Manager


Manager - NA4M
Manager Notes

Reviews For: Station Manager+

Category: Specialized Amateur Communication Products

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Review Summary For : Station Manager+
Reviews: 2MSRP: 220.00
Description:
The Station Manager+ was designed to combine, into one enclosure, an assortment of amateur radio accessories such as a wireless microphone/headphone interface, audio mixer, CW ID'er and other devices and switch boxes to optimize integration of a station.
To employ a full duplex wireless microphone/headphone of the wireless telephone type(Jabra GN9350E), an interface jack (RJ22)is provided.
To maintain compliance with governmental require­ments for periodic identification, a programmable CW ID'er is included with unique chromatic features. A mixer with gain controls are included to mix the ID'er audio with the wireless mic audio before it is directed to the transceiver mic audio input.
To use two transceivers to implement a dual watch/dual diversity receive system requires an interface using a switch and steering diodes to control the secondary transceiver so it mutes during transmit on the primary transceiver.
Also, to keep track of operator talking and receiving habits, i.e. the Talkometer feature was included. It is a periodic timer/counter that responds to on-the-air time and keeps track of talk time in respect to receive time.
Also included is an AC line voltage monitor to track line voltage so the operator may check for high line voltage conditions which may be harmful to equipment such as amplifier tubes. The DC monitor keeps track of the voltage of any battery backup or DC power supply that the operator may employ. It also includes a programmable amplifier tuning pulser.
All menus and settings are accessed through the menu buttons on the front panel.
A 2 X 16 Character back lit LCD display is used to indicate all the settings and time keeping operations as well as the voltmeters. Six memory locations are available to store all the different settings for later recall.
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.karastech.com/pricelist.php?product=SMPLUS&cat=Station+Manager
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
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N6LN Rating: 2013-05-20
Great accessory! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This accessory is a great interface for using the Jabra 9350e headset with your rig. That headset lets me operate Vox from anywhere in my house or my back yard.(You have to get the Jabra headset separately. You can buy one new or there are some good deals on eBay.)

The Jabra headset is like a bluetooth with a range of up to 300 feet. But it's designed to plug into a telephone jack. The Station Manager+ connects between the Jabra base unit and your transceiver. Now I can operate Vox on my Icom 7600 (or whichever rig you might have) and wander into the kitchen for a ham sandwich, or lounge out by the pool in the back yard with an iced tea--all without missing any part of the QSO. And let's face it, the 7600 is nice to look at, but I'd rather be on my patio.

What makes the Station Manager+ particularly nifty is its musical CW IDer. You can make up your own tune. Every 10 minutes (or whatever interval you choose) it chimes your callsign, with your characteristic ditty, so that everyone knows it's you--From the FCC to the OO's to the no-code extras lurking out there.

And it keeps track of how long you've been talking, and even gives you a percentage figure on how much you've been dominating the QSO. (I was flabbergasted.) It's the perfect gift for the overly loquacious ham down the street.

It's possible to hack together your own interface between the Jabra headset and your rig (too much of a pain, if you ask me--and I've done every single mod myself on my TS850) but it's a lot easier and more elegant to use the Station Manager+. WG6K has done a great job mating the Jabra to the modern ham transceiver. Well done, Stan!

KR7RR Rating: 2013-05-16
Great product. Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
The Station Master+ is an elegantly designed and professionally built product that provides solutions to several needs that many Amateur operators will find useful. Below is a list of the features that I personally find extremely useful; note that this is not a complete list. As I become more familiar with the unit, I suspect that the list will grow.
1) It provides a convenient and effective interface with the increasingly popular Jabra GN9300e wireless headset.
2) It provides an extremely flexible and feature-rich station identifier function.
3) In a “rag chew” QSO it provides a means for me to monitor my transmit time in relation to other stations to ensure that I am not dominating the conversation and possibly offending the other operators involved.
4) It provides a convenient and effective way of interfacing with a second transceiver which may be used (with a separate antenna) for diversity reception and/or dual watch receiving.