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Heath Tech Sidekick, User Manual, Page: 3 / 25

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Table of Contents 

OVERVIEW.............................................. 1

 

MAINTENANCE...................................... 3

 

INSTALLATION...................................... 5

 

T

HE FIRST STEP IS TO UNPACK THE BOX

.... 5

 

I

NSTALLING THE CONTROL BOX

................ 6

 

T

HE ALL IMPORTANT GROUND 

CONNECTION

.......................................... 11

 

RF

 

F

ILTER 

A

SSEMBLY

............................ 12

 

V

EHICLE 

I

NSTALLATION

......................... 13

 

B

ASE 

I

NSTALLATION

. ............................. 15

 

N

O MATTER WHERE YOU INSTALL THE 

ANTENNA

,

 HERE ARE SOME THINGS TO 

KEEP IN MIND

.......................................... 16

 

OPERATION OF THE ANTENNA...... 17

 

T

HE UPS AND DOWNS OF THE ANTENNA

.. 17

 

TROUBLESHOOTING, QUESTIONS 
AND ANSWERS ..................................... 19

 

WARRANTY .......................................... 21

 

INDEX ..................................................... 22

 

Summary of Contents for Sidekick

Page 1: ...HEATH TECH INC High Sierra AntennAs Sidekick Professional Antennas for the Amateur ...

Page 2: ...nies In the last 11 years antennas and accessories have been manufactured and sold to a wide variety of customers including Mercedes Benz Ford Hyundai the Army Corp of Engineers the U S Army the U S Coast Guard C I A the F B I the U S Customs Service Kenwood Icom embassies utilities and amateur radio operators around the world Heath Tech Inc which owns High Sierra Antennas has worked hard to produ...

Page 3: ...L BOX 6 THE ALL IMPORTANT GROUND CONNECTION 11 RF FILTER ASSEMBLY 12 VEHICLE INSTALLATION 13 BASE INSTALLATION 15 NO MATTER WHERE YOU INSTALL THE ANTENNA HERE ARE SOME THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND 16 OPERATION OF THE ANTENNA 17 THE UPS AND DOWNS OF THE ANTENNA 17 TROUBLESHOOTING QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 19 WARRANTY 21 INDEX 22 ...

Page 4: ...s High Sierra has manufactured its own motors The new Black Hawk Motor is a quantum leap forward The new Black Hawk Motor is all metal It has a very smooth operation due to its bearings It is also very very quiet When the voltage is removed this motor stops instantly You can hear see and even feel the difference Parts for our antennas are manufactured using state of the art computer controller equ...

Page 5: ...responding low SWR But they are very inefficient as radiators They have a low SWR but don t radiate very well A low SWR is not the goal A strong signal is the goal So read the manual follow the instructions and do the maintenance You will be very happy with the performance of your High Sierra Antenna If you have some questions please try to find the answers in the manual first There is a troublesh...

Page 6: ...a glass cleaner We make the plastic parts here at High Sierra Antennas with materials that are UV resistant However over time the plastic will crack or fade Replacement weathershields are always available 4 Once each year you should replace the contact spring That stainless steel spring is subjected to vibration While many have had the spring last for three or four years it is prudent to just repl...

Page 7: ... into the antenna and cause damage 6 If you are using a quick disconnect clean it frequently 7 Frequently check all connections for corrosion Corrosion will change the SWR and lower the performance of the antenna system Frequently check for loose connections 8 We get calls from customers because they hear a click in the receiver or the SWR changes rapidly Both of those are caused by loose connecti...

Page 8: ...ing when in fact the item is in the box If you feel something is missing email from the website using the contact us form on the website at www cq73 com If you purchased from a dealer please contact that dealer if something is missing Installingthemanualcontrolbox The control box should be mounted in a convenient location since it will be used to tune the antenna The control box is prewired Simply...

Page 9: ...ngs to keep in mind You will need to supply 9to 24 volts DC to the control box The supply needs to provide about 1 amp maximum If the cigarette lighter plug is not needed or does not fit cut it off Do use a 2 amp fuse Installingthei Box The control box should be mounted in a convenient location since it will be used to tune the antenna We have provided the plug for the wires to the motor You can s...

Page 10: ...ting that the transceiver is transmitting in the tune mode at 10 watts For practice do this process a few times The light on the control box will illuminate when the antenna s coil is fully extended or fully retracted The light may also blink when the antenna s motor is started This is normal and expected The lens on the light assembly may be red or green It does not matter The i Box will not func...

Page 11: ...SWR of less than 2 1 release the rocker switch and push the Mode button 1 more time to get back to SSB The light on the control box will illuminate when the antenna s coil is fully extended or fully retracted The light may also blink when the antenna s motor is started This is normal and expected The lens on the light assembly may be red or green It does not matter Installingthek Box The k Box con...

