Ameritron ALS-606/1306 Amplifier Interface Cable

Rick_KJ5WO

ALS-606/1306 Amplifier Interface:

This will allow the ALS-606 to change bands along with the FlexRadio 6000 series radios using the BCD pins. This has been verified on 2 Flex 6600 systems. It should work with ALS-1306 as it shares the same boards but I could not verify it. I talked with Ameritron and they said the DB-USB600 interface cable was no longer available! The amp is capable of serial and voltage level inputs too, but I have not tried those.

 Parts Needed:

1.      FTDI C232HM (C232HM-EDHSL-0) or the (C232HM-DDHSL-0) cables will work. The VCC (red) line is not used so the voltage difference between the cables does not matter.

https://ftdichip.com/product-category/products/cables/

2.      A DB9F solder connector.

 Wiring:

Cut off the 10 way 0.1" female pin headers that come on the cable and solder the colored cables to the DB9F pins as below.

Yellow:  Pin 1

Orange: Pin 2

Black:    Pin 6

Brown: Pin 8

Green:  Pin 9

 Radio Setup:

I power everything down then connected the USB cable to the connector right under the Ethernet cable on the radio and the other end to the amplifiers Radio Interface connector. Power up radio and amp in standby mode with the band selector switch on the amp in REM (remote).

In the SmartSDR software go to settings, USB Cables…. You should see the cable Name, Serial Number as reported from the FTDI chip, Type might be BIT at first, and it should show Enabled. Select that line item by clicking on the Name an select Edit.

Here you can change the name, I used ALS-606. Change Cable Type to BCD form the dropdown box, Source is the way to tell it which slice to follow, I use the TX Slice, Type needs to be HF_BCD and Polarity needs to be Active High. Close that window and ensure that the Enabled is showing. The amp should now follow the TX Slice of the radio.

I hope this helps. The risk is all yours there is no warranties, but I tested it without problems. Have fun, that is what a hobby is about.

73’s KJ5WO Rick…

Mike-VA3MW

Thanks for taking the time to write that up. Very helpful!

Rick_KJ5WO

Another way:

If would rather use the CAT cable version here you go:

 Parts:

1.      FlexRadio ACC-USBSERIAL Cable or equivalent.

2.      2 each DB9F solder connectors and 3 conductor wire.

 Wiring:

 Build a DB9F to DB9F jumper with the following connections:

 ALS-606              FlexRadio Cable

Pin 3 RRXD         Pin 3 TXData

Pin 4 RTXD         Pin 2 RXData

Pin 6 RGND        Pin 5 Gnd

 Radio Setup:

I power everything down then connected the USB cable to the Ethernet cable on the radio and the other end to the amplifiers Radio Interface connector. Power up radio and amp in standby mode with the band selector switch on the amp in REM (remote). There may have a Blinking Red light until the radio boots.

In the SmartSDR software go to settings, USB Cables…. You should see the cable Name, Serial Number as reported from the FTDI chip, Type might be BIT at first, and it should show Enabled. Select that line item by clicking on the Name an select Edit.

Here you can change the name, I used ALS-606 Serial. Change Cable Type to CAT from the dropdown box, Source is the way to tell it which slice to follow, I use the TX Slice, ensure that the Enabled is showing. The amp should now follow the TX Slice of the radio.