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Sky Sat 4O3A Signature Antenna Genius 8x2 Plus v2 User Manual

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ANTENNA GENIUS
User Manual
Version 3.1.4 rev 12

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  • Page 1 ANTENNA GENIUS User Manual Version 3.1.4 rev 12...

  • Page 2: Table Of Contents

    4O3A Signature – Antenna Genius User Manual TABLE OF CONTENTS WELCOME .............................. 2 SPECS & FEATURES ..........................3 LEGAL ..............................4 3.1. Radio & Television interference ..................... 4 3.2. European Community CE conformity .................... 4 3.3. Product updates ..........................5 3.4.

  • Page 3: Welcome

    4O3A Signature – Antenna Genius User Manual WELCOME Congratulations on your purchase of an Antenna GeniusTM 8x2 v2 Plus Network-Enabled (TCP/IP) High-Isolation Antenna Switch, a member of the 4O3A Genius System advanced station automation line including Power Genius , Rotator Genius , Station Genius , and Interface Genius...

  • Page 4: Specs & Features

    4O3A Signature – Antenna Genius User Manual SPECS & FEATURES Manufacturer 4O3A Signature by Sky Sat d.o.o. Model Antenna Genius 8x2 Plus v2 Functionality 8 antenna 2 radio RF matrix switch controlled via TCP/IP (LAN or WAN), BCD, or +12 VDC Pin-To-Port...

  • Page 5: Legal

    Changes and Modifications not expressly approved by the manufacturer or registrant of this equipment can void your authority to operate this equipment under Federal Communications Commission’s rules. European Community CE conformity 3.2. Sky Sat d.o.o. declares Antenna Genius 8x2 complies with the European Community EMC standards: Index Page 4 of 55...

  • Page 6: Product Updates

    This product is warranted to be free of defects in materials and workmanship for one year from the date of purchase. Sky Sat d.o.o. will repair or replace, at our option, any equipment proven to be defective within the warranty period. Warranty F.O.B. Sky Sat d.o.o., Ratiševina bb, Igalo 85347, Montenegro.

  • Page 7: Trademarks

    All other products, company names, brand names, and trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Copyright 3.6. This publication Copyright © 2015-2020 by Sky Sat d.o.o. All rights reserved. May not be reproduced in part or in whole without Sky Sat d.o.o.’s prior written permission. Index Page 6 of 55...

  • Page 8: What Can Antenna Genius Tm Do

    4O3A Signature – Antenna Genius User Manual WHAT CAN ANTENNA GENIUS Antenna Genius 8x2 v2 Plus is a matrix antenna switch which can route eight antennas to two radios using a variety of control methods. Software and hardware interlocks - double protection - prevent the same antenna from being connected to both radios.
  • Page 9 4O3A Signature – Antenna Genius User Manual inside your single Flex rig! GENIUS TIP! All 4O3A Genius System products use standard TCP/IP protocols to communicate with each other and with other suitably-equipped devices. The 4O3A Signature team believes in open standards in ham radio and makes its APIs (library of commands) available freely to other manufacturers and software authors.

  • Page 10: How It Works

    4O3A Signature – Antenna Genius User Manual HOW IT WORKS Antenna Genius brings together a powerful CPU, fast network interface, rugged, high power relays and a programming/control App that runs in all supported versions of Windows. We are confident AG is the best antenna switch you can buy. Tech 5.1.

  • Page 11: Online Resources

    4O3A Signature – Antenna Genius User Manual ONLINE RESOURCES 4O3A Genius System owners have many online resources available to help them fully realize the capability of their Antenna Genius , Rotator Genius , Station Genius and Interface Genius and more. 4O3A Web Site Downloads: current owners manuals, white papers, Apps, firmware, and changelog are available at: https://4o3a.com/support/downloads...

  • Page 12: Hardware

    4O3A Signature – Antenna Genius User Manual HARDWARE EXPERT TIP! Read this and the following Software section carefully before changing any DIP switches or software settings. Front panel 8.1. Front panel features: • SO-239 (or N-female) connector for Port A •...

  • Page 13: Top Panel

    4O3A Signature – Antenna Genius User Manual Top panel 8.3. The top panel features: • A DC power connector for stacking multiple AG units. This enables a single switch to switching between 16, 24 or 32 antennas. • Two pairs of dedicated PTT input and output RCA ports for hotswitching protection. There are independent ports for both A and B radio.
  • Page 14 4O3A Signature – Antenna Genius User Manual connection: AG can also be installed at the operating position or outdoors. If the later, install AG in an outdoor NEMA-rated enclosure and make sure it has a ‘weep hole” at the bottom to allow air circulation and to let moisture out.

