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Operating & Assembly 

 Manual 

W8ZR StationPro II

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
Contact Information: Jim Garland W8ZR 

102 Spur Ranch Road 
Santa Fe, NM 87540 

 

[email protected]

  

www.w8zr.net/stationpro

 

 
 

Copyright © 2010-13, W8ZR 

All rights reserved

 

  
(rev. 2/14/2013)

 

Summary of Contents for StationPro II

Page 1: ...ng Assembly Manual W8ZR StationPro II Contact Information Jim Garland W8ZR 102 Spur Ranch Road Santa Fe NM 87540 w8zr arrl net www w8zr net stationpro Copyright 2010 13 W8ZR All rights reserved rev 2...

Page 2: ...y 16 II Microphone Jack Considerations 17 III Front Panel Assembly 18 IV Main Circuit Board Assembly 28 V Rear Panel Circuit Board Assembly 34 VI Microcontroller Circuit Board Assembly 36 VII Final As...

Page 3: ...ncompatibility between their linear amplifiers and transceivers since the StationPro II includes a fast silent relay driver that can accommodate any amplifier s relay requirements It also incorporates...

Page 4: ...ctors owner s choice two 8 pin standard supplied 12 Headphone Connectors 1 4 in 3 5 mm 1 8 stereo automatic speaker disconnect 13 Transceiver Control Lines 24 maximum per transceiver plus GND Micropho...

Page 5: ...F Relay Unit Height 5 0 12 7 cm Width 7 5 19 1 cm excluding mounting flanges Depth 1 5 3 8 cm excluding connectors 20 Weight Control Unit 5 lbs 2 27 kg RF Relay Unit 1 lb 10 oz 0 74 kg III Front Panel...

Page 6: ...d amplifier off line as indicated by a blinking LED and Amp Bypass on the LCD 6 Elapsed Time Switch This switch has three timer functions 1 Depressing it momentarily starts a one time 10min ID time 2...

Page 7: ...7 Aux Spare 1 18 Aux Spare 4 19 Aux Spare 3 20 Line IN 21 CAT CTS 22 CAT TXD 23 CAT RTS 24 CAT RXD 25 GND 2 KEY Jack A key or paddle can be connected to this standard 1 4 stereo jack with normally ope...

Page 8: ...the PTT circuit of the selected transceiver A typical use would be to connect a foot switch to this jack Note that some transceivers ground their PTT line when transmitting so that this jack could be...

Page 9: ...the relays to this external power source 11 REM IN REM OUT Jacks These RJ 25 jacks are used only when multiple StationPro IIs up to a maximum of three are networked together Download the StationPro II...

Page 10: ...nPro The pinout is shown in the diagram Note that all of the pins on this jack are in parallel with similarly named pins on other jacks on the StationPro The AUX4 pin is not designated for any specifi...

Page 11: ...ntenna or antenna switch The coaxial cable should be rated for the maximum power of any of the station linear amplifiers 5 CTRL Jack This RJ45 jack is used to control the RF relays The jack accepts a...

Page 12: ...key data speakers PTT etc are made via cables coming from breakout pods which are fabricated during assembly for each model of transceiver The fabrication of breakout pods is treated in detail in the...

Page 13: ...ansceiver with a confirming 3 tone beep and the sound of relays clicking The top line of the display will show No Amp to confirm that no amplifier has yet been selected As a safety precaution the Stat...

Page 14: ...the Elapsed Time switch is held down for a half second then a repeating timer is activated In this case the LCD will show a symbol in the lower right corner and the controller will send ID in morse c...

Page 15: ...re are additional considerations associated with networking multiple StationPro IIs Because this topic will be of interest to only a small number of amateurs having very complex stations the details o...

Page 16: ...ly 1 Tools To build the StationPro II you will need the following tools and small items hookup wire 22AWG 50ft approx small tip soldering iron 1 32 diameter resin core solder isopropyl rubbing alcohol...

Page 17: ...Ten Tec Icom Yaesu Elecraft Flex Radio will use these jacks Older vintage rigs earlyTen Tec Drake TR 5 7 Johnson Ranger Collins KWS 1 Heathkit etc typically used either 4 pin or 2 pin connectors The m...

Page 18: ...at the end of this manual III Front Panel Assembly The front panel is the most complex part of the entire assembly process so we will get it out of the way first Begin by reading through these instru...

