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Related Manuals for LDG YT-450
Summary of Contents for LDG YT-450
- Page 1 YT-450 OPERATIONS MANUAL MANUAL REV A LDG YT-450 100-Watt Automatic Tuner for Yaesu FT-450 and FT-950 Transceivers LDG Electronics 1445 Parran Road St. Leonard MD 20685-2903 USA Phone: 410-586-2177 Fax: 410-586-8475 ldg@ldgelectronics.com www.ldgelectronics.com PAGE 1...
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Page 2: Table Of Contents
Table Of Contents Introduction Jumpstart, or “Real hams don’t read manuals!” Specifications An Important Word About Power Levels Important Safety Warning Getting to know your YT-450 Front Panel Rear Panel Installation Compatible Transceivers Interface Cable FT-450 Installation: FT-950 Installation Finishing Up Installation... -
Page 3: Introduction
Automated Transceiver) port on the back of the radio. The CAT interface allows an external device such as a PC or the YT-450 to control the FT-450/950 by sending it serial commands. The YT-450 takes advantage of this interface to simplify the tuning process -- one button push is all... -
Page 4: Specifications
YT-450 begins a tuning cycle. At the end of the tuning cycle, the original mode and power level is restored. Wait for the tuning cycle to end; you’re now ready to operate! -
Page 5: An Important Word About Power Levels
AN IMPORTANT WORD ABOUT POWER LEVELS The YT-450 is rated at 125 watts maximum power input at most. Many ham transmitters and transceivers, and virtually all amplifiers, output well over 125 watts. Power levels that significantly exceed specifications will definitely damage or destroy your YT-450. If your tuner fails during overload, it could also damage your transmitter or transceiver. -
Page 6: Getting To Know Your Yt-450
The YT-450 is designed specifically for use with the FT-450 and FT-950 radios. Tuning is performed when the Tune button is pushed on the front of the YT-450 and held for one second. The tuner can be placed in bypass mode by pressing the Tune button momentarily. -
Page 7: Rear Panel
YT-450’s microprocessor. The firmware of the YT-450 has been written such that this will seem transparent to the user -- if using CAT to control your FT-450/950, just plug the PC’s CAT cable into this port instead of the CAT jack on the back of the transceiver. -
Page 8: Installation
INSTALLATION The YT-450 tuner is designed for indoor operation only; it is not water resistant. If you use it outdoors (Field Day, for example), you must protect it from the rain. The YT-450 is designed for use with coax-fed antennas. If use with longwires or ladder-line-fed antennas is desired, an external balun is required. -
Page 9: Ft-450 Installation
FT-450 Installation: Connect the antenna jack on the FT-450 to the TX jack on the back of the YT-450, using a 50 ohm coax cable rated 125 watts or greater. Connect the 8-pin mini-DIN connector on the supplied radio interface cable to the jack marked “TUNER”... -
Page 10: Ft-950 Installation
Now push and hold the “F” button to return to normal operation. FT-950 Installation Connect the ANT 1 jack on the FT-950 to the TX jack on the back of the YT-450, using a 50 ohm coax cable rated 125 watts or greater. -
Page 11: Finishing Up Installation
25 watts as the AM carrier level. Finishing Up Installation Connect a 50-ohm coax feedline to the jack marked ANT on the rear of the YT-450, and connect this to the antenna system. If it is desired to operate the FT-450 / 950 via computer control, connect a straight-thru 9-pin female-to-female cable (not supplied) to the jack on the YT-450 marked “PC”. -
Page 12: Toggle Bypass Mode
In this manner, the YT-450 “learns”; the longer you use it, the more closely it adapts itself to the bands and frequencies used. Most users will probably use memory tuning most of the time; it takes advantage of any saved tuning settings, but automatically defaults to a full tuning cycle if no stored data is available. -
Page 13: Initiate A Memory Tune Cycle
Initiate a Memory Tune Cycle: To initiate a memory tuning cycle, press and hold the Tune button on the front of the YT-450 until the Status LED lights up. A memory tuning cycle will begin. The YT-450 will force the transceiver into AM mode, change the power level to one that is appropriate for tuning, and key the radio. -
Page 14: Force A Full Tune Cycle
In this case, forcing a full tune will cause the YT-450 to seek a better match than the match already stored in memory for this frequency. -
Page 15: Status Led
The only requirement is that the tuner remains dry. The supplied radio interface cable is 14 inches long. If it is desired that the YT-450 is positioned farther from the transceiver than this cable length allows, a custom cable will need to be constructed. -
Page 16: Tuning On The 60 Meter Band
The YT-450 monitors the Computer port for activity before beginning any tuning cycle. Only when the CAT line is idle for a period of time will the YT-450 take over control of the CAT line in order to perform a tuning cycle. When the tuning cycle is complete, control of the CAT interface is returned to the PC. -
Page 17: Theory Of Operation
Note that, when daisy-chaining a second YT-450, there is only one TUNER port on the rear of the FT-950, so there is no place to plug in the second YT-450’s 8-pin mini-DIN connector. This connector provides power to the tuner. Instead, the second YT-450 will require an extra LDG power cable, available from your favorite LDG dealer. - Page 18 , but a little background will help in understanding what the YT-450 is doing, and how it does it. In simple DC circuits, the wire resists current flow, converting some of it into heat. The relationship between voltage, current, and resistance is described by the elegant and well-known “Ohm’s Law”, named for Georg Simon Ohm of Germany, who first discovered the principle in...
- Page 19 SWR meter until a minimum reached. Electronics YT-450 automates this process. No tuner will fix a bad antenna. If the antenna is far from resonance, the inefficiencies inherent in such operation are inescapable; it’s simple physics. Much of the transmitted power may be dissipated in the tuner as heat, never reaching the antenna at all.
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Page 20: The Ldg Yt-450
This allows the YT-450 to handle loads that are either greater than or less than 50 ohms. All relays are sized to carry 125 watts continuously. -
Page 21: A Word About Tuning Etiquette
LDG products our website also has complete product specifications and photographs you can use to help make your purchase decision. Don’t forget the links to all of the quality LDG Dealers also ready to help you make that purchase decision. -
Page 22: Out Of Warranty Service
Ask your shipper for a tracking number or a delivery verification receipt. This way you know the product arrived safely at LDG. Be sure to give us your email address so our shipper can alert you online when your product is en-route back to you. Please be assured that our staff makes every effort to complete repairs ahead of our published wait time.
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