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SGC Smartuner SG-231 Installation And Operation Manual Download Page 3

 

SG-231 

ANTENNA 

COUPLER 

Installation and Operations Manual 

Updated: November 2000 

 

CAUTION

:  Carefully read the “Quick Start” on the following page and all 

pertinent sections of this manual prior to operating your Smartuner for the first 
time.  This unit will provide outstanding service if you follow the detailed 
recommendations within this manual. 

Summary of Contents for Smartuner SG-231

Page 1: ...SG 231 Smartuner Microprocessor Controlled Automatic Antenna Coupler Installation and Operations Manual Getting the most from every watt of HF SSB Power...

Page 2: ...ft RG 58 coax cable with PL259 connectors Slim Design with Simple Mounting The SG 231 is a slim design that will easily fit in the most compact installations The unit measures only 11 5D x 9 5W x 1 7...

Page 3: ...mber 2000 CAUTION Carefully read the Quick Start on the following page and all pertinent sections of this manual prior to operating your Smartuner for the first time This unit will provide outstanding...

Page 4: ...coupler 5 SmartLock Pro coupler controller optional Connections Connect the Smartuner as shown in the following diagram Orange Option A Violet Option B Brown Not used Blue Reset White Hold Locks coupl...

Page 5: ...dicators 4 1 6 Mechanical Design 4 1 6 1 Marine Mounting 5 1 6 2 Desert and High Temperature Installations 5 1 6 3 Direct Weather Protection Installations 5 1 7 Remote Installations 6 1 8 Upgrade Sequ...

Page 6: ...tion 25 5 2 Antenna Location 26 5 3 Ground Systems General 27 5 3 1 Vehicle Grounds 27 5 3 2 Marine Grounds 27 5 3 3 Base Station Grounds 29 5 4 Corrosion 29 5 5 Antenna Coupler Mounting 30 5 6 Antenn...

Page 7: ...peration Jumpers 39 8 0 Tuning Process 40 8 1 Program Description 41 8 2 Tuning Paths 42 8 2 1 Antenna Too Short 42 8 2 2 Antenna Too Long 43 8 2 3 JP1 Tuning Elements Out During Receive 44 8 2 4 Jp2...

Page 8: ...iculty Our goal in this manual is to help you quickly obtain the best possible performance from your HF radio installation By reading this manual carefully you can avoid most of the pitfalls that can...

Page 9: ...f your HF system Please make note of the following information for your records Date unit was purchased _____________________________________________ Dealer from whom Purchased _______________________...

Page 10: ...y waiting for the first RF power to be transmitted before providing a tuning solution In the stand by mode the antenna bypasses tuning elements and connects the antenna directly to the receiver with n...

Page 11: ...antenna elements should be located in such a manner as to prevent accidental contact with people especially young children pets and small animals 1 6 Mechanical Design The SG 231 is supplied in a wea...

Page 12: ...ed in very hot climates on a continuous basis if some additional protection from direct sunlight is provided The best protection for a mobile installation is provided by the QMS Quick Mounting System...

Page 13: ...allations is normal attenuation of the radio signal coming from the antenna to the radio via the coax As you may be aware the longer the coaxial cable run the higher the loss will be The amount of los...

Page 14: ...to the latest version of the unit contact SGC because special discounts are always provided to our valued customers 2 0 Specifications HF Frequency Range 1 to 60 MHz Power Input Range 3 to 100 watts P...

Page 15: ...ntrol cable with connector to coupler on one end 4 Instruction Manual 3 2 User Supplied Items The user of the SG 231 will need to supply a suitable HF radio antenna Such an antenna may be as simple as...

Page 16: ...a problem determine if it is happening all the time or only part of the time Does the problem occur only on certain frequencies Does the problem happen only in certain modes This type of information i...

Page 17: ...Meters 7 to 9 feet This antenna is recommended only for vehicular mobile installations The short length will result in poorer performance compared with the longer antennas A special high performance 9...

