There was a place here in the US that was factory service. ? ? ?
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From: [email protected] <[email protected]> On Behalf Of Carl Juvrud KP2L via groups.io
Sent: Thursday, March 6, 2025 4:52 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: [RigExpert Family] AA-230 Zoom trouble? I have a AA230 zoom analyzer with problems.? It now shows infinite swr on all bands with a small 50 ohm dummy load.? Have tried firmware update, calibration, and self test, all to no avail.? It's about 3-4 years old.? Is it worth fixing it?? Should I sell it as-is?? Any tips appreciated.
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Hello,
I have a AA230 zoom analyzer with problems.? It now shows infinite swr on all bands with a small 50 ohm dummy load.? Have tried firmware update, calibration, and self test, all to no avail.? It's about 3-4 years old.? Is it worth fixing it?? Should I sell it as-is?? Any tips appreciated.
tnx/73
Carl KP2L
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Re: cable length & Cable loss functions
On Mon, Nov 4, 2024 at 09:11 AM, Peter Cimino-K1PCN wrote:
I have a few questions re the cable length function.? Does it measure the actual length or the electrical length?? I know that there can be differences between the published velocity factor for a cable and the actual measured which can cause discrepancies.
The measurement made is the electrical length.? The conversion to physical length is done by using the velocity factor that you entered.? Yes there can be a difference between the actual velocity factor and the published velocity factor.? This is due to manufacturing tolerances.? There can also be considerable difference between different manufactures version of a cable type (like RG-58, RG-213 etc.)
?
This brings me into the Cable loss function.? I run the analysis with the open and short measurements say on a 3ft piece of LMR 240.? The reading is 0.6db loss at 450MHZ which I believe is for a 3ft cable which would be a 20db/100ft @450Mhz which is terrible for a not so bad piece of coax.? Am I doing something wrong?
The loss measured is an approximate value and includes losses in the connectors.? PL-259's would be poor at this frequency.? The way it measures attenuation is by using return loss (RL).? If you measure RL with a short at the end and an open at the end the estimated attenuation is (RL-short + RL-open)/4.? The reason why is is only an estimation is discussed by Owen Duffy on his blog....
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Roger
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cable length & Cable loss functions
I have a few questions re the cable length function.? Does it measure the actual length or the electrical length?? I know that there can be differences between the published velocity factor for a cable and the actual measured which can cause discrepancies.
?
This brings me into the Cable loss function.? I run the analysis with the open and short measurements say on a 3ft piece of LMR 240.? The reading is 0.6db loss at 450MHZ which I believe is for a 3ft cable which would be a 20db/100ft @450Mhz which is terrible for a not so bad piece of coax.? Am I doing something wrong?
Thx.? K1PCN
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Antscope2 does not see AA-230 ZOOM on Debian 12
I've had the AA-230 ZOOM for several years so the only means of
connecting it to the computer is with a USB cable. I see that Antscope2
is now offered in .deb packages which do install cleanly on Debian 12.
The system recognizes the AA-230 and on this particular machine assigns
it to /dev/ttyUSG2 due to other attached devices. I have tried versions
1.3.4, 1.3.7, and 1.3.9 and neither will capture the device name or port
and populate the connection dialog. Starting antscope2 at the console
shows that it does query the system for the devices and returns the
following for the AA-230 ZOOM:
"ttyUSB2"
description "RigExpert AA-230 ZOOM"
manufacturer "FTDI"
productIdentifier 24577
vendorIdentifier 1027
serialNumber ""
systemLocation "/dev/ttyUSB2"
It would seem useful if I were able to debug whether the stanza is not
being captured or parsed correctly. It appears there is no provision
for connecting to the analyzer after manually entering the device name
and port into the connection dialog since the scan appears to fail.
I have tried the analyzer on another machine that has an MS Windows 10
partition and the software picked up the analyzer as expected, so the
analyzer hardware appears to be functional.
If requested I can open an issue in the Github repository.
73, Nate, N0NB
--
"The optimist proclaims that we live in the best of all
possible worlds. The pessimist fears this is true."
Web:
Projects:
GPG fingerprint: 82D6 4F6B 0E67 CD41 F689 BBA6 FB2C 5130 D55A 8819
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Re: AA-230 Zoom HF Switch IC?