Page 19: ...y 3 R305 R311 1000 Resistor 5 carbon film 1 4W brown black red qty 7 R312 22 K Resistor 5 carbon film 1 4W red red orange qty 1 R313 220 K Resistor 5 carbon film 1 4W red red yellow qty 1 R314 4 7 K R...

Page 20: ...318 10 K brown black orange R316 10 brown black black R301 5 K Trimpot 2 Install the following ten blue epoxy dipped capacitors and one electrolytic capacitor onto the circuit board Make sure you inst...

Page 21: ...ws Note the rectangular cutout on the front panel is sized for the recommended Microtips NC S16205DFYSAY display If other brands of LCDs are used it may be necessary to file slightly the cutout openin...

Page 22: ...ou are certain the switch bodies are snug against the circuit board and that the LCD is flush with the front of the panel and after you have double checked that no switches are mounted upside down the...

Page 23: ...y emerge from the side of each terminal rather than straight out the back See second photo on next page This will increase the rear clearance for this jack which is tight when the front panel is insta...

Page 24: ...ill be necessary if you use the supplied 8 pin mic jacks or other jacks that fit the 0 625 front panel holes 18 Rotate the jacks so that their wires are oriented adjacent to the matching lettered pads...

Page 25: ...phone jack J303 around the edge of the circuit board rather than through the access hole IMPORTANT double check to make sure you have identified all the wires correctly Trim the wires to size keep the...

Page 26: ...TT pads because both pads in each row FN1 for example are jumpered together on the circuit board You can assign the other microphone wires e g UP DOWN V etc to FN1 4 in any order you like but be sure...

Page 27: ...wn Do not solder the LEDs 26 Snap the LED plastic mounting bezels into their holes on the front panel taking care not to let any of the LEDs slip out of their circuit board pads 27 Slide the body of t...

Page 28: ...2 F101 Fuse Fuse 1Amp 3AG qty 1 J101 J104 Connector Molex 0 156 12 pin top entry female header qty 4 J101 J104 Header Molex 0 156 12 pin male header qty 4 J105 J106 Connector Molex 0 156 4 pin top ent...

Page 29: ...ns The alternate circuit rated at 3 5A 200V positive polarity only should only be used for keying very high current positive voltage relays CHOOSE ONLY ONE CIRCUIT Now install the selected components...

Page 30: ...4005 diodes at D101 D107 and D109 and the 0 1 F blue dipped epoxy capacitor at C101 Make sure the diodes bands are oriented as shown on the silkscreened legends and do not confuse the value of the cap...

Page 31: ...it board 56 pins in all Be sure you orient the connectors to the silkscreened outline on the circuit board and be sure the connector pins go into holes in the round pads in the circuit board and not i...

Page 32: ...ct each solder joint with a magnifying glass to look for cold solder joints and solder bridges Some of the connectors have metal mounting tabs and these should be soldered to the ground plane on the c...

Page 33: ...shown below orient the cables so that one flat cable emerges out of header P101 toward the front edge of the circuit board while the cable from P103 points toward the rear edge of the circuit board Im...

Page 34: ...J410 Connector 2 5 mm DC pwr jack PCB side entry qty 1 P403 Header Molex 26 pin 2x13 0 100 male header qty 1 Rear Panel Circuit Board Rear Panel Circuit Board Components left to right J401 J403 J402 J...

Page 35: ...rcuit board They should mount perfectly flush onto the board and not tilt or lean in any direction Be certain the modular RCA phono jacks are seated flush on the circuit board before you solder their...

Page 36: ...Capacitor 50V blue ceramic marked 103 qty 2 D201 D203 1N4005 1A 600 PIV diode qty 3 J201 Connector D Sub 25 pin male R A PCB mount qty 1 J202 J203 Connector RJ25 6 pin PCB side entry shielded qty 2 K2...

Page 37: ...low R203 R205 10 K brown black orange 2 Install a 10 K trimpot at R204 3 Install blue epoxy dipped ceramic capacitors as follows C201 C205 0 1 F 50V marked 104 C207 1000 pF 50V marked 102 C208 C209 0...

Page 38: ...Be sure to observe the polarity of the capacitor The pad is marked on the silkscreening whereas the side is marked on the capacitor 10 Install connectors J201 25 pin and J202 J203 6 pin along the rear...

Page 39: ...ive pressure It helps to rock the BS2 IC back and forth slightly while you insert it Verify that its pins are straight before inserting the BS2 IC into its socket The white dot on the front of the BS2...