Page 18: ...Website www sgcworld com 11 4 4 Back Stay Antenna 8 Meters 28 feet and Longer Although we would love to sell everyone a high performance marine whip antenna the back stay of a sailboat is almost impo...

Page 19: ...sgcworld com Website www sgcworld com 12 Figure 4 5 1 Jeep installation Detail Jeep Installation for Automatic Antenna Coupler Coupler Feed through insulator GTO cable as short as possible Transceiver...

Page 20: ...384 Tel 425 746 6310 E Mail sgc sgcworld com Website www sgcworld com 13 Figure 4 5 3 Motor Vessel installation Feed through insulator Coupler Suitable stay cable Ground to steel bulkhead or overhead...

Page 21: ...Base ladder installation Coupler up to 300 feet up to 200 feet Hot GND Base Ladder Installation Control cable RF cable Balanced Line Feeders 300 600 Ohms Figure 4 5 6 Base installation with ground wir...

Page 22: ...orizontal Base Quadra Loop Horizontal Porcelain isolators with tie rope Ground bolt terminal Antenna terminal Radiation 50 ohm coax from transmitter Coupler The horizontal quad loop is a groundless an...

Page 23: ...mmunications due to their low angle This configuration is best for communications ranging from 500 to 5000 miles in the HF frequency range of 4 to 22 MHz Noise rejection is excellent as stated for the...

Page 24: ...RF ground Vessel Groundless Loop Coupler The triangular loop antenna for sailboats is designed to operate in a groundless environment and still provide high performance This type of installation will...

Page 25: ...y important Generally the vertical loop antenna with horizontal radiation is much preferred for a general application throughout the 1 8 to 30 MHz band However loop antennas can be effective when moun...

Page 26: ...ld strength at right angles to their plane This means that a large loop say 60 feet on a side mounted 20 feet above the ground would radiate much of its energy upward While during the day this would w...

Page 27: ...s i s t o t h e g r o u n d o f t h e c o u p l e r 4 8 Aircraft Antennas When installed in high performance turboprop or jet aircraft the Smartuner will operate well with a shunt fed antenna This is...

Page 28: ...ing Aircraft 4 9 Low Profile Hidden and Covert Antennas There are two users of low profile hidden and covert antennas The paramilitary user who will wish to operate from a residence or commercial buil...

Page 29: ...pler B Masonry chimneys are visually busy You can run a 10 copper wire parallel to the chimney with little risk of detection Some short standoffs and you have a support for a vertical dipole type ante...

Page 30: ...th a Smartuner they will deliver spectacular results 4 10 1 Kite Antenna Figure 4 10 1 Kite Antenna Note The counterpoise may be underwater if installed on a beach or from a vessel at sea If an underw...

Page 31: ...ally takes is several hundred feet of rope and some creativity Here are some examples to consider If you wonder which structure would work best remember the one with the greatest height and greatest d...

Page 32: ...uld be used and they be about 1 3 longer than the antenna length The number of radials can be reduced however you need at least one Efficiency pattern and radiation will decrease in proportion 3 Anten...

Page 33: ...System installation is a three part process covering the following steps 1 Selection and installation of the antenna 2 Mounting the antenna coupler 3 Connecting the appropriate interface cables betwe...

Page 34: ...V antenna is a compromise between vertical and horizontal polarization and will give good results for communications with land or marine mobiles using vertical whip antennas 6 High voltages sometimes...

Page 35: ...3 inch wide 2 mil copper foil Make sure that the contact point is free from paint and dirt Ensure a good contact area for minimum resistance Wooden and fiberglass hulled vessels present more of a grou...

Page 36: ...pressure pump bilge pump hot water forced air heater fans refrigeration and auto pilot motors A few small capacitors to ground 01 micro farads at 100 VDC can resolve many issues Bypassing of the vesse...

Page 37: ...tion All joints must be clean and the hardware adequately tightened Joints should be well soldered wherever possible The joints may be protected by an application of silicon grease and under severe co...

