PI4CC
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9 Circle RX antenna for PI4CC
Since we are in the low sunspot its important to have a good RX on the lowbands. We don't have space for beverage antennas.
A search on the internet gives a bunch of RX antennas all with pros and cons. We want a RX antenna with good figures, no high support needed, no tuning and small as possible.
Our search stopped with the 3-in-line vertical array witch is the basic of the 9 circle array. Please read the articles in the NCJ sep/oct 2011 part 1 and in the NCJ nov/dec 2011 part 2 by John Kaufmann, W1FV. During the CDXC meeting in 2022 Tony, G2LF gives presentation on the rx-array and there is some usefull info in a Youtube video
DX-Engineering did sell a complete kit to build this array, but the stopped selling them in 2018.
As a small club station there is no money to buy a kit and we have a high DIY standard. With the on-line building instruction we decided to build an array ourself
With Eagle we design a PCB for the RX-amp, switch unit and phase unit. We put all execpt the RX-amp in one big enclosure.
To control the remote relais, we made a controller (Arduino with wifi) connect to our LAN where on is a server (Arduino with LAN) that contols the remote relais.
We can easy move the controllor from a shack to a other shack. The switch in the manual can be easily build as well.
A small example how it works is on-line. This is the basic 3 in-line east/west setup. The record is done 1 hour after sunrise.
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A build rx-amp. |
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A look at the outdoor setup. Its well protected against the wheater. |
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The controllor will send over wifi to a server who will set the RX switching. |
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The server who will controll the outside relais. Its connected to our LAN. Its controlled via the controller above, but can also remote controled via the internet. |