  • Page 15: Dc Power Connection

    4O3A Signature – Antenna Genius User Manual source for information on this topic is the ARRL Handbook, updated annually and available from the ARRL Bookstore: https://arrl.org Another excellent resource for station grounding information and RFI mitigation are several documents written by Jim Brown, K9YC, available for free download at: http://www.audiosystemsgroup.com/K9YC/K9YC-old AG is a computer and thus its electronics will generate some heat.

  • Page 16: Dip Switch Configurations

    4O3A Signature – Antenna Genius User Manual Use a Cat5e, Cat6 or Cat6a UTP cable (not supplied, please don’t use a cheap cable here; poor- quality high-speed data cables are never a good idea!) between the Ethernet port on your AG and your station LAN switch or hub (switches preferred over hubs).
  • Page 17 4O3A Signature – Antenna Genius User Manual ID = 0 ID = 1 ID = 2 ID = 3 DIP 7 is used to reset your AG network settings to default and sets the IP setting to DHCP (see Section 9.2 below). 192.168.1.140 Subnet: 255.255.255.0...

  • Page 18: Lan Control Mode

    4O3A Signature – Antenna Genius User Manual 5. remove the DC power from AG 6. turn DC power back on DIPs 7 and/or 8 ON have no effect on the device in normal working mode without cycling DC power. After a successful configuration reset, make sure to set DIP 7 and/or 8 to OFF, otherwise you will reset your configuration on every power up.

  • Page 19: 4O3A Genius Series Devices Control

    4O3A Signature – Antenna Genius User Manual Click on a radio from the list and use the arrow buttons to assign the radio to Slice A and Slice B. Set Antenna: option to assign the desired Flex antenna port to Port A and Port B, respectively. Click Save &...

  • Page 20: Bcd Control

    4O3A Signature – Antenna Genius User Manual Enter the Genius device’s IP address for Slice A and Slice B and: Leave the port at default 9000 unless you explicitly changed it on your Genius device. Click Save and Reboot. 8.10. BCD control In this mode AG gets band data from radios using the standard BCD protocol.
  • Page 21 4O3A Signature – Antenna Genius User Manual Typical radios using BCD band data include Yaesu FT-1000 MP, FT DX 5000, FT-1000D, Elecraft K3, Ten-Tec Omni V and Orion II and many more. Switch DIP 1 off and DIP 2 on to set PORT A to BCD control: DIP 1 DIP 2 CONTROL MODE...

  • Page 22: Pin-To-Port Control Mode

    4O3A Signature – Antenna Genius User Manual Antenna Yaesu FTDX5k Elecraft K3 ICOM Kenwood out Genius in Band Data out DB15 out CI-V out Connection Connection Band A through through Band B additional CI-V additional IF- to BCD 323C to BCD Band C converter converter...

  • Page 23: Antenna Genius Tm App

    4O3A Signature – Antenna Genius User Manual For this purpose, you can use the 4O3A Manual Antenna Controller S8: ANTENNA GENIUS The AG App is used to perform six tasks: 1. Programming band-antenna assignments for automated operation: antenna selection driven by radio band data received directly from a FlexRadio, radio, via Genius Series device, or relayed through a logging software.
  • Page 24 4O3A Signature – Antenna Genius User Manual BCD, or Pin-to-Port) to AG. You can change DIP settings for band data sources while the device is powered on but it’s not recommended if you have any RF cables connected to your switch. 9.1.2.
  • Page 25 4O3A Signature – Antenna Genius User Manual Fill in your User Information (Organization field is optional) and hit Next: Select Destination Location, we recommend you keep the default location: C:\Program Files (x86)\4O3A Signature\Antenna Genius and hit Next: Index Page 24 of 55...
  • Page 26 4O3A Signature – Antenna Genius User Manual If you want a AG App desktop icon, leave “Create a desktop icon” selected and hit Next; otherwise, deselect “Create a desktop icon” and hit Next: Now you should see the Ready to Install window. Double check the data, if correct, hit Install. If not correct, use the Back button to navigate to the applicable window and revise Index Page 25 of 55...
  • Page 27 4O3A Signature – Antenna Genius User Manual Hit Finish to launch Antenna Genius Windows App: 9.1.3. Using DHCP to set the network address AG comes factory preset for DHCP. If there's no DHCP server the fallback address is 192.168.1.140. It is recommended to use your network’s DHCP server (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol), which is built into an Ethernet switch or DSL router on most home networks.
  • Page 28 4O3A Signature – Antenna Genius User Manual 3. move DIP 7 to ON position 4. turn DC power on 5. move DIP 7 back to OFF position 6. remove DC power from AG 7. turn DC power on If AG does not find a DHCP server on the LAN it is connected to, it will fallback to these network factory settings: IP address 192.168.1.140...
  • Page 29 4O3A Signature – Antenna Genius User Manual Your AG should be detected automatically by the app. If so, just click on Connect. If you don’t see your AG under local devices, it is possible your LAN subnet does not correspond with your AG device network settings.

