Coax Switches

TTS Systems

It can be tough switching between your 6-over-6 Yagi, your 4 element Quad, your 600' terminated Rhombic, and your full-size 160 meter vertical. I know I just hate it; spelunking under the desk, wrangling stiff pigtails of RG-8 up to the rig. Even if you use a coax switch, most of them have the connectors splayed out at all angles, leaving the coax running all over the place, taking up half the desk. And then, you have to be able to reach the switch knob, so all that RG-8 is right there in your face.

So you get all that sorted out, you're at your local ham club meeting one evening when a killer lighting storms sweeps through, and you find yourself wondering if you remembered to set the switch to ground your antennas. If not, you may be treated to a smoking heap of rubble where your favorite rig used to be when you get home.

Well, help is at hand. The LDG DTS-4 Desktop Coaxial Switch is made for hams, by hams, to solve these very problems. With the DTS-4 you can instantly switch your rig between 4 antennas with the press of a button. All five coax sockets (4 inputs and one output to your rig) are lined up across the back of the switch, so all the coax can run straight back. This means the DTS-4 will fit in just about anywhere on your operating desk. A bright red LED indicates the antenna in use. At a touch of the control buttons, all inputs are grounded, helping to protect your radio from Mother Nature.

Remember that lightning storm? The DTS-4 can sense when your rig is turned off, and automatically ground all antenna inputs! You simply run a line from a DC-out port on your rig (most modern rigs have at least one) to the DTS-4 and set it to Radio Sense mode with a simple button-press. From then on you're protected; when you turn your rig off everything is automatically grounded. When you power back up, the DTS-4 automatically resets to the antenna you were last using. Use your radio’s auto power off feature and it will even protect you if you forget!

 

The DTS-4R remote control fills the bill, with a full set of control buttons and indicator lights, but only a

single, slim control cable running to the remote DTS-4 switch.

The DTS-4 handles up to 1500 watts of RF power on HF (250W on 6M), and can be used with any coax-fed

antenna. The Radio Sense feature needs at least 2 volts from your rig, at 1 mA current. The DTS-4 features

standard SO-239 connectors, and requires an external 12 vdc power supply at 250 ma. If the external power

supply fails, all inputs are grounded, so it's fail-safe. Switching is done by rugged, sealed industrial relays.

Add the DTS-4 and DTS-4R to your shack soon; it's the modern coax switch you've been waiting for.

DTS-4 Desktop Coaxial Switch

Specifications

 

Four position coaxial antenna switch.

Safety features prevent “hot switching”.

Radio sense allows auto-off control to ground all positions.

RF power: 1500 watts HF, 1000 watts 6 meters.

Frequency range: 1.8 – 54 MHz

Isolation: >50 db

Loss: <1 db measured on 14 MHz.

Power requirements: 11 – 15 volts DC at 100 mA maximum

Size: 5” deep x 4.5” wide x 3” high

Weight: 1 lb.

LDG Electronics

DTS4 Coax Switch and DTS4 Remote

LDG Electronics

DTS6 Coax Switch and DTS6 Remote

The DTS-6 is the big brother of LDG's hit product, the DTS-4.   Like the DTS-4, the DTS-6 is an intelligent coaxial switch, but with inputs for six antennas instead of four. So, when you get around to adding that 80 meter Sterba Curtain Array and the fullsize top-band dipole to your antenna farm, you can step on up to the DTS-6 for all your antenna switching needs.

Like the DTS-4, all coax sockets (six inputs and one output to your rig) are lined up across the back of the switch, so all the coax can run straight back. This means the DTS-6 will fit in just about anywhere on your operating desk. A bright red LED indicates the antenna in use. At a touch of the control buttons, all inputs are safely grounded, protecting your radio from Mother Nature. The DTS-6R remote control lets you remote mount the main switch, providing a full set of control buttons and indicator lights, but only a single, slim control cable running to the remoteDTS-6 switch.

When used with the DTS-6R remote, the DTS-6 can sense when your rig is turned off, and automatically ground all antenna inputs! You simply run a line from a DC-out port on your rig (most modern rigs have at least one) to the DTS-6 and set it to Radio Sense mode with a simple button-press. From then on you're protected; when you turn your rig off everything is automatically grounded. When you power back up, the DTS-6 automatically resets to the antenna you were last using.

Like the DTS-4, you can also control the DTS-6 from your PC!

Instead of the DTS-6R remote, you can connect the DTS-6 to your PC via a level converter, and control all switch functions from your PC. This makes the DTS-6 ideal for use with computer-controlled rigs, or the new "software defined" radios. What's more, the control protocol is open and quite simple, and is completely documented in the manual. You can make a level converter and easily write your own control program using Visual Basic, C++ or practically any programming language on any computer that supports serial I/O; you Mac and Linux programmers should have no trouble at all.  All necessary information is provided

 

The DTS-6 handles up to 1500 watts PEP (250 watts on 6 meters) of RF power, and can be used with any coax fed

antenna. The Radio Sense feature needs at least 2volts from your rig, at negligible current. The DTS-6 features standard SO-239 connectors, and requires an external 12 vdc power supply at 500 ma. If the external power supply fails, all inputs are automatically grounded, so it's fail-safe. Switching is done by rugged, sealed industrial relays.

Add the DTS-6 and DTS-6R to your shack soon; it's the modern coax switch you've been waiting for.

 

Specifications:

• Six position coaxial antenna switch.

• Safety features prevent “hot switching”.

• Radio sense (when used with remote) allows autooff

  control to ground all positions.

• Frequency range: 1.8 – 54 MHz

• Power requirements: 11 – 15 volts DC at 100 mA

  maximum

• Idle current (all grounded): 10 mA.

• Switch Size: 9.5” wide x 4.5” deep x 2” high

• Remote Size: 6” wide x 3” deep x 2” high

• Weight: 1 lb.