HI Yuri, I closely examined all the resisters in question under a scope and there are no physical signs of any issues. I did order the replacement resisters but I have to reconstruct the ?schematic manually because I do not have an accurate schematic. It would be helpful to know what the actual HF switch IC is. Also Test#2, built-in filter test Failed with error code 103 and Load test Failed, with Code 255. Any help would be greatly appreciated and thank you for the very prompt reply. ?
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From: [email protected] <[email protected]> On Behalf Of Yuri
Sent: Thursday, October 17, 2024 7:14 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [RigExpert Family] AA-230 Zoom HF Switch IC?? Hi Dennis.
If you are failing Resistive Bridge Test (Self Test #1), I would start with opening the rear cover and examining 7 bridge resistors. Usually it's the first 2 that got fried from RF or static discharge (lightning) getting into the instrument. In rare case you would need to replace more.
I wouldn't start worrying about the IC until I replace the resistors. 73, Yuri VE3DZ On 10/17/2024 9:25 PM, Dennis K7OGW wrote: [Edited Message Follows] My AA-230 Zoom failed 13 days past the 2 year warranty and I was told it was probably caused by static discharge and the 7 bridge resisters and possibly the HF switch IC may need to be replaced.? The schematic I have is old and it does not appear the HF switch IC is an ADG779.? All that is printed on the IC is "G0S".? Does any one know what the the current IC might be?? Any help would be greatly appreciated!
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Re: AA-230 Zoom HF Switch IC?
Hi Dennis.
If you are failing Resistive Bridge Test (Self Test #1), I would
start with opening the rear cover and examining 7 bridge
resistors. Usually it's the first 2 that got fried from RF or
static discharge (lightning) getting into the instrument. In rare
case you would need to replace more.
I wouldn't start worrying about the IC until I replace the
resistors.
73, Yuri VE3DZ
On 10/17/2024 9:25 PM, Dennis K7OGW
wrote:
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[Edited Message Follows]
My AA-230 Zoom failed 13 days past the 2 year warranty and I
was told it was probably caused by static discharge and the 7
bridge resisters and possibly the HF switch IC may need to be
replaced.? The schematic I have is old and it does not appear
the HF switch IC is an ADG779.? All that is printed on the IC is
"G0S".? Does any one know what the the current IC might be??
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
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AA-230 Zoom HF Switch IC?
My AA-230 Zoom failed 13 days past the 2 year warranty and I was told it was probably caused by static discharge and the 7 bridge resisters and possibly the HF switch IC may need to be replaced.? The schematic I have is old and it does not appear the HF switch IC is an ADG779.? All that is printed on the IC is "G0S".? Does any one know what the the current IC might be??
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
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Re: AntScope2 (v1.3.7) not finding AA-1400
Additionally,
If I boot a Win10 VirtualBox guest on that same laptop running Mint natively and attach the AA-1400 to the running Windows guest and then run AntScope2 (v1.3.7) for Windows and select "COM" devices, Antscope2 immediately finds the AA-1400.
Would be nice to have it work on Linux so I don't have to worry about Windows. (I run more Linux everywhere than Windows).
Cheers,
?-Ben
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AntScope2 (v1.3.7) not finding AA-1400
Hey all....
I just installed AntScope onto Mint Linux (Ubuntu variant) -- and while AntScope scans and gets a response from the AA-1400 when using COM as the device category, the fields don't populate letting me select the unit.
I can provide more -- but basically when I look at the terminal from where I run AntScope2, I see this:
"ttyUSB0"
? description "RigExpert AA-1400"
? manufacturer "FTDI"
? productIdentifier 24577
? vendorIdentifier 1027
? serialNumber ""
? systemLocation "/dev/ttyUSB0"
Thoughts?
Thanks,
?-Ben
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Must have been Op error, because now it¡¯s working as advertised. Did contact Rig Expert Support and they did answer asap. Sent a video..
so good to go on this end.?
Tnx for replies
73 Paul W2ECK
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Paul, ? After taking a measurement, to save the results, you only have to push [6].
Do NOT push the F button.
THEN it will work. ? 73, Rick, DJ0IP (Nr. Frankfurt, Germany) May the Sunspots be with us! ?
