Remote Antenna Switch Project

To make things easier nicer and cheaper its nice to run 1 run of good coax to a remote switch and then multiple antennas to it rather than multiple runs into the shack. Considering the price of good rg-213 or lmr400 and any YL/XYL who might not appreciate the extra holes in the house I decided to make my own.

part 1 the control box...

This design is not new and basically on the front end a switch that puts voltage down a multiple conductor wire (Im using a RJ-45 / cat 6 cable) using up to 7 selections with the remaining wire used for ground. For mine I am only utilizing 6 of the conductors so I can have 5 antennas.

So you run 1 as good as quality coax you can get and a standard computer network cable and then you have the ability to have 5 antennas. And depending on the relays you use you can have it set so if its not in use the antennas can be grounded for static and lightning protection.

In a nutshell you have a master on off switch that supplies or cuts power to the unit. The power then goes to the selector switch which then allows the voltage to go to the first 5 connector wires of a cat 5/6 cable and to a LED which gives a visual indication of what antenna is currently selected.

On the remote end the cat 5/6 cable wires each go to a relay which when selected close the coax connection on a antenna. That work is still being completed.

Download the 3D printable design HERE