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| Reviews Summary for MicroHam Band Decoder |
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Reviews: 6
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Average rating: 5.0/5
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MSRP: $$268/$304
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Description: Provides Band Decoding for antenna switching, rig interface, cw/ptt interface and Icom and Yaesu amp interface.
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More info: http://www.microham.com
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write your own review of the MicroHam Band Decoder.
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WA8EBM
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Rating: 5/5
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Mar 3, 2008 10:51
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As advertised
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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Interfacing my K3 transceiver to my PW-1 amplifier. Easy setup. Quality build. Quick shipping and great customer support from Microham USA. Lots of features for any future non Icom rigs I may want to interface to the amplifer or other automated peripherals in the shack.
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DJ0MBC
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Rating: 5/5
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Dec 10, 2006 07:14
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The Solution
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I have configured the Band Decoder and the PAICKL1 with my FT1000MP MkV to provide fully automatic bandswitching to my ICOM IC-2KL. It works perfectly and interfaces seamlessly with Ham Radio Deluxe as well. Click on the DX Cluster entry and Rig and Amp go directly to the correct band and frequency. You do need the original ICOM TRX to Amp control cable. Once configured you do not need to have your computer on for automatic bandswitching either. Jozef gives great support.
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NM6E
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Rating: 5/5
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Aug 7, 2006 20:22
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Fantastic & Interoperates with Ameritron RCS-10!
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I purchased the Micro Ham Band Decoder in May 2006. I ordered it for use with my Ameritron RCS-10 so I asked for the external relay board (mounted inside the MicroHam box).
After soldering the RCS-10 control leads that come from the tower to an RS-232 cable, it worked great. I had some RS-232 straight through cables laying around, so I cut one cable in half and and soldered the 4 leads from the tower control box directly to the RS-232 cable once I figured out which pins were needed.
I loaded the microHam micro-router software (WinXP Pro). I Connected the serial cable (DB-9 connector) to a serial port on the PC. I configured the MH Band Decoder for all of my antennas and for use with the RCS-10.
I use the MH Band Decoder with an Icom 7800 so I conected the supplied CI-V lead to the radio and then to the back of the band decoder (note: MH tells you which end (mono/stereo) is connected to the rig/band decoder). I use an outboard power supply.
After configuring the Band Decoder for use with the RCS-10, double checking the internal jumpers etc, I managed to get it all working. The box "tracks" the IC-7800 band data information and correctly selects the right antenna up top on the tower. I now have automated antenna selection. Painless.
The interesting thing is that I also purchased the Micro Ham Micro Keyer. Well as it turns out, the manual is a bit confusing (both the Band Decoder and the Micro Keyer).
After 2 email exchanges, Joe and Jozef had me on the right path.
First, setup the Micro Ham Band Decoder, make sure it tracks the radio/band data (which ever radio you use and the correct cables you ordered).
Then, remove the DB-9 serial cable used to configure band Decoder box. Then, to get the Micro Keyer to work, you connect the PC-cable (coming from the Micro Keyer) to the Micro Ham Band Decoder PC connector.
The key thing is that the Band Decoder is physicaly connected to the radio (in my case, IC-7800 via the CI-V cable--Band Decoder has a built in CI-V translator!)
The Band Decoder feeds the Band/Mode information to the Micro Keyer--allowing PC control of the rig in both directions (Rig<--Band-Decoder->MicroKeyer). This is how you connect the two.
If you ever have to reprogram the Band Decoder, you would have to connect the supplied DB-9 cable from the Band Decoder to the PC-DB-9 Serial Port.
Again, the MicroHam USA (Joe) support and Jozef is fantastic.
Another fine product from MicroHam.
Javier NM6E
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W8FN
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Rating: 5/5
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Nov 30, 2005 13:21
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Great Product -- Fantastic with SteppIR
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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Due to a recent move, I found it necessary to completely re-engineer and rebuild my modest two-radio contest station. I had originally intended to continue using my old Top Ten band decoder and Top Ten six-way switch for automatic antenna switching control. However, the Top Ten decoder box is very inconvenient to reconfigure. Unless you're lucky enough to have a separate antenna for every band, every time you need to change the antenna mapping to use one antenna on more than one band you have to crack the box open and rewire diodes on a 16-pin header. Since I knew it would take me some time to get the entire complement of antennas going at the new station I realized that I was in for lots of tedious soldering to keep antenna switching up to date as the station evolved. So I decided to see if there were any other solutions. In the course of my research I soon discovered the microHAM Band Decoder. The information on the microHAM Web site and favorable reviews here on eHam convinced me this was the way to go, and I ordered one, complete with the necessary cables to work with my Yaesu FT-1000D.
