Controlling an Ameritron 1306 amp with a Flex 6300

Frank Ventura

Hi all, I am using a Flex 6300 and am very pleased with it. I have an Ameritron 1306 amp which I can key from the TX out RCA jack on the radio. However I still have to set the band manually on the amp. The amp has a setting for remote band switching from the radio. Ameritron sells several cables for major radio manufacturers to connect the band data port on the amp to the radio. I am pretty certain they don't sell one specific for Flex radios. WIth the new ability to get band data from the USB port and the two cables Flex offers (see the USB cable guide document) I think it should somehow be possible to do band switching on this amp. Does anyone sell or can make either an adaptor cable to go between one of the Ameritron cables and one of the USB cables or a modified Ameritron cable to connect to one of the Flex USb cables? Any help, info and thoughts are much appreciated.

James Kennedy-WU5E

I use ALS-600s with Flex 6500 and with the USB cable from Flex and a null modem adapter it follows the radio very easy Jim WU5E

Ria

Hi Frank, I believe it's just a straight through cable with only pins 2,3 and 6 connected. The ameritron has pins 2 and 3 reversed.

W9OY

I added the LED's to watch the light show,  The anode (long lead) of each LED goes to the respective data pin (ABCD) and the cathode of each goes through a common 1K resistor to ground.  The cable is a FTDI C232HM-EDHSL-0 bit cable, about $26 from Mouser.  The cable has 10 wires but I only use the 5 with the colors listed for BCD decoding.  I made the board capable of breaking out all 10 however for experimentation.  I break out the BCD such that I can pick off multiple instances of signal since I use the BCD to also drive a unified microsystems BCD-14 board which controls my antenna switch (not pictured)  (if you zoom the picture the schematic is obvious)

http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/FTDI/C232HM-EDHSL-0/?qs=sGAEpiMZZMs2E6Mv%252b6NxBepzg26UnceN

The circuit board is from radio shack and the RJ45 jack I bought at Lowes for 3 or 4 bucks  

In SSDR under Settings open USB cables, with the USB cable inserted into the 6xxx radio and set the cable to BCD.  The output of the cable is only 3.3v  but it's sufficient to drive my ALS-1300/ARI-500 perfectly.  I soldered the output wires from the PC board directly to the lugs on the RJ45 because it is both reliable and I don't have to worry about one pin shorting to another.  Under the HF setting in the cable edit screen in SSDR the cable will output correct Yaesu BCD through 6 meters (1010) and uses 0000 to output 60M which I use to correctly choose my 60M antenna.   11 Bands total.

73  W9OY

Ria

I buy them from Digikey:

http://www.digikey.com/scripts/DkSearch/dksus.dll?Detail&itemSeq=215289994&uq=63618781230249...

W9OY

my freq was out of band when I checked 2M.  It will also correctly decode 2M on my 6700 in the HF setting.  12 bands total  

73  W9OY

Frank Ventura

Thanks for all the great info. Can I use the cable below in conjunction with the DB9 cable mentioned in the USB port documentation on this site?  https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00HGIRU3O/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1483214546&sr=8-1&p...

Brian_W9HLQ

I wanted isolation between the Flex 6500 and the Ameritron 1306.  I found a amazing deal on a 8 channel opto isolated relay board.  Check out www.yourduino.com and their SKU: EA-040402 relay board for only $12.00.  There are status LED indicators to aid should any debugging be needed.  Thank you Flex for the elegant USB signaling solution.  To avoid wiring up the 9 pin DB9 connector for the Ameritron, I cut he DB9 connector from an old RS232 printer cable.  The cable is lightweight and very flexible. 

David Livingston

You need the Kenwood cable from Ameritron and a nul-modem cable. The Flex serial cable will NOT work it is a standard modem cable and you need a Nul-Modem.  I use the StarTech Product ID: ICUSB232FTN - 1 Port USB to Null Modem RS232 DB9 Serial DCE Adapter Cable with FTDI chipset.  Works perfectly. Connect the two cables and plug into the USB port on back 6000. You also need the latest SmartSDR software release for the USB's to function. You may email me at k4cae@att.ne if you have questions.

