6000 series control for LDG external autotuner?

Jason Frazier

I have an LDG Z100Plus semi-auto tuner that does not self-detect high VSWR and autotune itself.  To tune, one must either manually push the Tune button on the front of the unit or use a simple ground-to-tune cable from the transceiver.  Is there a way to get Flex 6000 series to trigger this kind of tuner whenever the TX-enabled slice is moved "enough" to warrant a tune operation?

KI4P

On my 1000 PROII, unless the swr is above 1.7, it won't auto tune. Also make sure it is in auto mode.

Jason Frazier

The Z100Plus is a simple small box with latching relays that draws no power when not in a tuning cycle.  It doesn't have an auto mode -- it expects a human or transceiver to tell it to perform a tune operation.  The only "auto" feature of this device is the 2000 memories for recalling previously tuned frequencies.

Ken Hansen

I don't believe the 6000 series radio have any way to trigger your tuner automatically. For remote operation, a 120v relay plugged into a wemo mini wireless switched outlet may be your best answer. The idea being you would energize the relay, which would kick off the tune cycle. If you use a wemo switch, they are supported by Apple HomeKit, which in turn is supported by SSDR on iOS software. Good luck, Ken

Ken Hansen

To expand on my first paragraph, the 6000 series hardware does not have an IO pin that is under software control that could be used. I suppose, if you aren't afraid of voiding your warranty, I buy something could be rigged off the internal tuner board connections - of course, such a device would have to convince the radio the board was installed, then somehow capture the ATU signal to retune as needed. Might be best to consider an upgrade/replacement tuner.

WX7Y

A little more cumber-son way (maybe) to do this may be to connect the TUNE button on the tuner itself to PTT1,2, or 3 RCA outputs jacks on the FLEX and build a TX profile to set the transmitter to low power out with PTT 1, 2 or 3 to be activated then select a normal TX profile with out that PTT enabled and the Power where you want it.

Simply switch to the Tuner Profile hit tune on SmartSDR then change to the normal Profile and your ready to go.

Using this same setup but may be easier,  you could also in the TUNE Radio profile set the Mode to the AM or FM modes, this way just Key the MIC to start the TUNER tuning then switch the Profile back to normal TX.

73
Bret

James True

I love my FLEX 6400 but it seems quite odd that while most other radio manufacturers have provisions to control external tuners that Flex which is driven by software doesn't have the facility.  What I would like to see most is an option to assign one of the 3 TX outputs to the software tune button.  Slaving it to the software button would also allow the operator to control the duration of the output which for some tuners controls bypass/memory/full tune modes.  This would make the external tuning option functional for remote operation with an external tuner while the internal tuner in bypass (output should change state regardless of the internal tuner mode). The parallel USB cable would be another (though less elegant) option for this  interface if it could be programmed to output the tune signal.

I do have the built-in antenna tuner but its range is so limited (3:1) that it is not useful when operating MARS or CAP with so many varied frequencies that the antenna is generally not resonate at the operating frequency.  This is the same reason the external tuner must be used in manual mode so that it will not start tuning in the middle of a transmission.

What do you say Flex folks?  How about a little software change to help us out.

73
James 

KD0RC

I have a $20 4 channel "Smart Controller" I got from Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08211H51X/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I use it to turn on/off the 6400 remotely on one channel, and to switch among 3 antennas on the other three.  You could wire one of the channels to the Tune button of the tuner and be able to control it that way.  You would have to experiment with the different modes of the controller if you want to initiate a momentary press.
73,
Len, KD0RC