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2 Articles

Motorized Coil Tunes Your Ham Antenna On A Budget

January 19, 2025 by 9 Comments

When it comes to amateur radio, one size definitely does not fit all. That’s especially true with antennas, which need to be just the right size for the band you’re working, lest Very Bad Things happen to your expensive radio. That presents a problem for the ham who wants the option to work whichever band is active, and doubly so if portable operation is desired.

Of course, there are commercial solutions to this problem, but they tend to be expensive. Luckily [Øystein (LB8IJ)] seems to have found a way around that with this low-cost homebrew motorized antenna coil, which is compatible with the Yaesu Automatic Tuning Antenna System. ATAS is supported by several Yaesu transceivers, including the FT-891 which [Øystein] favors for field operations. ATAS sends signals up the feedline to a compatible antenna, which then moves a wiper along a coil to change the electrical length of the antenna, allowing it to resonate on the radio’s current frequency.

The video below details [Øystein]’s implementation of an ATAS-compatible tuning coil, mainly focusing on the mechanical and electrical aspects of the coil itself, which takes up most of the room inside a 50-mm diameter PVC tube. The bore of the air-core coil has a channel that guides a wiper, which moves along the length of the coil thanks to a motor-driven lead screw. [Øystein] put a lot of work into the wiper, to make it both mechanically and electrically robust. He also provides limit switches to make sure the mechanism isn’t over-driven.

There’s not much detail yet on how the control signals are detected, but a future video on that subject is promised. We’re looking forward to that, but in the meantime, the second video below shows [Øystein] using the tuner in the field, with great results.

Continue reading “Motorized Coil Tunes Your Ham Antenna On A Budget” →

DIY Tuning Capacitors From Washers And 3D-Printed Parts

October 25, 2018 by 34 Comments

The inside of classic radios holds wonders that the sterile chips and SMD components of today’s circuits can’t hold a candle to. Chunky resistors and capacitors, vacuum tubes with cathodes aglow, and seemingly free-form loops of wire forming inductors will all likely make an appearance. But the most fascinating bit of any old radio was connected to the tuning knob: the big variable capacitor with its interdigitating metal plates. Watching one at work, with its plates evenly and finely spaced, is still a joy to behold.

In an attempt to recapture a little of that magic, [Jeremy S. Cook] came up with this home-brew variable tuning capacitor. The frame is built mainly from 3D-printed parts, which supports a shaft made from a common bolt. Plates are fashioned from stainless steel fender washers cut in half; the fixed plates are press-fit into the frame while the rotary plates ride on the shaft. The spacing between the rotary plates is maintained by printed spacers, which also serve to lock the rotor into one solid unit. [Jeremy]’s prototype, for which he provides STL files, can be tuned between about 7 and 15 pF. Check out the build in the video below.

We love the look of this, and we can imagine custom tuning caps would come in handy for certain retro radio builds. The tuning range is a little narrow, but that could be fixed with more plates or closer spacing. That might be a tall order with thick steel washers, but we’ve seen really thin aluminum machined and closely spaced before, so this might be one approach to higher capacitance. Continue reading “DIY Tuning Capacitors From Washers And 3D-Printed Parts” →