Page 40: ...ree 25 pin DB25 connectors and the 9 pin DB9 connector Before you tighten the jack screws make sure the bodies of the 8 pin RJ 45 RELAY CTRL and 6 pin RJ 25 REM IN REM OUT connectors fit into their re...

Page 41: ...ndoffs closest to the front of the main circuit board 7 Press the four adhesive backed feet supplied with the enclosure onto the underside of the bottom cover 8 Attach the bottom cover to the side bra...

Page 42: ...be installed fully and the third ribbon cable from P103 should be hanging free 11 Following the steps below prepare and install a short 4 conductor cable to connect from P102 on the main circuit boar...

Page 43: ...e that pin 1 is identified on the silkscreened legends d Plug one end of the cable assembly into P102 on the main circuit board and the other end into P302 on the front panel circuit board Again be su...

Page 44: ...port P208 on the microcontroller circuit board Hint If your computer does not have a serial port you can buy a USB to serial adapter from Parallax Inc the company that makes the Basic Stamp microcontr...

Page 45: ...f your cable Note if you are using a ready made serial cable then crimp terminals onto the wires coming from pins 2 3 4 5 of the DB 9 connector Use an ohmmeter to verify the pin numbers Twist and sold...

Page 46: ...se the version of the editor for your particular operating system Versions are available for early and late Windows operating systems and also Macintosh and Linux 2 Download the latest firmware versio...

Page 47: ...P2 Info in quotes DATA 050 Drake L4 B Enter AMP3 Info in quotes DATA 060 Elecraft K3 Enter TRX1 Info in quotes DATA 070 TenTec Orion II Enter TRX2 Info in quotes DATA 080 Collins S Line Enter TRX3 Inf...

Page 48: ...e on the Key Line In and Line Out jacks and by six No 4 x 3 8 sheet metal screws Make certain that the RCA Phono jacks are properly centered in their holes on the panel before you tighten the sheet me...

Page 49: ...wder coating off all the screw holes on the inside of the top cover Doing so will ensure good electrical contact between the metal cover and the ten SO 239 coax jacks and also between the metal cover...

Page 50: ...cuit board and collect the components that mount on the board listed below If necessary refer to the master parts list for more details about each component RF Relay Circuit Board Components J501 Conn...

Page 51: ...lkscreened legend 9 Install RF power relays K501 K510 Install these one at a time and make sure the body of each relay is flush against the circuit board before you solder the pins 10 OPTIONAL STEP Th...

Page 52: ...e the RF circuit board to the four standoffs on the inside top cover of the enclosure using 4 40 x 3 16 machine screws and internal lockwashers Place the lockwashers between the standoffs and the bott...

Page 53: ...nnects to the StationPro control unit via a single 25 wire computer type serial cable The free end of this cable terminates in a pod which is a small breakout box Short cables go from this breakout bo...

Page 54: ...in Pod 6 FN3 8 5 FN1 function 4 FN2 DOWN 3 FN4 UP 8 GND 2 PTT 7 MIC GND 1 MIC B CAT DATA Jack Connector Type DSUB DB 9 Conn Pin Pod 1 N C 2 RXD ser out 3 TXD ser in 4 N C 5 GND 6 N C 7 N C RTS 8 N C C...

Page 55: ...ll a 25 pin ferrite filtered D Sub female connector Mouser p n 806 KF22X B25S NJ on the pod circuit board Check the solder joints to make sure there are no solder bridges and be sure to solder the mou...

Page 56: ...at the end of this section on p 59 to the front and rear sides of the enclosure The bottom of the templates should be aligned along the bottom edge of the enclosure Hint using an artist s spray mounti...

Page 57: ...sn t a work of art The cutout has no structural importance and once the computer cable is plugged into the pod any imperfections in your workmanship won t be noticeable 11 The row of holes along the r...

Page 58: ...required modules for the StationPro II All that remains is for you to connect together the Controller Unit the RF Relay Unit and the transceiver pods and then to connect your transceivers and linear a...

Page 59: ...t has only one serial port while also operating SSB or AM then it may be necessary to prepare a custom interface cable The purpose of the custom cable would be to prevent coupling of computer noise fr...

Page 60: ...60...

Page 61: ...61...

