MAC-200 Master Antenna Controller User Manual Thank you for buying your new MAC-200 Master Antenna Controller. The MAC-200 incorporates the very latest American-made technology as well as our experience in having delivered more than 100,000 Smartuners since 1985. It is a state-of-the-art tuner providing a new and unique level of usefulness. The concept of the MAC-200 is quite different from our line of Smartuners.
NOTICES Table of Contents READING THIS MANUAL: The most important sections to read in this manual are MAC-200 SETUP (section XX) and MAC-200 OPERATION (section XX). All users should read and understand this material. Other information such as Theory of Operation is provided for those who want to understand their new MAC-200 more completely. 1 INTRODUCTION ...............................................................6 2 TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS ....................................
4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 5 SELECTING THE METER RANGE ..................................38 SELECTING THE OPERATING ANTENNA ........................38 AUTO VS. MANUAL ANTENNA SELECTION .................39 FRONT PANEL RESET-LOCK OPERATION .....................41 DO-IT-YOURSELF LIGHT BULB TEST ..........................42 1 Introduction THEORY OF OPERATION ............................................46 5.1 TUNING PROCESS AND OPTIONS .................................47 5.1.1 Tuning Process ........................
now SGC has taken the next step and added an intelligent tuner to the control station. The MAC-200 is something completely new, an antenna switching system that also provides built in intelligent tuning capability to trim the line before going into your transceiver. The MAC-200 has 170 built in memories to remember both the tuning parameters and the antenna at a variety of frequencies. It has all of the sophistication developed over the years with SGC’s Smartuner line of antenna couplers.
In order to open the MAC-200 to get at the JP1 or JP3 jumpers or to visually inspect the circuit boards, you need to do the following: 3 MAC-200 Setup 3.1 Mechanical Design The MAC-200 is in an aluminum case. RF and DC power come through the back of the case. Internal construction is normal for fixed location use. Corrosion-resistant hardware and passive alloys are used throughout. For 99% of installations, the factory settings for the internal jumpers will be correct. 1.
To re-close the cover: 1. 2. 3. Orient the cover so that the small groove for the locking washer is at the back of the MAC-200 Engage the cover with the body of the MAC200 from the front or the back and slide it into place. Holding the MAC-200 with the back panel UP, push the washer into the slot engaging the cover slot. Place the locking washer over this, and drive the screw into the hole until tight. 3.2 Connections to the Mac-200 All connections to the MAC-200 are made on the back panel.
3.2.2 RF Input from your transceiver Chassis Ground A standard SO-239 jack is for RF Input from your transceiver. 3.2.3 Chassis Ground 12 VDC Connection RF Input The chassis ground should be connected to a suitable station safety grounding system. The MAC-200 has a miniature power input jack on the back panel. Any voltage from 10 to 18.5 VDC is suitable for operation of the MAC-200. Average current draw will be approximately 230 milliamps.
3.2.4 Connecting Antennas to the MAC-200 3.2.4.2 Long Wire Connections 3.2.4.1 Coax antenna feeds Long Wire (unbalanced) RF Hot Connection SO-239 Connectors for Coaxial Cable Three SO-239 connectors are provided for antennas fed with Coaxial cable. SGC recommends that one connector be reserved for a dummy load if possible for testing purposes. From the front panel, these three connections correspond to switches 3, 4, and 5.
IMPORTANT NOTE: A long wire connected at the back of the MAC-200 will be radiating from the moment is leaves the MAC200. This can lead to excessive RF levels within the radio room at even modest power levels. The length of wire within the radio room needs to be kept short. 3.2.4.3 Balanced Feed Connections 3.2.4.4 Multiple Antenna Connections The MAC-200 was designed specifically to allow multiple antenna types with multiple antennas feed lines to be controlled from a single location.
3.3 Antennas and the MAC-200 The MAC-200 can accommodate a wide variety of antennas providing a convenient way to switch between them and to tune them, all in the same box. This is a compromise location. The optimum location is the antenna feed point where the impedance match keeps SWR on the feed line to an absolute minimum. 3.3.2 Connecting Multiple Antennas The MAC-200 is provided with 3 SO-239 connectors, one RFHot/RF-GND pair, and one balanced feed connection.
unbalanced antennas are long wires and verticals. IMPORTANT NOTE: The RF-Hot connection will radiate RF from any wire connected to it. Not only is this an RF Hazard within the station, but it can cause local interference both within the station and in the vicinity depending on your power level. The balanced feed connection is for a ladder line feed connecting to a balanced antenna like a dipole or a loop. 3.3.3 Balanced vs.
