antenna switch 1269 control software

[K0KO]

I just bought an antenna switch 1269 with the hope that I could control the switch from software on my shack PC.  I am using a Flex 6500 and control it with Teamviewer or SmartLink when operating remote.  I expected software to be available to control the 1269.  I may be overlooking the most basic place to find it, but I have RTFM and setup with the setup software.  After setup, I plugged the switch into the PoE and PoE into 1269. What am I missing?  Do I need one of the RCC devises to control the antenna switch locally? Tnx, in advance, for your help.

Bill - K0KO
bill@hamitup.net

[dj0qn]

Hi Bill,

Unfortunately, you should have read the manual before buying the switch. To sum up, there are two ways to
use the switch:

1) Manually changing antennas using its internal web interface

2) In conjunction with an RRC: In this case, the switch is connected to the RRC using an internal IP connection and
is switched automatically to the band/frequency that the RRC is currently being used. Since there is a CAT interface
provided by the RRC, you can indeed run any kind of software that will control the antenna switch through the RRC's
CAT interface and on to the IP connection to the switch.

So the answer is there is no specific software to control the switch that I am aware of. However, you can program it to
go to a specific antenna per frequency/band and use an RRC's CAT interface to indirectly control the switch.

73,
Mitch DJ0QN / K7DX

[K0KO]

Tnx for your reply.  I saw the software screen on the ad for the switch and believed it to be included!  My bad.   You mentioned controlling the switch manually through the web interface.  How? I have used DDUtil in the past with the Flex 6500 and an Alpha 9500.  That may provide a means of switching the antenna.  Alternately, can I use 1 RRC (standard version?) to control the antenna switch from the shack using RRC software, or does the switch track the radio band switch?  If you have an RRC setup, how to you change the antennas from the shack?  Are you aware of anyone who sells a remote antenna switch that has a software control means for switching bands? Thanks, again for your help.
73.
Bill - K0KO

[sm2o]

Hi
What is the difference beween using a program or the webinterface for manual control ? You can use your ordinary webrowser to browse the Antenna switch, you will see the sceen with the band switches. The main idea with the Antenna switch is of course to automatically follow band switching in a Remoterig system so you can do like you say to get automatic switching. A Radio-RRC with com2 connected via a USB to serial converter to the flex.

73 de mike

[dj0qn]

Mike, I don't think he is using an RRC, judging by his questions.

Bill, it would make life a lot easier for you if you were to read the manual at:
http://www.remoterig.com/downloads/AS-1269-Users_manual.pdf

Basically, use the Microbit Setup Manager to change it to DHCP. Then click on the browse button
to see its web page and bookmark that link. It will be something like 192.168.XX.YYY where XX
is your router's subnet and YYY is the IP address that the router's DHCP server gave the switch.

73,
Mitch DJ0QN / K7DX

[K0KO]

Mitch,
I have read the manual, but don't understand the settings using the Setup Manager.  I updated the firmware without issue. Ran setup and found the settings matched with ipconfig info from the PC. With your advice, I clicked on DHCP as Mediacom doesn't allow static addresses.  When I hit SAVE I got a message that says;"Failed getting HTTP server.   I found nothing in the manual indicating I should connect the cat5e to the PoE supply and then to the LAN router.  Your note about the DHCP server giving the switch an IP got me to the solution.  PHEWWWWW.  I RTFM, but without understanding how to determine what to do.  DHCP checked and then connecting the Cat5e, to me, was not clear.  Thanks for all the help.  Now on to the web interface configuration, and then tracking the Flex 6500, and then figuring out how to use it with two rigs.  I looks like the Green Heron would have been an easier setup!
73,
Bill - K0KO

[dj0qn]

Hi Bill,

In the manual, there is a diagram on page 5 and it tells you this in the list on page 6. Anyway,
PoE stands for "Power over Ethernet", so it is designed for that purpose 

Glad that you got it working!

73,
Mitch DJ0QN / K7DX

[K0KO]

Hi Mitch,
I'm far from getting it working.  I setup per the diagram on page 5 when I first started, but the setup instructions suggested using a remote 12v PS and jumper in external per page 6, so I went that direction first.  I now have the PoE connected to the switch and the LAN, moved the jumper to external and removed the 12v supply.  I'm now able to get into the configuration system info and got to the IP settings.  I selected DHCP and left the IP address blank. I used the defaults and left all the web page stuff blank. I'm stuck at the Dynamic DNS Settings.  I selected ddns.webswitch.se as the dynamic host name, submit/apply  and got all the information filled in after the reboot.  However, when I cut and paste the "own host name" into the browser, it can't find the site.   When I check ddns status at remoterig, it looks like it is working and comes back with my public IP address..  Step 14, p7 says New DynDNS accounts are no longer free.  Is that the problem?  Do I need to use a different DYNDNS service? My next step is try to configure the router.
Sorry to be so dense, but I'm stuck again.

Tnx & 73,

Bill - K0KO

[dj0qn]

Bill,

I thought that you were going to use this as a local switch, or do you plan on using it remotely?

If my assumption is right, then you do not want to use the dynamic DNS at all. Just use the internal
IP number that was assigned by the router's DHCP server. Like I wrote before, use the Microbit Setup
Manager and click on the "browse" button and bookmark that URL.

73,
Mitch DJ0QN / K7DX

[K0KO]

In the final configuration, I would like to be able to use the switch on both a K3 and a Flex 6500 locally and when I'm remote I would like the switch to track the Flex 6500.  I ran the radio from Aruba last month on FT8 using TeamViewer access.  If I can see the computer I can run the Flex, KPA1500, Ft8, JTAlert and Log4OM.  Everything worked fine, but I was limited to 80m where I had left the existing mechanical switch.  When I got home I started looking for remote antenna switches that could either be manually changed with software through TeamViewer or through the internet.  I didn't expect it to be this big or an adventure!  I have not purchased an RRC as I expected to be able to track the Flex 6500, or use software to change bands if using the K3. I now probably have you confused and frustrated.  Sorry if I didn't provide enough information at the start. With today's efforts, it appears I can switch the antenna from the Microbit software, so the next step is to be able to do it remotely.  I opened port forwarding for port 80, but need to figure out if that port is being used for something else and if that is the problem.

Tnx again & 73,

Bill - K0KO

[dj0qn]

Bill,

Since you will not be using an RRC, you can't automatically have this tracked, so only the web interface
will do the job for you.

You have two choices:

1) Use the internal URL over Teamviewer when not at home

2) Change the port from 80 to something else and forward that to access from outside. You can either use the
Microbit dynamic DNS service, or you may already have a dynamic DNS address or fixed IP at your home that
you use now for access. Since you only have one external IP address, it doesn't matter which way you access the
switch, just remember to add the port number to the URL with a colon in between.

73,
Mitch DJ0QN / K7DX