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HAM ©
2016
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Further Antenna Paths through combinations of end-points
Some end-points may include
user-controllable
features. This is most often the case when the end-point is an
R-port of a switch but can also occur with antennas that have an associated control box – for example a vertical
array (4-square). If the antenna path to this end point is selected, the feature is controlled by the “sub-selection
buttons” ([1] through [4]) on SMD below the rotary encoder based on the attributes in Router → RF Boxes →
Buttons for that end-point. The name of the Antenna Path is enclosed to square brackets. For example, if a
switch named SW1 has two R-ports and its first R-port (R1) is marked as end-point in RF Boxes → Rules →
Include to selection, the Antenna Path representing this end-point will be named [SW1.R1].
If there are switches in the RF network which allow simultaneous selection of multiple antennas (or generally,
multiple path branches) through a matching circuitry such as a stack switch, Antenna Paths representing
combinations
of end-points are added to the list. The name of this combination consists of names of single
end-points with “+” between them. For example, if a stack switch has three A-ports with antennas named A1, A2
and A3, Antenna Paths A1, A2, A3, A1+A2, A1+A3, A2+A3 and A1+A2+A3 are generated (provided that the
stack switch allows all of the combinations and that is reflected in the switching table that switch).
If the end-points appearing in a combination are themselves controllable, all control combinations of the end-
points are generated. For example, if a path contains a Stack Switch (STACK1) followed by two four-squares
(FS1 and FS2), in addition to the single Antenna Paths [FS1] and [FS2], two additional combinations are
generated: [FS1]+FS2 (where the sub-selection push buttons control features of FS1), and FS1+[FS2] (where
sub-selection push buttons control FS2).
In addition, switches can have certain
Attributes
(additional inputs to the switching table under user control).
The combinations of switched end-points and these attributes also become Antenna Paths depending on the
combinations enabled in the Switching table for that switch. Those combinations are identified by they name of
the end-point (or combination of end-points) followed by “with”, the name of the R-port through which the path
passes, a semicolon and the attribute or combination of active attributes. For example, one of the automatically
generated names for a path containing a microHAM Stack Switch, antenna (A1) and a controllable four-square
(FS1) might be “(A1 + [FS1]) with STACK1.M:(BOP,FULL)”
Automatic name generation may cause too many Antenna Paths be generated; this may not be desired as many
of them them would never be used, the list of Antenna Paths would be unnecessarily long and thus hard to use.
For example, if the RF network contains a 1:N switch with N antennas connected the user may decide not to
have individual Antenna Paths for every antenna. Instead, he might choose to create only a single Antenna Path
by marking the R-port of the switch as end-point and use the sub-selection control for that end-point to select
individual antennas. This is an unlikely scenario constructed as a simple example as the individual antennas
can easily be excluded as “button” selections in the Bands tab while they are retained as options in Virtual
Rotators and Antenna Groups. It is usually the large number of combinations generated for stack switches that
need to be suppressed.
There are two methods for restricting the number of generated Antenna Paths combinations, both are controlled
from the Rules sub-tab of the switch. As Antenna Path combinations may also originate on antenna arrays,
there is also a simplified version of this control available those antennas. When using the built-in templates to
create RF Boxes where combinations might arise, the controls are already set so the combinations are restricted
to a reasonable minimum.
The first way to restrict the number of combinations is using a Fit mask. Only those InVectors from the Switching
table which match the Fit mask for corresponding R-port in Rules tab are used to create Antenna Paths. Each
character in Fit mask corresponds to one bit in the InVector (which in turn corresponds to an A-port or an
Attribute): '0' and '1' in Fit mask requires this value for the corresponding bit in the InVector; 'x' allows any value
for that bit.
The second restriction is the “Single A port only” checkbox. If the “single port” box is checked, only the single
antenna options are used as Antenna Paths.
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