Home brew antenna switcher?

[nutcracker]

Just was messing around when I decided to build a small antenna switcher, I want to build a dipole to put up as a receiving antenna and then be able to switch to the beam. So I constructed this little thing out of a 3 pole toggle, 3 so-239s and and wire. It seems to work good, switches antenna and definitely does work, but havent checked swrs since I need a small 3' jumper from the meter. Never seen one of these before, just curious if its a common technique or if its a tried and true method.


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[Slim Pickins]

I thought about making one of these before...then I thought, nah, it'll never work. Hope it works for you. Let us know your findings when you check the swr on both antennas. What size switch did you use? I was worried about insufficient rf isolation between the contacts and smoking the switch. No idea if these fears are warrented or not but that was my reasoning for not building one...that and beer.

73s
Paul

[nutcracker]

I thought about making one of these before...then I thought, nah, it'll never work. Hope it works for you. Let us know your findings when you check the swr on both antennas. What size switch did you use? I was worried about insufficient rf isolation between the contacts and smoking the switch. No idea if these fears are warrented or not but that was my reasoning for not building one...that and beer.

73s
Paul

You know I dont know the size I just had it laying around and decided to put it to use. I already put about 250 through it and it still seems to work good. I can flip antennas back and forth and the beam always has the better recieve. It seems as if its not even there. Just wondered why nobody bothers to build them when they are this simple?

[Slim Pickins]

Good to hear that it is working well. Any change in swr with it inline?

[nutcracker]

Good to hear that it is working well. Any change in swr with it inline?

Nope, I just soldered up a connector and there is no change in swr with it inline. The 3 pole switch I used is a heavy duty one from a old tractor where it was rigged to start it. Saved me 30 bucks, hopefully someone else can use it.

['Doc]

A simple switch can certainly be used as an antenna switch! (As you are finding out.) There are some that just won't do very well though, bunch of possible reasons for that. Way back there in the dim past that's how it was done commonly. The 'flip switches' from an old telephone switch board were very commonly used (mainly cuz they were very common!). Switches with higher voltage/current ratings tend to do better than the 'itty-bitty' ones. The bigger ones usually have contacts further apart than the littler ones, which helps. In this day and age, how many people just happen to have a switch like that just laying around?
Certainly not something hugely important, but something to keep in mind, is that a typical toggle switch's lever is sometimes directly connected to switching circuit. That means that you could get a 'buzz' if you touch it at certain times. That's something pretty easy to find out!
- 'Doc