  • Page 30: Device Information

    4O3A Signature – Antenna Genius User Manual launch. Just click on configure and select Always on Top Device Information 9.2. Click on the gear icon and select “Device Information”. The Device Information selection in the Windows App Gear menu has comprehensive info on your Antenna Genius and its settings.

  • Page 31: Is Your Firmware Up-To-Date

    4O3A Signature – Antenna Genius User Manual Device Uptime Time since last device power cycle or reboot Hardware Version Self-explanatory Firmware Version AG firmware is upgradable so that new features can be added over time, see section 9.3 below for instructions on updating your AG firmware Firmware Date Date that corresponds to your AG’s firmware revision...
  • Page 32 4O3A Signature – Antenna Genius User Manual download and install using the same procedure as in an Initial Set-up described in 9.1 above. Don’t worry, your current app user data will not be overwritten. Connect to your AG using the new app. A message will appear to let you know you need to upgrade the firmware.

  • Page 33: Initial Configuration

    4O3A Signature – Antenna Genius User Manual Click upgrade and wait for the process to finish. The green progress bar will fill from left to right. When the update is complete, you will see an Updating completed notice. Select OK. Your AG is now up-to-date! Initial Configuration 9.4.
  • Page 34 4O3A Signature – Antenna Genius User Manual We will connect to a FlexRadio in this example. Select “Configure from the Gear icon menu. From version 3.0.3 you don't bind to slices, but to antenna ports instead. This allows you to utilize the slice concept to the maximum.
  • Page 35 4O3A Signature – Antenna Genius User Manual Ignore the GSD Band Data info, it’s not relevant for most FLEX-6000 Signature Series users. The Network configuration can also be ignored in this step if you are running in the default DHCP mode.

  • Page 36: Operation

    4O3A Signature – Antenna Genius User Manual Fill in your antenna info giving each antenna a unique name up to ten alphanumeric characters long including spaces. For each antenna, select the applicable band or bands that are usable with that particular antenna. You can have multiple antenna options for a particular band;...

  • Page 37: Internet (Wan) Remote Operation

    4O3A Signature – Antenna Genius User Manual Turn on your FlexRadio and AG should read the current Slice band data. In the example to the right, Antenna A is connected to AG Port A and Antenna B is connected to Port B. Slice A is on 20m thus AG identifies the three antennas that have been assigned to 20m: the currently selected antenna, a Tri-Bander for 20M, by filling the TB 20 box in...

  • Page 38: Additional Features

    4O3A Signature – Antenna Genius User Manual ADDITIONAL FEATURES 11.1. Custom Band Configuration In the configuration window, click the Configure Bands button. Band Configuration dialog will pop-up. You can manually tweak and adjust any band frequency range. Four new custom bands reserved for non-standard bands.
  • Page 39 4O3A Signature – Antenna Genius User Manual If you select GND as output control signal, position of EXT/INT jumper doesn't matter. Internal voltage is used for testing and programming, and it is strongly recommended to use proper external power supply and set jumpers to EXT. Internal power supply in AG is 1A, which is on the margin if all relays are in use.
  • Page 40 4O3A Signature – Antenna Genius User Manual You will enter a new menu. You can use the + button (top right corner) to add buttons, and x to remove buttons (right most button in the antenna entry). You can name your OM entries by typing them into the textbox.
  • Page 41 4O3A Signature – Antenna Genius User Manual The < not set > field to the right is for the keyboard shortcut. Click to set. Set it, for example, to Ctrl + Alt + F1. Press Enter to confirm. Index Page 40 of 55...
  • Page 42 4O3A Signature – Antenna Genius User Manual Index Page 41 of 55...
  • Page 43 4O3A Signature – Antenna Genius User Manual Click the OM button to set the relays you wish to control. You toggle states by clicking on the output icon. There are three possible states: Not used by the button. Turn off this output. Turn on this output.
  • Page 44 4O3A Signature – Antenna Genius User Manual Press Save, then Save and Reboot. Next time this antenna is selected, a window will appear as well. Index Page 43 of 55...