Page 38: ...ulation may be used if the outer shielding is removed When the coupler is installed on the outside or on the deck we recommend a protective housing 5 6 Antenna Connection The antenna lead is connected...

Page 39: ...nput output and PTT line J 503 Remote control head or multiple head junction box J 504 Remote control head or multiple head junction box Head mounted on radio is normally connected here Ext SPK Extern...

Page 40: ...sed This will prevent draining the battery unnecessarily 6 4 SmartLock Pro Installation The SmartLock Pro is an accessory for the SG 231 This gives the user additional control over the coupler It is n...

Page 41: ...d through screw on the housing Note that this screw is not designed to support heavy mechanical loads If such loading is encountered use a strain relief The ground system should be connected to the 1...

Page 42: ...Red of coupler cable 12 VDC Green tuned indication Optional Next the SSB transmitter should be adjusted to the lowest desired frequency and the test as outlined above should be repeated The SG 231 sho...

Page 43: ...cal amateur powers under 500 watts are relatively inexpensive and are readily available Unfortunately when you use a can type dummy load you can t see what s happening with your transmitter In this ca...

Page 44: ...ulb load is connected and the radio is transmitting the light should turn on 4 Set the power to LO 5 Set the radio to SSB mode 6 Key the PTT switch on the microphone and talk into the microphone Notic...

Page 45: ...ic Q30102100 sheets 1 2 3 and 4 are the schematic diagrams of the antenna coupler RF input is applied to terminals marked GND and RF on J6 13 6 VDC is connected to the terminals marked GND and 13 6 VD...

Page 46: ...voltage from the summing network Similarly a low line impedance will result in more output from the current sensor resulting in a net negative output voltage from the summing network The summing netw...

Page 47: ...f the signal passing through the coupler From the frequency data the computer then searchers its EEPROM for previously stored data If data is found it is tested for validity and the required end of tu...

Page 48: ...unique software which allows precise tuning of the digitally controlled pi and L network to tune a wide variety of antennas C C L1 50 ohms Antenna out in The versatile MicroTune software offers its us...

Page 49: ...the SmartLock Pro the Hold line will be low and the CPU will not proceed with the tuning algorithm It will wait for forward power to be shut off and return to Stop mode Detecting forward power Once f...

Page 50: ...coupler achieves a good VSWR during the tuning sequence the program branches to the OK Tune section of the code Here the tune indicators are engaged A test is then made to check if JP2 is set to tune...

Page 51: ...that gave the lowest VSWR have been kept in memory and are now recalled to verify it is a low VSWR 5 At this point the tune indicators are engaged The current relay data is saved if JP2 is set to tune...

Page 52: ...ll data previously saved and try this data before attempting to re tune If the data is valid and the VSWR is less than 2 1 the tune is completed In this position the coupler will save any new data in...

Page 53: ...e coupler is locked on the current setting Reset Pushing the red reset button allows the coupler to be reset This is preferable to the other method of turning the input power off and on 9 2 SmartLock...

Page 54: ...ndition occurs the operator may encounter RF Bites from touching metal objects connected to the counterpoise Indecisive ground A second kind of ground fault occurs when the decision whether the ground...

Page 55: ...oid some of the common troubles with a properly planned installation Coaxial cable on output Coax on the output is probably the single most commonly asked question about the coupler and is the most mi...

Page 56: ...ng a tough time making up its mind about which of two tuning solutions is better If it is a very close call you can have an antenna which causes cycling and just won t stay locked The solution in such...

Page 57: ...changed the symptoms But if you want quality performance select a solid radio Power supply Power supplies have been known to cause problems for HF users because they change voltage when the load on th...

Page 58: ...eral Information 1 Ground Faults 46 Impedance Detector 38 Initialization 39 Installation ALINCO DX 70 32 Direct Weather Protection 5 High Temperature 5 Procedures 30 Remote 6 SG 2000 31 Smartlock Pro...

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Page 64: ...aps each two feet long Note If the QMS is purchased in a package configuration please refer to the coupler and antenna manuals for their packing lists of the items supplied QMS Installation Instructio...

