Ameritron RCS -4 sainsmart connection points.

W7NIK

I have the Sain smart  USB  board , the RCS -4  has 12vAC going down the coax, 
This Flex community has so much responsive knowledge , 
I been trying to get this to work , not sure if i need to cut traces on the board  take out the rotary completely .?
This will be remote in my house , 
If anyone has pictures  etc that would be great or send me to a web site , that would greatly appreciated . . 

Then I was thinking of BCD data  controlling the RCS -4 ) 

I have learn alot , still alot to learn .:) 

WX7Y

 I made a mistake on my previous email YOU WILL NEED to lift the ground wire on S1A part of the rotory switch.
On the Schematic 
Wire the COMMON connection  on 4 external Sainsmart Relays to the  RFC1, S1A and C8  junction.
On the Sainsmart Normally open connections wire as below.
wire relay 1 N.O.  to the the right side of F1, D1 &2, C12, and C13 junction
wire relay 2 N.O. to the junction of D1, C12 and C17.
wire relay 3 N.O. to the junction of D2, C13, and C16.
Wire relay 4 N.O. to the Ground in the control box.

Thats it
NOTE: The LED's in the control box WILL NOT correspond on the control box but should be something on the Sainsmart board to tell when the relay is on. 

73's
Bret
WX7Y

Richard Berry

I rewired my RCS-4 to work with an Arduino Band Decoder but I wired it with a switch to allow original manual switching as well. It's very simple. RemoteQTH.com is the source of the Arduino Band Decoder.  It works great with Ham Radio Deluxe and PstRotator.  Now my entire station is auto-bandswitched.  If you're interested I will email my schematic.  Note in the photo the Auto switch with On/Off switch and associated LED.  My rotator control is a standard G-800SDX with the ERC interface I added for computer control.  The amp, tuner, and of course radio were already fully auto-bandswitch.  
**** KF5SA

W7NIK

SAINSMART boards are junk , 2 already they corrupted my USB ports,  FTDI chip is fake  i guess .  I did connect  the RCS -4 , blew a fuse . Not sure on this simple circuit .

WX7Y

Make sure you pull the ground wire that goes to the Rotors switch and leave the rotory switch to position 4 If you don’t then you will have a short circuit and **** the fuse

KI4P

thats the reason i bought the RCS 8V, it has a control voltage line!
glad you got it working, or hope you do
Richard KI4P

W7NIK

Well the ground is couple places , pwr supply, ground leaving going to control box . Ground to the rotary switch is solder into the circuit board?

WX7Y

As I stated before, The Ground going to the ROTORY switch (ONLY),  Looking at the Schematic at S1A it shows the TOP contact of the Switch going to ground, this is the Ground that needs to be removed.
Then Leave the switch in this position which leaves the lead going to the COAX open for your external REMOTE Relay switch to send +12V_--12V and Ground down the COAX. 
Sorry if I am unable to explain this so it is easier to understand, Maybe this is just to complicated for some. 
73
Bret
WX7Y

W7NIK

Yes , I make things more complicated, sorry. I even got the schematic for a 2 pole 6 position switch. This sending voltage to the relay box is confusing, the voltage is not steady it throws bursts to just switch the relay I guess. . I ordered a kmtronics board lan connection. The SainSmart board is in conflict with other USB devices, I take the board Out Every thing works . Position 4 I will trace it out

WX7Y

Not familiar with that KMTRONICS board hope it works.

NOT to confuse you BUT a Simple way to find the Ground position of the switch is to simply connect your OHM meter between the center and outer connector of the COAX OUT to Relay box and turn the knob until you see the OHM meter drop to ALMOST (0) probably around 1 or 2 OHM's through RCF1 I think this is Position 4. 

Then inside the box with the Ground removed from the switch again check the RF OUT connector you should have a OPEN circuit. 

On your last question YES the Power stays ON the coax to keep the proper relay on on the other end, here is how the relay box works.
 
AGAIN your turning DPDT Relay 201 ON with the POSITIVE 12V position,  next switch position sends the NEGATIVE 12V  down the coax which turns OFF Relay 201 and turns ON Relay 202, next Switch position sends 12V AC down the COAX and it turns ON Relay 201, 202, and 203.
Next switch position sends 0 Volts (GND) down the Coax and turns OFF Relay 201, 202, and 203.

Hope that helps so your not in the dark on the relay switch's operation.

If you need more info lets go off this server and go direct EMAIL so we are not wasting everyone's bandwidth.

my Email is wx7y@arrl.net

73's
Bret
WX7Y

W7NIK

I had to cut the  ground trace on the circuit board. Basically  the component location  and schematic, are different  
ALL works great now, I leave it in position 4  or shut off the power to the controller.
I have position 4 as  1kw dummy load .  Thank you all for the help . I am full remote  to my closet .