I won't go into all the features of the unit, as Bill, K1UQ, has covered them very nicely in his review of 16 Oct 2005 in the Antenna Switches category. Suffice it to say, this is one extremely impressive piece of work. The workmanship is first-rate and, as Bill has said, service and support are second to none. The out-of-the-box experience (as the computer folks would say) was great. I did have to order the optional relay board output option to drive my Top Ten antenna switch, but the microHAM configuration software knew all about the Top Ten box, and it was merely a matter of selecting it from a drop-down list to get the electrical interface right. Once the software configuration was done, plugging the radio cable into the FT-1000D and wiring the output cable to the Top Ten box took only a few minutes, and the decoder came up and worked perfectly.
A wonderful feature of the microHAM decoder is that it connects directly to the radio CAT port, so it can read the radio frequency directly without requiring a computer to be connected. Reading the actual frequency rather than just the band as all other automatic decoders do is a huge advantage, as this lets the unit select between two different antennas on a single band. If you want to run different antennas for 80 CW and 75 Phone, for example, this is a really nice feature. If you do have a computer connected, the box reads the frequency commands from whatever software is running on the computer and passes them on to the radio. Very slick!
Shortly after I installed the Band Decoder, my long-awaited SteppIR 3-element antenna (review to be posted soon) arrived. Once I had the SteppIR going, I began looking into making it track frequency changes as the radio was tuned, for fully automatic operation. The SteppIR controller does have the (optional) capability of "listening" to radio frequency information and tuning the antenna elements accordingly. But... the catch is that it works automatically without computer involvement only with Icom radios set in Transceive mode. Since I had a Yaesu radio, my only choice was to install a "Y" cable in the RS-232 control line between the computer and the radio to feed the SteppIR controller. The Yaesu radios can't be configured to "volunteer" frequency information, so the only way I could make my SteppIR follow it around the bands was to run a logging program such as DX4WIN that queries the radio periodically.
It turns out that there is a feature of the microHAM band decoder that provided the complete solution to this inconvenience. Although it is very poorly documented on both the microHAM Web site and in the user manual, there is a single special output pin on the Band Decoder that can be configured to do a number of different things. One of these special modes is designed to allow control of the Icom PW-1 amplifier with non-Icom radios. When the Band Decoder is set in this mode, it constantly outputs frequency data in Icom CI-V compatible format irrespective of the type of radio that is really being used. Connecting this output data line to the CI-V input on the SteppIR controller lets the antenna follow the radio tuning, regardless of the type of radio and without requiring a computer connection. To make life easier, microHAM sells an accessory connector breakout, designated PAICPW1, that connects between the Band Decoder output jack and the control cable plug that brings the data line out to a cable with a 3.5mm plug.
There is only one problem right now. The Band Decoder output is straight TTL rather than the open-collector type that the Icom CI-V standard requires, and I had to build a simple two-transistor buffer circuit in the PAICPW1 shell to make it work properly with the SteppIR controller. You can find the details of the circuit posted in the Files area of the Yahoo! microHaM group (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/microHAM/) and the Yahoo! SteppIR group (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SteppIR/). Jozef, OM7ZZ, at microHAM is aware of this problem and promises that the necessary circuitry modification will be made "as soon as possible."
With this capability in place, I am one happy camper. I can happily tool around the bands from 20 meters up with my SteppIR and the antenna follows wherever I go. When I QSY to other bands, the Band Decoder selects the appropriate antenna for each band. All I ever have to tune is the radio.
So I'm an extremely satisfied customer, so much so that I'll eventually be acquiring a second Band Decoder for my secondary radio and a microHAM Double Six antenna switch to provide true two radio antenna selection capability. I highly recommend the microHAM Band Decoder.
73...
Randy Farmer, W8FN
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G1OAR
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Rating: 5/5
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May 1, 2005 09:35
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Excellent
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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Build quality-1st class
Ease of use-Excellent
Back-up-Could not be better
After changing from Yaesu prime mover to Icom,I kept forgetting to change band on the Quadra amp,I was informed of this interface and bought it.Jozeff answers emails very quickly and the only way he could be more helpful is by sitting in the shack with you,FANTASTIC product and great guy
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N5ZC
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Rating: 5/5
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Sep 14, 2004 09:02
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Excellent Support
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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Update to my earlier review. I had been running the TS-2000 via remote which worked perfectly. I then decided to change to the TS-480 to get the better receiver and 200 watts.
Unfortunately the 480 would not communicate with TRX-Manager when the Microham band contoller was on line.
I sent a note to Jozef at Microham. He responded very promptly and we started working the problem together. I sent him some info on Friday, he worked over the weekend and sent me updated firmware to load on the band decoder.
The 480 is now working great. Apparently the 480 does things a bit differently than the TS-2000.
Thanks Jozef!
Rich - N5ZC
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