Codan to Alinco dx 70th
Submitted: Wednesday, Jun 22, 2005 at 13:12
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Erol vk2np
Hi
Forum
Im wanting to match a Codan 8558 antenna to a Yaesu FC707 manual tuner to Alinco DX70TH HF rig, does anyone have any ideas on making this config work, also i require the wiring setup to the milspec plug on the antenna, such as power, earth, etc,
my thoughts were to run the coax from the antenna to the tuner the the rig, and manualy operate power to the antenna from within the car to change the impedance, i can
check the VSWR with the inbuilt VSWR metre in the Yaesu,
the car is an 80 series cruiser, i also carried out the impedance mod inside the antenna, suggested for the 80 series..
Your thoughts and help would be greatly appeciated..Thankyou..vk2np
Reply By: Member - John (Vic) - Wednesday, Jun 22, 2005 at 13:18
Wednesday, Jun 22, 2005 at 13:18
Footloose, Mad dog where are you guys? Question for you. LOL
Erol, you might try to post that one on the Codan users Group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/codan_outback_radio/
They are a wealth of info for this sort of question.
Cheers
AnswerID:
116884
Follow Up By: Mad Dog (Australia) - Wednesday, Jun 22, 2005 at 13:36
Wednesday, Jun 22, 2005 at 13:36
Yes I saw the post but was a bit confused with it, had to read it 10 times and think carefully. At this stage can't add anymore to Jim's post below.
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Reply By: Footloose - Wednesday, Jun 22, 2005 at 13:27
Wednesday, Jun 22, 2005 at 13:27
Yo. Hi Errol. Whay would you need to match an FC707 to an 8558 ? The 8558 (if working OK) will match the o/p of your Alinco easily. Basically you just run a small amount of RF into the autotune, along with some 12v to move the stepper motor until minimum SWR is found. There are lots of circuits for doing this, refer to the 9323 autotune to Kenwood mods. Pinout is different of course.
Ask in the Codan group for details and help as its a bit long and technical for this
forum.
AnswerID:
116887
Reply By: Erol vk2np - Wednesday, Jun 22, 2005 at 13:51
Wednesday, Jun 22, 2005 at 13:51
Hi guys
Thanks for your reply, ok i will head on over to the yahoo site, they may be able to go further with this, now the trouble here Footloose is i only have the antenna, LOL no autotuner, hence the fc707 manul tuner, i really don't think this will be a difficult match, but like all things having forsight, rather than going in blind is an advantage, and yes the pinout on the antenna would be a major help..
Regards Erol vk2np :-)
AnswerID:
116890
Follow Up By: Mad Dog (Australia) - Wednesday, Jun 22, 2005 at 14:16
Wednesday, Jun 22, 2005 at 14:16
Sorry Erol I'm not familar with the Codan gear. So the Codan tuner is external to the antenna. Plug it in to your Yaesu tuner hit the 10 watt button on the Alinco and see how it tunes. If your tuner is manual why do you need pinout info. Those codan antennas a relativity small aren't they, you may do better with a base and a 3 metre whip.
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Follow Up By: Footloose - Wednesday, Jun 22, 2005 at 14:54
Wednesday, Jun 22, 2005 at 14:54
Sorry guys, I am familiar with the Codan stuff...intimately :)) The 8558 is an autotune antennae. It consistes of a base and a whip screwed into the top. The aerial will tune 2-30 meg but unlike its big brother the 9350, is susceptable to earthing problems.
If he has an 8558 then there is no need for an inline tuner, as the imput Z of the autotune is around 50 ohms, the same as the coax he plugs into his radio. The autotune does all the tuning necessary for a good match. Putting another tuner inline adds to losses and makes tuning up a lot more complex than it needs to be.
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Reply By: Erol vk2np - Wednesday, Jun 22, 2005 at 15:23
Wednesday, Jun 22, 2005 at 15:23
Hi all
Ok now im getting confused, to my understanding of the Codan setup is this,, the rig, to the 8551 autotuner then to the 8558 antenna, ??? this is correct isn't it.?
Now i would only be using the manual tuner for fine tuning if nessersary and more for checking the vswr, my main conern is the pinout on the antenna so as to run power to adjust the tuning coil for the different bands..
Many thanks to you all for your help keep the replies coming..
Regards Erol vk2np :-)
AnswerID:
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Follow Up By: Footloose - Wednesday, Jun 22, 2005 at 15:27
Wednesday, Jun 22, 2005 at 15:27
The 8551 is an interface from a Codan 8525 that drives that 8558. This isn't necessary for an amateur tranceiver.
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Follow Up By: Michael Carey - Wednesday, Jun 22, 2005 at 15:51
Wednesday, Jun 22, 2005 at 15:51
The 8551 is the controller for the 8588 antenna. In later 8528 series radios, they had an internal board fitted and the radio software controlled the stepper motor in the antenna body while looking at the VSWR as measured at the antenna socket.
The 8551 has a microcontroller/stepper motor driver/VSWR
bridge that does the same. In effect the control cables going from the 8551 to the radio are the same as the newer 9350 antenna.
Five control lines are :-
GND
+12V
Tune (take to GND to start tune process with RF present)
Indicator (gives tune pass/fail in conjunction with Tune line)
Scan
Also, there were several generations of the 8558 antenna. The 'A' series were all quite good, built by hand. 'B' and 'C' were a little nasty, built with a polycarbonate body that didn't seal against the top and base properly.
The 'D' series went back to a fibreglass body and were better than 'B' and 'C' series.
All pale in comparison to the 9350, which has all the smarts to run the antenna in the base of the antenna.
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Reply By: Erol vk2np - Wednesday, Jun 22, 2005 at 15:39
Wednesday, Jun 22, 2005 at 15:39
Hi Footloose
Ok now we are getting somewhere by the sounds of it all i now need is power to the antenna to drive the coil, I have joined the yahoo site i guess someone there will be able to tell me the pinout, my next question is how much power can i put up the stick, do you think it will handle 400 watts ?? thats my output limit.
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Follow Up By: Michael Carey - Wednesday, Jun 22, 2005 at 15:56
Wednesday, Jun 22, 2005 at 15:56
Please don't ram 400W into the 8558! It will not like it very much at all...
To tune, (with an 8551) you need around 30-50 watts.
Voice peak type power at 100W will keep the antenna happy. CW and the like (eg. Selcalls and Data) have to be kept in
check when using an 8558. Continuous use of high duty-cycle modulation will heat up the loading coil inside....
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Follow Up By: Footloose - Wednesday, Jun 22, 2005 at 16:03
Wednesday, Jun 22, 2005 at 16:03
Michael, his limit is 400w PEP which equates to around 100w carrier.
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Follow Up By: Michael Carey - Wednesday, Jun 22, 2005 at 16:15
Wednesday, Jun 22, 2005 at 16:15
I think 100w carrier is too much for the 8558. The 9350 antenna is rated at 125W PEP, I'm sure the 8558 would be similar.
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Follow Up By: Footloose - Wednesday, Jun 22, 2005 at 16:28
Wednesday, Jun 22, 2005 at 16:28
Yep, 125w PEPrating on the blurb. However that only equates to around 40w carrier. I've always had around 80-100w carrier out without any ill effects on either an 8558 or a 9350.
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