Delbert McCord

Thank you David Livingston for the information. I have a new ALS-1306 on its way. 

David Livingston

Contact David AB1XJ... He set his up in just a few minutes today... 73

Don Babcock

Hi David - To be clear - For the ALS-1306 to operate and band follow the FlexRadio I will need a Kenwood cable with the null modem cable mentioned above?

Wally

Let me see if I have this right...for the Flex 6300 and Als-1306 I need a StarTech Product ID: ICUSB232FTN cable, a null modem male/male adapter which is a gender changer so the two female DB-9 ends can connect, and an Ameritron DB-DB7DK cable for the Kenwood...there are two listed for Kenwood and I want to make sure I get the right one. And a question...I have a ALS-500M remote box that I use with a ALS-600, can I still use that on the 1306 with the cable attached to go from standby to operate when I want to tune?
Thanks

W9OY

I don't have a 1306 but a 1300.  The way I tune is I wrote a DDUTIL macro that turns the RCA jack off, inmates "TUNE".  This way the amp does not actuate.  A second press of the macro button cancels "TUNE" and turns the RCA back to on.  I have a second macro button that toggles the RCA independently in case I want t o run barefoot.  I always use this macro to tune since it completely protects the amp and anything down stream.  It also allows tuning remotely if you have an auto tuner since DDUTIL can control SSDR remotely, nice added feature.  The RCA macro allows barefoot ops remotely.  I'm not sure about the proper cable for a 1306 but I don't think you need the remote box to drive the amp, just the cable.  I believe the remote box is built into the 1306

73  W9OY 

Wally

Lee,
I think I read somewhere that stated you can't use the remote box with the band switching cables but I can't find it to double check. I want the remote box to work (maybe in the AUX mode) because I need to run the tuner. I have a Palstar HF Auto and it's meant to have 10 watts to tune it and I don't want to fry it. I don't want to have to figure out another program if this can be done with cables. The 1306 has an interface built in but not a ALS-500M...I think it's an ARB-704 which of course I have one.
Wally

David Livingston

Yes, The null modem cable must use the FTDI chip set.

Wally

I got my Ameritron Als-1306 today and it works fine but the 500RC remote box didn't remote at all. I called the factory and they said they are working on building a remote for it. The unit has a remote setting on the band selector and it has the A B J45 jacks on the rear of the unit but they don't remote to anything. Nothing exists to remotely control the 1306...1300 yes but 1306 no. However, the tech I talked to was very nice and suggested I get the Ameritron DB-8MYS (Yaesu 8 pin din to DB-9) and couple it to the Flex USB to Yaesu 8 pin din cable and the amp will auto remote just fine. This is the first time I have heard of using a Yaesu din cable instead of the Kenwood DB9 to USB cable coupled to the StarTech cable. Anybody ever try it?

Alan Cerniglia

Hi Lee ,
I bought a new ARI-500 from HRO & after fighting for days decided to trouble shoot the pcb... Found smd tran & resistor bad...  Called Amerijunk & got more data , as the manual doesn't match the one I have. To make a long story short... I have checked band data going to ARI-500 & is OK..  When I use the ARI I can only drive the amp with like 8 watts , any more will kick out amp. If I use the reg remote control head it works normal, as I can use 35 watts to drive. I do have 3.3 volts out to each correct  BCD line...  I'm thinking my amp is not actually switching to correct band  & may be due to the 3.3 volt vs whatever the amp needs.... I'm thinking that the amp is loading down the  3 volts....
     It would be nice to find out what Voltage that the FLEX USB port actually outputs as far as the V supply &  Load spec....  
On another note...  My JMP 2  is taken up by the front switch  OPR / STBY.  I do have JMP 1 & JMP 3... near the PIC uP ..   Mentioned above the my manual is not current & the online one is wrong also....  Thanks.....

Lucas - W6AER

Using the same method above, I got the ALS1300 working with the flex in minutes. I used a small metal box for the components and PCB with the LEDs. Works great!

Frank Ventura

OK, so has anyone tried to just use the USB to seral cable Flex sells with a gender changer and a null modem cable to get the 1306 to band follow?

Pat Eastman

https://www.ameritron.com/Product.php?productid=DB-USB6000