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From: [email protected] < [email protected]> On Behalf Of w2eck Sent: 25 August 2024 21:41 To: [email protected]Subject: Re: [RigExpert Family] AA-55 Zoom Save Not Working? #AA-55-ZOOM ? Yes . I press F and 6. Hear a beep but screen does not change to the save location screen. Same if I press F and 9 key.
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So that is not working on mine?
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Paul
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On Sun, Aug 25, 2024 at 12:41 PM, w2eck wrote:
Yes . I press F and 6. Hear a beep but screen does not change to the save location screen. Same if I press F and 9 key.
I just checked mine.? My previous post was wrong.? You don't press F -> just 6 to save and nine to load.
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Roger
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Yes . I press F and 6. Hear a beep but screen does not change to the save location screen. Same if I press F and 9 key.
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73 Paul
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On Sun, Aug 25, 2024 at 08:22 AM, w2eck wrote:
Can anyone offer any suggestions on how to correct this prob;em??
Are you pressing the F button in the bottom left hand corner and holding it down when you press the 6 button?
?
Roger
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I have an AA-55 Zoom that I can not get the Save or Retrieve functions to work- as described on page 10 in the manual.
I take a reading, then press 6 to save it and nothing happens. Same if I press 9 to retrieve a saved reading- nothing happens.
Can anyone offer any suggestions on how to correct this prob;em??
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73 Paul w2eck
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Yes, I have the Rigexpert AA35 Zoom, but I can't read it in the sunlight, I like the MFJ 259D outdoors, I live in Florida, strong sun.? No problem reading that,also try a Tiny VNA, inexpensive and very good. Ed kj4fgi
Yes, tried the contrast mode and same bad readability in direct sunlight even with shielding from the direct sunlight it is just hard to read for me.?
?
Normally I use rechargeable Panasonic? Eneloop 1.2 v 750ma Ni-Mh batteries and have for the past 5 years or more in the 230.? So I thought I would try a new set of Alkaline batteries to see if there would be any difference.? No difference at all but what I did notice was that after using the 230 for a couple readings a short time (~25 seconds) and taking the Alkaline batteries out? I noticed they were hot.? So hot I couldn't hold them in my hands. Ambient temp is 85 deg F.? Might this be normal? ?
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I really hate not being able to use the instrument in the sun as it is a super single port VNA.
?
tnx,
?
Mike W9RE
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?
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Why not just shade the analyzer.
We used to build cardboard shades for laptops, in order to see the screen in sunlight.
I always use an umbrella to sit in shade when I¡¯m measuring with my 230Z. ? 73, Rick, DJ0IP (Nr. Frankfurt, Germany) May the Sunspots be with us! ?
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From: [email protected] < [email protected]> On Behalf Of Mike W9RE via groups.io Sent: 23 August 2024 21:54 To: [email protected]Subject: Re: [RigExpert Family] AA-230 Zoom ? Yes, tried the contrast mode and same bad readability in direct sunlight even with shielding from the direct sunlight it is just hard to read for me.? Normally I use rechargeable Panasonic? Eneloop 1.2 v 750ma Ni-Mh batteries and have for the past 5 years or more in the 230.? So I thought I would try a new set of Alkaline batteries to see if there would be any difference.? No difference at all but what I did notice was that after using the 230 for a couple readings a short time (~25 seconds) and taking the Alkaline batteries out? I noticed they were hot.? So hot I couldn't hold them in my hands. Ambient temp is 85 deg F.? Might this be normal? ? I really hate not being able to use the instrument in the sun as it is a super single port VNA.
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Yes, tried the contrast mode and same bad readability in direct sunlight even with shielding from the direct sunlight it is just hard to read for me.?
?
Normally I use rechargeable Panasonic? Eneloop 1.2 v 750ma Ni-Mh batteries and have for the past 5 years or more in the 230.? So I thought I would try a new set of Alkaline batteries to see if there would be any difference.? No difference at all but what I did notice was that after using the 230 for a couple readings a short time (~25 seconds) and taking the Alkaline batteries out? I noticed they were hot.? So hot I couldn't hold them in my hands. Ambient temp is 85 deg F.? Might this be normal? ?
?
I really hate not being able to use the instrument in the sun as it is a super single port VNA.
?
tnx,
?
Mike W9RE
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Roger Need
Peter Cimino-K1PCN
Dennis K7OGW
Rick, DJ0IP
Ed Vignati