Hi there, as the ground station is literally next to the dish I am simply using two very short runs of RG6 just because I had it in the shack. It's quite lossy so if you need a longer run I suggest a better cable

In the video he says the Pluto uses the Ethernet for data transfer not USB

Hello Godfrey - no you can't use the XIEGU internal tuner. The radio is seeing the input to PA50 which is a near perfect 50R load. The PA50 output sees the antenna and so this is where the tuner needs to be placed betwween the PA50 and the antenna. You cannot tune "through" an active amplifier.

@@dave68cat Thanks so much for the response, and great information! I'm still thinking I'm going to buy this setup, but just wanted to make sure I didn't screw it up. Subscribed.

Thanks, great you found it useful - I may have to re-watch myself later as it's been a while for me too

Hello there - my car turns off the cigarette lighter sockets after about five minutes. So I added a piggy back fused cable into the fuse board in the driver foot well and ran the cable up under the drivers seat terminating in a cigarette socket - I power everything from that including the charger for the Surface Pro 4 I use for logging contacts

Hi there - good news you won't be disappointed. I have mine always in place. I was thinking of getting a second one, the smaller digital version for mobile use.

Hi there - yes the version of the processor I bought is design specifically for the Icom 7300 and so has a cable with the Icom microphone connector fitted. so plugging into the 7300 powers the processor and has all the correct audio and PTT connections. So no external power supply required by the processor only the 7300 connection

@@dave68cat I see. I purchased a used one set up for a Yaesu. I'm rewiring for a Kenwood. 8 pin work is so fun...

Hi David, yes I see no reason why not. The X6100 exposes a CAT interface and both digital and analog audio. You would have to check with the G90 as I am not familiar with this radio but as long as CAT / audio is available it should work

Hi Jack - no I didn't need any heatsink. The amplifier is already housed in quite a chunky aluminium casting and I was only Txing about 8W when the amplifier is rated at 20W so it wasn't really stressing it too much

Thank you for that. I am planning a build and your's seems straightforward and is so well documented. @@dave68cat

I have more or less completed the build thanks to your great series of videos David, just waiting for the SG Labs Amp to arrive, it was forecast as a 3 week lead time when I ordered on 12/01/24 so should be here soon. The one thing I am still unsure of is setting up the TX line for the correct power without blowing up the pre-amp or worse the Amp. The only test equipment I have is my 'normal' SWR/Power meter's which are useless at these frequencies and a NanoVNA-H4. If I understand it correctly I should feed the AMPv3 with 28v and set the output power of the PlutoPlus in SDRConsoleV3. Are those the only 2 things that will effect the power from the Pluto to the pre-amp and from the pre-amp to the AmpV3, which in combination will determine the final output from the AmpV3? @@dave68cat

@@jackofalltrades1206 yes correct the only thing that sets the final output power are the DC supply voltage and the level that drives the pre-amp from the Pluto+. The Pluto+ output is controlled from the SDRConsole output power control. Another way you can check is monitor the PA DC current which wil be 1.6A at a 20W output. You are not going to need 20W so start with the SDR console power output at it's lowest level and increase until you get say 500mA current into the PA. Remember you will need to Tx a tone in order to generate some Tx power - just keying up on SSB won't result in any Tx power.

What is the maximum INPUT that power that the CN0417 can handle Dave? if the output of the PlutoPlus SDR is 5 to 6 dbm and the output was driven to its full by SDRConsole could that overload the CN0417 input?

