I do a lot of mechanical design at work and solidworks is my
    goto tool. My dad was an old-school machinist and he’d have a card board
    cutout done and be working on the first prototype before solidworks could
    even boot up. Your build quality looks great, too. It’s all too easy to
    spend a couple hours machining something that you could have put together
    from bits in a hardware store. Again, awesome design and execution!

    Reply
  13. AndyDaviesByTheSea
    AndyDaviesByTheSea says:

    Thanks for the link, powerful stuff. Kind of knocks my cardboard cut-out
    into a cocked hat. Mind you, it only took a few moments to learn how to use
    the scissors, I imagine getting your head into Solid Works probably takes a
    while longer, hi hi. Man I could have been dangerous with software like
    that. All the best … Andy GWØJXM

    Reply
  14. f0ggy2006
    f0ggy2006 says:

    Great Video Andy look forward to seeing it up and working on your mast.
    Thanks Colin GØFOG (notice the Zero lol)

    Reply
  15. Ricardo Caratti
    Ricardo Caratti says:

    Hi Andy Recently I built an antenna tuner controlled by cell phone and
    Arduino (microcontroller). Your videos, will help me to improve my system
    tuning, especially regards the accuracy. I posted some videos about my
    Antenna Tuner on youtube. Thanks. 73. PU2CLR. Ricardo.

    Reply
  16. KE5SUI
    KE5SUI says:

    I haven’t heard the sound effects in your video since I was on my fathers
    computer years ago. A refreshing reminder!

    Reply

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