Page 65: ...QMS installation on the rear deck of a sedan SGC Inc SGC Building 13737 S E 26th St Bellevue WA 98005 USA P O Box 3526 98009 Fax 425 746 6384 Tel 425 746 6310 or 1 800 259 7331 E mail sgc sgcworld co...

Page 66: ...will need to be provided Note By removing the four screws for the ratchet mount base of the SG 303 antenna the can be installed or reinstalled to provide the user with the set up most suitable for the...

Page 67: ...l and electrical precautions should always be taken 1 Insure that all four straps are pulled down tightly and the suction cup feet have been securely compressed SGC Inc SGC Building 13737 S E 26th St...

Page 68: ...n t e n n w h e n n o t i n u s e m o u n t t h e u n i t i n a l o c a t i o n w h e r e t h e t i p o f t h e S G 3 a n t e n n a i s e a s i l y a c c e s s i b l e f o r t h r e a d i n g t h r o...

Page 69: ...e technique to eliminate the noise replacing the defective item if need be Use only the appropriate filter component to filter out any noise before it radiates to your antenna For the connection to th...

Page 70: ...prevent scratching Surfaces must be protected during removal to prevent marring Eliminating Damage to Painted Surfaces The suction cups on your QMS are of extremely high quality They will provide exce...

Page 71: ...n The vehicle should move up and down but the QMS should not If the QMS moves and the vehicle does not increase the tension on the QMS straps Removing the QMS Wash the vehicle in the area around the s...

Page 72: ...shown Storing Your QMS To store your QMS unit for long periods of time apply a thin coating of talcum powder to the suction cups This treatment increases the life span of rubber products SG 231 Manua...

Page 73: ...tervention SG 231 Smartuner automatic antenna coupler SG 307 extended full range antenna and weather resistant QMS 7 package 3 5 MHz continuous instant tuning while you drive Rated for use on moving v...

Page 74: ...watts PEP voice or CW Length 7 ft including adjustable ratchet mount and spring Equivalent 23 foot antenna Design helically wound The QMS 7 Antenna Coupler System QMS 7 SG 231 Smartuner SG 307 Antenn...

Page 75: ...0 SGC Inc QMS b2 cat 55 47 includes the SG 230 200W 1 8 to 30 MHz SG 303 9 ft antenna QMS b3 cat 55 48 includes the SG 235 500W 3 0 to 30 MHz SG 303 9 ft antenna QMS a7 cat 55 49 includes the SG 231 1...

Page 76: ...nting package comprise the QMS Mounting coupler and antenna outside the vehicle reduces engine noise and interference It can be quickly installed and easily moved from vehicle to vehicle No drilling o...

Page 77: ...permits orienting the whip from vertical to horizontal The SG 303 stands up to the wind loading at highway speeds as well as to rain ice and the occasional tree branch The SGC line of antenna couplers...

Page 78: ...ratchet mount Base heavy duty rubber encapsulated spring mount Feed through high voltage wall feed through bushing hole 890 in Cable 3 ft high voltage wire one end termin ated by a round lug Combine...

Page 79: ...e branch Accompanying SGC s dedica tion to customer service and guaranteed product reliability a lifetime warranty is provided with the SG 307 antenna SGC Inc P O Box 3526 Bellevue WA 98009 USA Tel 42...

Page 80: ...4 17 SGC Inc P O Box 3526 Bellevue WA 98009 USA Tel 425 746 6310 Fax 425 746 6384 E mail sgc sgcworld com Web site http www sgcworld com No Compromise Communications Mounting coupler and antenna outsi...

Page 81: ...operating instructions b has been serviced adapted or modified without written approval by SGC or c is improperly installed used or otherwise damaged including without limitation any damage by fire s...

Page 82: ...Use the SG 231 to automatically tune just about any antenna 8 feet minimum to 3 100 watt HF and low band VHF transceivers from 1 to 60 MHz Requiring only 13 6VDC input the SG 231 is ideal for mobile a...

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