Stealthy antennas are built in a variety of ways. A simple example is a roofmounted dipole with 3.3.5.1 Dipoles Balanced antennas can be connected to the balanced line connections on the back of the MAC200. its ends bent 90 degrees and fed from the MAC-200. 3.3.5.2 The Inverted V Antenna Some balanced antennas, such as the doublet, have a coax feed at the center point. Simply connect your coax feed line to the MAC-200 at connectors 1, 2, or 3.
3.3.5.3 Dipoles with Matching Lines Some antennas, such as the G5RV, use a section of ladder line as a matching device. These transform the impedance of feed point to something near 50 ohms. Usually, the ladder line terminates in a 1:1 balun. The Coaxial line from the transceiver connects to the balun. The MAC-200 can feed this connection directly from one of the coax ports or you can remove the balun run the ladder line directly to the MAC-200 balanced feed line port. 3.3.5.
may be incorporated into the design of the antenna itself. More than any other factor, a good RF ground will help to improve the radiated signal from these antennas and minimize RFI generated by the antenna. As a minimum, an RF Ground can consist of a wire 5-10% longer than the wire antenna and laid out so that it does not cross over itself or form a loop.
be connected exactly like a long wire antenna to the LONGWIRE lugs with the vertical element connected to the top lug and the RF Grounding system connected to the RF GND connector. This configuration could be a very poor radiator unless the feed line is elevated from the ground. The feed wire in this case will be part of the RF radiating system. Loops can be conveniently arranged either horizontally or vertically, but the feeding arrangement from the MAC-200 would be the same. 3.3.5.
Loops can take on nearly any closed shape such as a square, rectangle, triangle, or diamond shape and they can be fed on the sides or in the corners. The impact of different configurations and feed points is well documented in the many 3.3.6 Tips & Tricks 1. The most frequent source of problems in unbalanced antenna systems is the RF Ground. RF grounding is frequently misunderstood and poorly implemented. See our book The HF User’s Guide available free for download from [WEB ADDRESS]. 2.
3.3.7 References on Antennas 3.4 The Golden Rules of HF Installation 3.3.7.1 From SGC These rules apply to all types of stations, including base, mobile, air-borne and marine. They are very important for planning and installing your HF system, if you want to achieve good communications. SGC, HF User’s Guide, available free from http://www.sgcworld.com/ftp/Books/hfguide.pdf SGC, Stealth Antenna Manual, available free from http://www.sgcworld.com/ftp/Books/STEALTHman.pdf 1. 2. 3.3.7.
are followed during the design and installation of your HF system, the operator can expect top performance. Further information regarding applications, installation and operation can be downloaded from our website www.sgcworld.com. These publications include: • • • • 4 MAC-200 Operation 4.1 Powering on the Mac200 HF User’s Guide Go Mobile at 500 Watts Stealth Antennas Smartuner Antenna Coupler Manuals Power Button Momentarily press the Red Power button on the front panel to activate the MAC-200.
backlighting is turned ON. If the MANUAL key is pressed, meter backlighting is turned OFF. Default from the factory is backlighting ON. The current backlighting settings are stored and will be recovered whenever the MAC-200 is started. 4.2 Selecting the Meter Range Backlighting can be turned on or off by pressing the RESET button and holding the AUTO or MANUAL key during microprocessor reset. Meter Range Selection 4.1.
Switch Number 1 2 3 4 5 Antenna Balanced Antenna Long Wire Antenna Coax 3 Coax 4 Coax 5 In the AUTO mode operation the MAC-200 remembers not only the frequency, but the antenna. The tuner will save the selected antenna along with the tuner settings when a successful match is found. Both the tuner settings and the antenna settings will be recalled the next time the MAC-200 is operated at that frequency. Antenna settings are kept in a special set of bins. Only one antenna may be stored in each bin.
When operating in MANUAL mode, the MAC-200 ignores the antenna setting, but the antenna tuner continues to function. Tuner settings will be stored and recalled from memory without changing the antenna selection setting. This may cause retuning when going back to the AUTO mode since the antenna and the tuning settings may no loner match. Tuner settings are stored in predefined ‘bins’ across the range of the tuner.
power is being output, you can see the voice modulate the SSB (the light will flicker with your voice peaks), and you can tune the transmitter for maximum out-put (if the transmitter is an older model that requires tuning). Before building or using the light-bulb dummy load, remember that these models typically don’t dissipate the transmitter’s output as well as an oilcan dummy load.
5. Key the PTT switch on the microphone and talk into the microphone. Notice that the light turns on when you talk. COUPLER TEST PROCEDURE 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Connect the coupler to the radio. Connect coupler light bulb load to Smartuner coupler antenna out-put. Turn on the radio and the Smartuner coupler. Set the radio to the CW mode. Key the PTT switch on the microphone and look at the light bulb. The light should turn on if the coupler has completed its’ tuning cycle and if the radio is transmitting.