Page 12: ...r fully retracted The light may also blink when the antenna s motor is started The lens on the light assembly may be red or green It does not matter For the Kenwood TS 480HX we have constructed a special control box The reason for that is that the 200 watt version of the TS 480 will only transmit 100 watts when an antenna tuner is connected As a result our special control box for the Kenwood TS 48...

Page 13: ...t plugs into the ACC Jack on the back of your FT 857 or FT 897 In your instructions it is likely labeled number 4 as shown in the picture below Think of the switch in the control box as having an extra set of contacts that close when the switch is rocked up or down Each time you rock the switch the motor is turned on and the transceiver will transmit a carrier After the switch is released the tran...

Page 14: ... radial system that you have employed It is not the result of something inside the antenna You must use wide flat strap for vehicle ground leads We do not recommend the use of braid A counterpoise or radials must be connected directly to the mount next to the coax connector Here are some things to keep in mind For a ground strap to work it must be at least one inch wide You can use the specially d...

Page 15: ... the antenna RFFilterAssembly The RF filter assembly helps isolate the motor wires from the antenna This RF filter or choke also helps with noise generated by the motor s brushes The wires should loop through the bead 2 times The ferrite bead is brittle and can be broken So be careful We recommend that you mount the filter close to the antenna Here are some things to keep in mind The RF filter nee...

Page 16: ...stallation on ladders others have had difficulty Some have found that running a ground strap from the mounting bracket to the metal framing of the RV is all that is needed Others have had to run one or two radials on the top of the RV Some have found that metal trim and luggage racks are all that is needed In other words some experimenting is necessary for installation on an RV If you pull a trail...

Page 17: ...e antenna system You risk hitting bridges and over passes when the antenna height exceeds 13 feet 4m There are safety considerations as well You are responsible for antenna safety Here are some things to keep in mind You are responsible for safety safety safety and more safety The ground strap should be less than three feet Keep the total antenna height less than 13 feet above the ground Use at le...

Page 18: ...burying of radials increases ground losses So having the radials on the top of the ground will increase performance Like most HF antennas generally speaking higher is better However most of us must compromise So if you can put it up on the roof that is better If you cannot use the roof then install the antenna on the ground Here are some things to keep in mind You are responsible for safety safety...

Page 19: ...trap Please don t call to say the antenna won t tune if you have used braid The connection of the ground strap must be made to a screw near the coax connector Try not to re engineer the antenna design With over 10 000 antennas in use around the world we have worked very hard to make this antenna the best possible A long whip will add signal strength on 40 and 80 meters The antenna was designed so ...

Page 20: ... to approximately 100 watts and recheck for resonance Due to the design of the SWR meter a minor adjustment to the antenna will likely be needed when the power is increased SWR meters do change readings when the power level is changed If your transceiver does not have an SWR meter you can use the power output meter Just tune for maximum output which will occur at minimum SWR It does not matter whe...

Page 21: ...les in any given installation the position of the coil can be different from the dimensions shown above The above assumes that there is a three foot long whip or its equivalent connected to the top of the antenna In other words if you attach a fiberglass CB whip to the antenna it will not tune the same way For added efficiency a longer whip may be used The antenna is constructed so that an eight f...

Page 22: ...n or add a second ground strap Q My SWR is really high It s 1 9 1 What can I do about that A Don t worry about it An SWR of 1 9 1 is terrific Did you know that an SWR of 5 1 results in only a 1 6 of an S unit decrease in signal strength If the SWR is less than 2 1 most transceivers will not roll back power Q The SWR on 20 meters is higher than all of the other bands Why I ran braid to the frame of...

Page 23: ...ershield Lower or remove the weathershield Loosen the three set screws in the collar that holds the spring Remove the collar Remove the contact spring from the collar If the spring is not uniform it must be replaced Q The spring wore out or is deformed Why did that happen A Well the contact spring is subjected to a lot of vibration It is made from stainless steel and is a patented device Over time...

Page 24: ...horized attachment s Damage to the product resulting from accident abuse neglect negligence alterations unapproved attachments alterations or other causes unrelated to problems with material or workmanship are not covered by this warranty In the case of manufacturer defects in material or workmanship High Sierra Antennas agrees to repair or remedy a defect without charge The purchaser must obtain ...

Page 25: ...5 ground strap 10 15 H HS GS ground strap 10 L Ladders on recreational vehicles 8 length of coax 15 Q quick disconnect 3 R radials 9 Routine maintenance 3 RV 8 S safety 10 SWR 15 SWR is very high 15 SWR of 2 1 or less is good 2 T trailer 8 V vehicle 8 W warranty 17 weathershield 3 whip 3 Revised on April 22 2004 There were a lot of mistakes ...

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