Page 62: ...Ground Loop Currents Cause Hum Numerous currents flow along the chassis of any transceiver or transmitter In vintage vacuum tube transmitters these might include several amperes of 50 60 Hz filament...

Page 63: ...erconnecting cable shields The diagram below shows why modern microphones with dedicated mic and mic connections do not have this problem In the diagram there is still an AC voltage caused by ground c...

Page 64: ...ause all station layouts are different trial and error is the only practical way to find the optimal configuration Steps to Take If All Else Fails If the above steps don t reduce hum to acceptable lev...

Page 65: ...circuit which also uses the shield in most vintage microphones to function 3 Two conductor mic jacks that mount in a 5 8 in hole commonly used in vintage transmitters from the 1950s pose a special pr...

Page 66: ...rophone jacks and plug your vintage microphones directly into their mating transmitters For vintage radio collectors this might be the preferred and certainly easiest solution anyway since one can the...

Page 67: ...Z5U epoxy dipped ceramic qty 1 Mouser p n 21RZ310 RC Price 08 ea 069 100 053 500 046 1000 D101 D107 D109 1N4005 Fairchild 1A diode qty 8 Mouser 512 1N4005 Price 0 05 ea 0 04 10 03 100 02 250 F101 Fuse...

Page 68: ...ate relay 400V 250mA Mouser p n 849 PLA140 Price 4 34 ea 3 82 25 3 48 50 3 18 100 2 87 250 P101 P103 Connector Molex 10 89 7262 2x13 pin 0 100 female header qty 2 Mouser p n 538 10 89 7262 Price 1 89...

Page 69: ...C307 1000 pF Capacitor 50V Xicon X7R qty 7 Mouser p n 21RX510 RC Price 0 10 ea 0 084 100 0 065 500 C308 C309 47 pF Xicon Z5U epoxy dipped ceramic qty 2 Mouser p n 21RD747 RC Price 10 ea 082 100 063 50...

Page 70: ...0 56 500 P305 Header SIP 40 pin 0 100 male breakaway header qty 1 Mouser p n header 517 6111TG Price 0 90 ea 0 82 50 0 78 100 0 74 500 K301 Relay P B Tyco V23105 DPDT 12VDC 960 ohm coil qty 1 Mouser...

Page 71: ...5 TA2130 EVX Price 2 67 ea 2 23 50 2 02 100 1 84 500 S303 S311 Switch Mountain Switch min toggle SPDT mom qty 9 Mouser p n 108 1MS2T6B1M1QE EVX Price 2 76 ea 1 93 50 1 80 100 1 72 500 Y301 Ceram Res M...

Page 72: ...rice 1 69 ea 1 62 10 1 18 100 1 10 250 1 05 500 J202 J203 Connector RJ25 6 pin PCB side entry shielded qty 2 Mouser p n 571 5555 154 1 Price 0 99 ea 0 78 10 0 71 100 0 62 500 K201 K213 Relay P B Tyco...

Page 73: ...Stamp model BS2 IC Mouser p n 619 BS2 IC Price 49 00 ea 44 00 10 41 25 25 U202 74HC139 STM dual 4 to 2 line decoder DIP 16 Mouser p n 511 M74HC139 Price 0 39 ea 0 34 10 0 30 100 U203 74HC240 STM octa...

Page 74: ...qty 1 Mouser p n 161 3507 E Price 0 79 ea 0 53 10 0 48 100 J404 J405 Connector Kobiconn triple RCA phono jack R Wh Ye qty 2 Mouser p n 161 4319 E Price 1 37 ea 1 14 10 1 04 100 0 95 500 J406 J409 Con...

Page 75: ...4 1000 Speaker 5 mm x 45 mm dia round speaker Mouser p n 665 AS04508MR3R Price 2 66 ea 2 49 25 1 87 100 F RF Relay Switching Unit ver A2 Enclosure Custom silkscreened prepunched Alternate not silkscre...

Page 76: ...91XXBSBK Price 4 06 ea 3 66 10 3 03 50 2 62 100 cable ties cable ties Ty Wrap or equiv 4 inch qty 15 Pod Conn Connector D Sub 25 pin female R A PCB mount qty 3 Mouser p n 806 KF22X B25S NJ Kycon ferri...

Page 77: ...lied with the enclosure for the StationPro II control unit The following items are to be obtained locally by the builder Qty 3 patch cord 3 6 25C serial cable w male female DB25 connectors Qty 1 patch...

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