5.1.1 Tuning Process 5.1 Tuning Process and Options The MAC-200 MicroTune™ Software is unique in that it allows precise tuning of the digitally controlled π and L network for a wide variety of antennas. The versatile MicroTune™ software offers these special functions: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. The coupler is activates whenever forward power is present. In addition to sampling VSWR to determine if the coupler should retune, it also does a frequency comparison.
Downloaded by Amateur Radio Directory www.hamdirectory.info 5.1.2 Impedance Detector positive output 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 network out-put is shifted to a 0 to 5v range, then fed to the processor’s A to D converter port, and used within the micro-controller. 5.1.
A directional coupler is a current transformer T2 and a voltage transformer T1, with termination resistors R33, R34, R35, and R36. The coupler is inserted in the 50-ohm transmission line between the input connector, ST2 RF - ST3 GND, and the tuning network. Forward power is measured across R33, R34 and reflected power is measured across R35, R36. Diode D1 generates a positive DC voltage proportional to forward power and D3 generates a positive DC voltage proportional to reflected power.
5.1.5 Central Processing Unit (CPU) The antenna coupler relays are controlled by latches U6 and U7, which receive serial data input directly from the CPU, and Q5. During operation, data is transferred into the CPU from the A to D ports and the Input Capture port (measures RF frequency). The program monitors the status of the input sensors and—starting from a preset condition—uses a built-in algorithm to achieve a tuned condition.
The microcomputer is usually in the Stop mode and requires an interrupt signal (XIRQ) to start program implementation. The XIRQ comes from the RF detector circuitry. This line, going low, will wake the CPU. 5.1.7 Jumper Settings JP3 in the YES (default) position JP1 in the NO (default) position JP1 is located adjacent to MCU (U5) along the edge of the printed circuit board.
Detecting forward power. Once forward power is detected and IF the MAC-200 is switched to AUTO, the current coupler settings are sent to the relays and the proper antenna is chosen for operation. Next, the VSWR is checked and the frequency measured. If the VSWR is greater than 2:1 or a difference in frequency is detected, the program branches to the re-tune program. If it is determined that the VSWR is less than 2:1 and the frequency has not changed, the computer returns to the Stop mode. Retuning.
2. At this point it is normal for the input impedance to be low. 5.1.8.2Manual Mode 3. Input capacitance is added until the antenna is no longer inductive. When the MAC-200 is operating in manual mode, antenna selection is made from the front panel switches. 4. The program will continue to increment the series inductance in .125 µH steps—each time normalizing the input impedance with input capacitance until a low VSWR is measured of less than 2:1.
Once the coupler has verified RF power, the tuning sequence proceeds as follows: 1. 2. 3. 4. Output capacitance is added until the phase switches to capacitive. At this point, series inductance is added until the antenna is no longer capacitive. Fine tuning is performed by trying a small amount of input capacitance (this may or may not be required). At this point, the program executes the same as step 5 (antenna too short).
NO - In this position, the coupler will not use previously saved tuning data. Each time a different frequency is selected, the coupler will proceed through a complete tuning sequence. Clearly, the advantage of Yes is speed. The coupler will seem to be matched instantly when in this position, if the frequency being used has previously been saved in EEPROM. Disadvantages include a difference in frequency too small for the computer to detect.
This LED shows the status of the antenna impedance. When lit, the impedance is 50 ohms or less. When off, the impedance is greater than 50 ohms. As the Smartuner tunes, the BITE status will be continually updated from the CPU. 2:1 This LED will light when the VSWR is greater than 2:1. It will extinguish when VSWR is less than 2:1. PHZ This LED indicates the status of the antenna reactance. When lit, reactance is inductive. When off, reactance is capacitive.
5.2 Schematics 5.3 Component Location [SCHEMATICS OF THE MAC-200] [DRAWINGS SHOWING COMPONENT LAYOUTS] Mailing: PO Box 3526, Bellevue, WA. 98009 Shipping: 13737 SE 26th St. Bellevue, WA. 98005 Toll Free: 800-259-7331 * Phone: 425-746-6310 * Fax: 425-746-6384 www.sgcworld.com * Email: sgc@sgcworld.com Mailing: PO Box 3526, Bellevue, WA. 98009 Shipping: 13737 SE 26th St. Bellevue, WA. 98005 Toll Free: 800-259-7331 * Phone: 425-746-6310 * Fax: 425-746-6384 www.sgcworld.com * Email: sgc@sgcworld.
Downloaded by Amateur Radio Directory www.hamdirectory.info Standard Warranty SGC LIMITED PRODUCT WARRANTY (1 Year Parts and Labor) And SOFTWARE LICENSE You have purchased an SGC equipment product together with a license to use the software installed in that product. Please return the warranty registration card that accompanies this product, so that we can assure that you receive proper warranty service and important notices that may affect the product.
