After many years of playing around with different antenna switching systems, I have finally decided to give the AntennaGenius a try….I never looked back! Works with the flex radio flawlessly and the antenna switch follows the band associated. Basically makes it very hard to transmit into the wrong antenna if one sets it up properly.
I used the Dymo labeler to label the antennas and the ferrites are used just in case. It does have ethernet and power coming in so I think that it is a must on those at least. Also, note the right-angle adapters. This is used to remove strain. Below, note the ethernet surge protector on the bottom right.
Here is a wide-angle view. The case is a watertight enclosure can be found in your local hardware store or online. I drilled 1″ (or so) holes to fit the adapters which are inserted then tightened. This is just to make it more water-resistant and frankly somewhat for looks.
Above is the closed unit, there is a rubber ring which keeps the water out. Below, note the silicone where the power and ethernet connections are supplied.
Here is a closeup of the ferrites going to the power, ethernet as well as all the antenna inputs.
The software is very straight forward. Basically the “A” side and “B” side refer to the SO2R setup in the FlexRadio in this case. It shows what antennas are available for the given selected band.
There are times you will have multiple options for a given side, meaning if for example, you have multiple antennas for a band, let’s say 20m. In this case it would show my SteppIR as well as my Hexbeam, therefore I can toggle directional (Hexbeam) and omnidirectional antennas (SteppIR vertical).
Here is the configuration screen (Below) I had a while back, for each antenna you define what bands it will work on. Ones with no specific bands specified will not show up as an option.
The left side of the setup screen is used to configure network settings as well as making connections to a remote device for auto tracking, such as a FlexRadio in this instance.
I hope this is helpful and as a side note, I highly recommend this unit, especially for FlexRadio users as it integrates very nicely.
If you find something incorrect and/or have an update, I would really appreciate if you could let me know by contacting me. I like to keep things as up-to-date as possible. Thank you! – Lucas / W6AER
