SixPak Manual rev. 16.1
–
September 12, 2016
Page 3
The dual rotary control box has two other terminals: power (marked +12) and ground (GND).
Use a two-wire power cable from a very reliable 12-13.8 V DC power source available in most
amateur radio stations. Current requirements are small 500 mA is more than enough.
Please
don't use a wall plug mounted 12 V DC supply, because a failure or an accidental
unplugging would open the antenna relay being used and possibly damage an amplifier.
Connect a wire or a shield of your 6 wire cable to the GND terminal in the control box and also
to the GND terminal in the relay matrix. If mounted outside on your tower, use one or both of the
shields in the cable for this purpose. Shielded wire is not necessary and you may use any good
quality cable.
Place the SixPak tray inside the cover and use the #6 hardware supplied to attach the tray inside
the cover. The lower lip of the cover will help protect the connectors from the elements if
mounted outside on the tower. It is to be mounted with the connectors facing down.
Place the control box circuit board into the rotary switch holes and secure with the washers and
nuts provided for the rotary switches. The 12 LEDs should line up with the LED holes. Secure
the cover of the box with the #6 hardware included.
This completes set-up for the Six-Pak configuration.
For Multi-Single or Multi-two contesting stations where the radios are physically separated it is
possible to connect two control boxes in parallel. The LEDs would indicate to the two operators
which bands were being used by the other operator. To use in this manner the unused A or B
rotary switch would be switched to one of the unused positions.
You may want to tape the
unused switches to prevent a mistake during the contest.
Antenna and Feedline set-up
Attach the feedlines from the antennas for the 10m to 160m bands to the corresponding RF
connectors, on the SixPak's tray. Also attach the single or dual radio feedlines to the RADIO A
and RADIO B ports of the SixPak. If the SixPak is mounted outside on the tower, seal the
connection with your favorite method of sealing RF connectors. The SixPak cover has slots in its
lower lip to accept the galvanized U-bolt supplied for mounting to a tower leg. Mount it with the
RF connectors facing down. Even though it’s very rugged don't use your SixPak as a foot step on
the tower.
Also tape the coax cables to a tower rung or leg to strain relief them.
Use of Band Decoders
The BandMaster III will supply 12 V DC to the SixPak relays directly. Just wire these outputs in
parallel with the corresponding terminals in the switch box. The rotary switch can be switched
out of line by turning the knob to one of the unused 6 positions of the control box. If you have a
failure in your decoder you can always go back to manual control with the rotary switch. The
Bandmaster IV has no relay drivers and will share the band information from the radio with other
controllers suitable for the SixPak (See the Controller Options section)
