Coax Switches

[al2i]

I have a club station with three antennas and two operator stations, but we are going to 4 antennas and 3 operator stations. So far, I have been using some coax switches, band filters, and simply moving coax connectors as needed, but I am thinking of dressing the whole system up for this winter.

The weak point in the current operation seems to be the coax switches, which introduce various problems. I took one switch apart, and it was a shockingly cheap design inside. Am I missing some sort of a solution for a multi? Is there a quality brand of switches out there? If not, I will likely build a patch panel arrangement or something.

[K8YS]

I have a club station with three antennas and two operator stations, but we are going to 4 antennas and 3 operator stations. So far, I have been using some coax switches, band filters, and simply moving coax connectors as needed, but I am thinking of dressing the whole system up for this winter.

The weak point in the current operation seems to be the coax switches, which introduce various problems. I took one switch apart, and it was a shockingly cheap design inside. Am I missing some sort of a solution for a multi? Is there a quality brand of switches out there? If not, I will likely build a patch panel arrangement or something.

good luck with the switches!

Our club station ended up using a patch panel. Each station terminated to a bulkhead connector, and every antenna terminated to a bulkhead connector. When Station A needs the Tribander, you need to go to the cross connect closet and move a jumper.

All of the bulkead connectors are mounted on a copper plate and the plate is connected to a ground rod that we installed thru the floor of the office trailer that we use for a station/shack.

[w2amr]

I have a club station with three antennas and two operator stations, but we are going to 4 antennas and 3 operator stations. So far, I have been using some coax switches, band filters, and simply moving coax connectors as needed, but I am thinking of dressing the whole system up for this winter.

The weak point in the current operation seems to be the coax switches, which introduce various problems. I took one switch apart, and it was a shockingly cheap design inside. Am I missing some sort of a solution for a multi? Is there a quality brand of switches out there? If not, I will likely build a patch panel arrangement or something.
I have been using the B&W 6 position switches for years. Never had any problems.They are probably still available at AES. You might want to avoid the MF Junk switches.

[al2i]

I have a club station with three antennas and two operator stations, but we are going to 4 antennas and 3 operator stations. So far, I have been using some coax switches, band filters, and simply moving coax connectors as needed, but I am thinking of dressing the whole system up for this winter.

The weak point in the current operation seems to be the coax switches, which introduce various problems. I took one switch apart, and it was a shockingly cheap design inside. Am I missing some sort of a solution for a multi? Is there a quality brand of switches out there? If not, I will likely build a patch panel arrangement or something.
I have been using the B&W 6 position switches for years. Never had any problems.They are probably still available at AES. You might want to avoid the MF Junk switches.

I have used the Alpha Delta and Daiwa. I will look for the B&W and try one. Thanks.

[ad4mg]

I have two of the B&W switches, the 3 & 6 position models. Never had any trouble with either. The 3 position switch was given to me in 1992, and it was old then!

[kd6nig]

I have 2 Alpha-Deltas that I have been using for years, both above 50MHZ. I've been told the cheaper ones don't agree with VHF/UHF at all.

I switch from horizontal to vertical with one for 2m, one to switch between dipole/6m loop.

Both work well and have yet to give me problems with 2 years of service.

The cheap ones are "ok" for HF (borderline) but on 50 and above are not shielded well enough to work.

Avoid the cheap ones 6m and above!

(You didn't mention bands)

[kf0rt]

Here's what I use:

http://tatanka03.home.comcast.net/switch.jpg

Top switch is a B&W I got off eBay for about 5 bucks -- bottom two can be bought anywhere and look suspiciously like the same thing MFJ sells; they're about $25 new -- built like a brick outhouse, but I've never had one open to see what's inside. They've been working fine here for about a year, but I don't run any "power."

[al2i]

Here's what I use:

Top switch is a B&W I got off eBay for about 5 bucks -- bottom two can be bought anywhere and look suspiciously like the same thing MFJ sells; they're about $25 new -- built like a brick outhouse, but I've never had one open to see what's inside. They've been working fine here for about a year, but I don't run any "power."

I will look for a B&W on eBay. We have two kilowatt stations and one little 100 watt station.

[al2i]

Our club station ended up using a patch panel. Each station terminated to a bulkhead connector, and every antenna terminated to a bulkhead connector. When Station A needs the Tribander, you need to go to the cross connect closet and move a jumper.

All of the bulkead connectors are mounted on a copper plate and the plate is connected to a ground rod that we installed thru the floor of the office trailer that we use for a station/shack.

That sounds pretty similar to my setup, as it is a trailer. I made one bulkhead just for a means to quickly disconnect/reconnect the trailer if it needs to be moved. This happened once when there was an emergency, so it could happen again. My bulkhead is simply a blank aluminum rack mount panel with a number of SO-239 through-connectors mounted in it. I was thinking of making a patch panel with a couple more plates if I continue to be disappointed in the coax switches.