8X4 Super Switch With Node-Red Interlocks

Alan

I added a second Flex 6600 and a second 8X2 Antenna Genius, OM Module, and 8XAB Switch to enable sharing all antennas between 6600 Radios.

One problem was the two Antenna Genius switches did not communicate with one another; thus, it was possible for the secondary AG not to have an antenna when the same antenna was also selected on the primary AG (AG controlling the 8XAB switch). The AG manual warns about this.

So, I used the WO2X Node-Red-based Flow with my custom Dashboard and interlocked it to solve the problem. Here is my Antenna Genius Dashboard.

There are two AG panels, A and B. DC Power can be switched on/off to each, and a TCP flag shows the status of the TCP connection, Green/Red, for Connected/Disconnected.

Next, each AG shows the slices/band assigned to each antenna, with the TX slice indicated with a blue background.

Per the WO2X convention, "unusable" antennas have a gray background, "usable" with a green background, and selected antennas with a blue background.

Antenna Genius B (Flex Radio B) is the secondary AG, so if an antenna is selected on Antenna Genius A, those antennas are shown with a yellow background on Antenna Genius B, and those antennas are locked out.

If the Secondary AG should be connected to an antenna that the Primary AG later selects, the primary AG "takes" the antenna away from the secondary. In this case, the background on the secondary changes to red, indicating the antenna is selected, but there is no antenna. I also "Inhibit" the TX on the Secondary Flex Radio until the "red" antenna is deselected.

Alan. WA9WUD