  • Page 45: Special Features - Disable Band Protection

    4O3A Signature – Antenna Genius User Manual 11.3. Special features – Disable Band Protection By default, AG comes with band interlock which prevents AG to have the same antenna on both A and B ports. However, it is possible to override this setting by enabling it in Special Features of Antenna Genius Configuration.

  • Page 46: Special Features - 2Xag With Om Control

    4O3A Signature – Antenna Genius User Manual 11.4. Special features – 2xAG with OM control You can use one OM module and one 8xAB switch to merge two AGs into a system and share 8 antennas between 4 different work stations/radios. Antennas are connected to AG#1 through the 8xAB switch.

  • Page 47: Stacking Multiple Ags Into A Superswitch By Ab Switches

    4O3A Signature – Antenna Genius User Manual The OM module is connected to AG#2. Configure OM module to use Port1A signal outputs +12VDC, which will be used for 8xAB switch. Open AG Configuration Settings and check “2xAG with OM control”. Click on Save and Reboot. More details about OM Module configuration in chapter 11.2.
  • Page 48 4O3A Signature – Antenna Genius User Manual First, we need to configure the top device as a Master device. It is the one taking over control and the one we will be connecting to. It hosts the main configuration file. There is only one configuration file for a stack configuration.
  • Page 49 4O3A Signature – Antenna Genius User Manual Notice the G and ID numbers in the top left corner. We will set Group as 1 and ID as 1 for this unit. You can change the Group ID by editing it directly in the app. You change the ID by setting DIP switches on the device.
  • Page 50 4O3A Signature – Antenna Genius User Manual The device will reboot and reconnect. When you back to the configuration menu, you will see 16 antenna entries. You will configure it in the exact same way as the 8x2 switch, but first let’s configure the Slave device.

  • Page 51: Auto Connect On Startup

    4O3A Signature – Antenna Genius User Manual Power on both of the devices, connect to the first AG. Configure your antennas and enjoy your new super switch. 11.6. Auto connect on startup You can configure your AG shortcut to skip the discovery screen and connect to your AG directly. This is most useful if you want to put this shortcut in the startup folder or just to shave off those few seconds when opening the app.
  • Page 52 4O3A Signature – Antenna Genius User Manual Step 1: Click on Remote devices tab. Step 2: Add an entry for your AG. Step 3: Name it, enter the correct IP address. TCP port is most likely going to be the default 9007 value.
  • Page 53 4O3A Signature – Antenna Genius User Manual Step 4: Right click your AG shortcut and select Properties. Step 5: In the target textbox, add -a1. “-a” is the argument for connecting automatically. “1” is the entry number. If you have only one remote entry use this.

  • Page 54: Troubleshooting

    4O3A Signature – Antenna Genius User Manual TROUBLESHOOTING 12.1. Re-riving a bricked device The most typical scenario of bricking an AG is interrupting a firmware upgrade or failing a firmware upgrade due to a bad network connection. AG features a bootloader software enabling you to reinstall the firmware at any time. The bootloader uses a fixed IP address –...

  • Page 55: Changelog

    4O3A Signature – Antenna Genius User Manual CHANGELOG This log is not exhaustive, but covers the significant changes between versions. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Acronyms: AG - Antenna Genius ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- App v3.1.4 Release 15-Jul-2020 Firmware version: v3.1.4 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Firmware: #34 Connecting to two separate FlexRadios now works correctly. Windows app: #33 OM output window bug fixed.
  • Page 56 4O3A Signature – Antenna Genius User Manual ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- App v3.0.4 Release 11-May-2017 Firmware version: v3.0.4 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- #011 The app now automatically detects the AG hardware model. 8x1 users won't get the .A/B/SO2R. option anymore. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- App v3.0.3 Release 02-Feb-2017 Firmware version: v3.0.0 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- #009 Added the firmware file to the app.

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