The Gigabit adpater is not for the Pluto+ it was for the PC end so I could connect USB to Ethernet

Thank you 😊 at 28V and a 15mW input I was getting about 8W out of the PA which is capable of 20W. You can only output as much power as the satellite will handle. If you drive your signal higher than its beacons it (the satellite) will give you an audible warning on the downlink

Sure, you want one of these - there are loads of them that provide USB to analog audio www.amazon.co.uk/Best-Sellers-External-Sound-Cards/zgbs/computers/430548031

The antenna tuner must be the last item in your RF chain between radio (e.g. transceiver) and antenna system. Thus, after the antenna tuner is transmission line (baluns or loading coils too) and the antenna. A typical station with transceiver, amplifier, SWR meters, antenna tuner should be in this order: Transceiver <--> Amplifier <--> SWR Meter <--> Tuner <--> Antenna System

No this is not correct - the order is X6100 -> amplifier -> tuner -> antenna. The tuner is there to match the antenna to the output of the amplifier. The amplifier must drive a well matched load - ideally a pure non-reactive 50ohm. The tuner will not achieve a perfect match but anything resulting in an VSWR better than 2:1 will be fine.

There is just the RF connection between the radio and the PA50. The PA50 has auto band selection so no other cable is required

Thanks! @@dave68cat

Hi Simon, no I made no adjustments to mic gain. The audio from the 6100 has always been really good either with or without the PA

Thanks David. Mine sounds strange on voice peaks. At first I thought my receiver was getting overloaded and hitting the agc hard but apparently that is not the case. @@dave68cat

Hello Pawel, the Pluto+ is installed with a variant of the AdalmSDR software but it should have been modified to support the ethernet port. I found if I upgraded to the official Adalm software you will lose the ethernet support. Here is a link to the software I have used on mine and the ethernet port works as ecpected : github.com/plutoplus/plutoplus

@@dave68cat Thank you so much. There is still the bit I do not fully understand - please try to explain if you do not mind. What is a reason of connecting USB ethernet dongle to your computer? Why you cannot connect it into your for example router or switch if you have any

@@PawelRozenek Hi there, I could have connected directly to my router but I had no spare ports and no additional hub so just decided to use a USB ethernet dongle but you could connect directly to your hub/router

@@dave68cat Thank you for your answer, as what you did really confused me :)

Hi there, you cannot use the X6100 ATU as the X6100 sees the input of the PA50 which is a near perfect 50 ohm non reactive load and so the X6100 ATU is disabled. However the output of the PA50 observes the antenna and therefore may need to be matched hence the external ATU. The X6100 ATU cannot tune "through" and active power amplifier

I understand internal ATU becomes disabled, not having much luck with my X6100 I reside in the mid-west all I get on the X6100 is NVIS distance (w/ G5RV dipole) type comms, so I been looking for a linear solution for this radio that may be compact to be placed into a go backpack, Thanks again, Great video by the way!!!@@dave68cat

Yes I measured the harmonics and the worst was around -40 to -43dBc depending on band. The PA does have a switched output LPF bank

Hello there - the X6100 is driving the Micro PA50 and this is the load it will see. The INPUT to the Micro PA 50 is a near perfect 50 ohm non-reactive load and therefore the X6100 internal tuner is of no use here. However the output of the Micro PA 50 observes the antenna which may need to be matched hence the external tuner between the micro PA 50 and the antenna. The X6100 cannot tune "through" the Micro PA 50 as it is an active device. Hope that answers the question ?

@@dave68cat Thanks my friend !!

Hello Roger, no I didn't find the need to use the ACC cable. The PA50 detects the band automatically and switches very quickly. So I just connected RF to the PA50 and power. The AT-100 tuner needs only RF as it has an internal battery which lasts ages

Hi Roger, the radio drives the amplifier which is a near perfect 50 ohm load so you can turn off the radio tuner. The output of the amplifier needs to be matched to the antenna so the amplifier drives the external tuner and the tuner drives the antenna.

@@dave68cat Thank you for your quick reply. You video was fantastic and one of the reasons I purchased the amplifier which I just received. Now I have the tuner you showed on my to buy list. Thanks again. Roger W8RLP

@zanado11 Hi Roger, thanks for the positive feedback. You can try the amplifier driving the antenna directly. If the antenna SWR is better than 2:1 the amplifier should be fine

The 6100 does have an in built tuner but you can't tune an antenna through an active power amplifier. You need an external tuner between the power amplifier and antenna

@@dave68cat I didn’t realize that. Thanks!