reliability of AG 2x8 with Netgear 16 port unmanaged switch?

AB7R · January 20

Just looking to see if anyone is using a netgear unmanaged switch and if there have been any connectivity issues with it.

Thanks
Greg
AB7R

AB7R · January 20

BTW... the switch is in the shack with radios and computers connected. AG would be about 30ft away.

KD0RC · January 20

Hi Greg, my Netgear GS 108 has been great for many years. I did need to put ferrites on all of the cabling (some of it is very long, going the length of my house, then down to the lower level) to keep RF out of it.

Recently, it failed and I replaced it. Turned out that the switch is fine, it was the wall wart power supply that failed. Now I have a switch to take with me on camping trips without unplugging everything.

I don't have an Antenna Genius (yet...) but my switch is right next to my KPA500 amp. Several of the Ethernet cables parallel feedlines for several feet, so it is a worst case kind of scenario.

So from my experience, I would recommend Netgear switches.

AB7R · January 21

Thanks Len. Does the kpa500 and kat500 pair interface easily with the flex?

KD0RC · January 21

Hi Greg, they do! There are a couple of ways to go about it. You can just plug them into the back of the Flex 6000 or 8000 radios to get frequency/band info to them. With this arrangement, you can't control them with the PC, only via their front panels.

The KPA500 has two serial ports, so one can go to the Flex USB port to get band info and the other can go to a PC for amp control and monitoring.

The KAT500 has only one port, so it can either be plugged into the radio for frequency info, or into the PC for frequency info and to provide control and monitoring.

You can control and monitor the pair using the Elecraft supplied utilities. There is another Flex-specific utility called DDUtil that has some nice features like allowing you to set Flex power out by band based on amp status (Operate, Standby).

Another Flex-specific utility is the one that I use called the KD0RC Flexicraft Utility. It also allows you control the pair and to set power by band, but adds power setting by mode. I discovered that I need a different power setting for CW than for SSB, so I wrote this utility (links below). While I was in there, I added all the modes that the Flex is currently capable of on all bands, 160 - 10.

KD0RC Flexicraft Utility

KD0RC

Jul 31, 2024

I wrote a little utility that I use with my Flex 6400 to automagically select RF output power based on band, mode and whether my KPA 500 amp is in operate or standby. It is similar to the functionality of DDUtil, but mine carries a power value for each mode because I found that my amp requires different amounts of drive for SSB than for CW (and I presume for other modes).
Randy, AA8R, asked me about running SO2R with one amp (an Elecraft KPA 500) such that when selecting the TX slice with the amp, the Flex RF output would be dropped to an appropriate level and when selecting the TX slice with no amp, RF output would go back to 100.
I noodled it over, and think that I can accomplish that with a little additional coding on my existing app. I have not made this app public because DDUtil has so much more functionality, supports more equipment and so forth. Now that Randy has a more specific need, I will go ahead and upgrade mine and make it available on GitHub.
Here is what the app looks like now:
https://us.v-cdn.net/6032377/uploads/DNY11C4Y5PEW/image.png
https://us.v-cdn.net/6032377/uploads/0VOCEO5MOYBE/image.png
I anticipate adding a field to the Amp panel so that you can choose which antenna port the amp is connected to. With the new setup, the power out will follow the selected antenna, mode and TX flag.
I have a few other items to add to the amp panel (things like a fault annunciator, fault reset and probably a few others). I also need to write a user manual. It has been quite a while since I wrote this, so I will take a little time to get myself re-acquainted with the code. In the meantime, I would encourage any discussion about it on this thread of the Flex Community.
I should have the existing version up on GitHub in the next few days so people can try it out to see its potential. This utility only works with Flex 6000 and 8000 radios and Elecraft amps and tuners (only the KPA 500/KAT 500 combo have been tested).

https://github.com/KD0RC/KD0RC_Flexicraft_Utility

The GitHub site has the executable (setup), in the Releases area. It also has the source code, but you don't need that to use the utility. There is a User Manual on the main page. Give it a try and let me know how you like it.

AB7R · January 21

Wow thanks Len. I will give that a try. I have an elecraft USB to rs232 adapter that can plug into the DB9 splitter cable sold by elecraft that then should provide data to both devices. Looking forward to trying your apps! 8600 on order but still a ways out.

AB7R · March 5

I just purchased a PGXL and plan to keep the amp (tuner when I get one) and AG in a different location in my house but all on the same LAN.

Can I run the three devices on an unmanaged switch with one ethernet cable going to my shack and connected to another unmanaged switch where the radio will be connected (and a few other devices)?

Thanks!

Greg

KD0RC · March 5

Hi Greg, I believe that will work, but I have a friend who had problems when his radio was on one switch and his Maestro was on another switch plugged into the switch with the radio. Since only TCP/IP traffic flows among the amp, tuner and AG, I think it will work. The GUI client (SmartSDR or Maestro) also pass UDP traffic so they should be on the same switch as the radio.

AB7R · March 5

Thanks. Maestro and ssdr and 8600 will all be on the same switch. Only the pgxl, tgxl and AG will be on separate switch.

Mike-VA3MW · March 6

From a networking perspective, it is actually better to have all devices on the same switch, but I appreciate that isn’t always possible.

From a traffic/performance point of view, all these devices move very little data when compared to the total capacity of the switch, even a 100mb/sec unit.

Not all switches are equal and it is really hard to test one to see is better. I have used pretty bad switches, where, when you do a performance test with jperf, it is really slow.

We have found that some 1G switches are terrible at auto negotiation, and that is when you plug a 100mb network into a 1g switch. It is during the auto negotiation that the switch falters briefly as it does its ‘magic’. You can hear this as clicks in the audio stream sometimes. This is why we sometimes recommend to use a 100mb switch on the radio/computer link (yes, the contradicts what I said above). :) Point is, you may have to try a few different things to see what works for you.

When shopping for a switch, I am a TP-Link fan. Next, I try to suggest to look for a switch in a metal case, not only for RF noise reduction, but they just ‘seem’ to be built better. Next, if you can, buy a managed switch. Not that you really want to change any of the settings, but it allows you to look at the switch health. Here you can see if you are getting a lot of collisions, etc.

WiFi is always a challenge, so keep that in mind since its data streams are fractured.

It is easy to get a network to work. It is hard to make it work well. (I forgot who said that, but it was someone smarter than me).

73

reliability of AG 2x8 with Netgear 16 port unmanaged switch?

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