06/11/22, 13:42 CG3000 encounters | sq5nry

27th July 2017 CG3000 encounters

Some time ago I described my adventures with LDG IT-100 automatic tuner - a successful and complete renovation.
That pushed me to try other similar products and I chose CG3000 which had good reviews and wouldn't drain my
wallet.

[https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-
_u2wmVU4sKw/WXkZtvbTOSI/AAAAAAAAQWQ/7EfP5MCiZ
Pwf5mgpf_vFWJVBfdvnex2GwCPcBGAYYCw/s1600/DSC_01
07.JPG]
Yet can be loud as hell for a longer tuning cycle, only external foam or
sponge coating gives satisfactory effects.
[https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-
cAFbKrmefVU/WXkZtpwlVVI/AAAAAAAAQWQ/b0OTrt_oQ6UD
HHhPHXb8E5QWKmyoUMMHQCPcBGAYYCw/s1600/DSC_0
109.JPG]
Neat and classy design and accomplishment. Most chips in sockets,
solid connectors used at borders.

After a year of extensive tests I can say that CG performs better overall - it's faster and robust, actually it's intended
for outdoor use. A bit of sad that 50MHz wasn't the band CG particularly liked together with my set of wet strings. Big,
airy inductors inside signified lesser resistive losses which becomes important when radiation resistance of you
antenna is range of ohms or below. Tracks are wide and on both sides, connected with a few vias.

[https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-
aZ3s5IVsMFo/WXkZtMh9ExI/AAAAAAAAQWE/0GRjgD-e0O0s2dbICdnBS01beuX_WvEyQCPcBGAYYCw/s1600/DSC_0111.JPG]
What now has happened to the box had similar symptoms like LDG had - inaccurate or not tuning on most of bands. I
decided to make a general refreshment of the inner circuit - desoldered most of relays and found one that has gone
west. Contacts didn't fit in and looked overheated, the faulty relay worked with the largest inductor.

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[https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2SPqPwYrsa0/WXkZuq_pY5I/AAA
AAAAAQV0/Bg0kEbadK3QpHt-tTpFwh- [https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-
hcLwrcLs9mwCPcBGAYYCw/s1600/DSC_0112.JPG] ScNdkOCmcVw/WXkZuyuF54I/AAAAAAAAQWI/cOasnND-
Look cheap, but maybe quite good in their class?
E7k5YoD8nE7tezCX6Thz341aACPcBGAYYCw/s1600/DSC_01
15.JPG]
No smoke, but of ouf order. Contacts are weary and overheated.

I used 2 parallel 10amp relays; in addition I glued rubber pads on relay groups to soundproof the ATU as much as
possible. Further gold plating was done to the tracks, I added extra silver-coated copper wires along each track in the
inductor section. Why not :)

[https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-
N0z1Uu81o_A/WXkZyTdxK7I/AAAAAAAAQV8/1iqAQdeExCkKyu0MAsPHqwZfyuULPnGYgCPcBGAYYCw/s1600/DSC_0125.JPG
]
Other culptits were two diodes around detectors, a silicon 1N4148 and some germanium one but marking wasn't
legible as the diode experienced a small explosion and the glass package was shattered once desoldered.

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[https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4VXFIju4_I4/WXpVnhnq1FI/AAAAAAAAQWU/eB49pb_-
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Three voltage and current sensors. Diode ring mixer on the right, painted whilte.

Ge diode replaced with a russian one.

Three coil-like parts reveal way the ATU checks the conditions in order to make a match. It wouldn't be surprising to
find a single classical one-core probe; here we have three of them, with a diode ring mixer! It's a fairly complex circuit
which feeds CPU with the following data: forwarded and reflected power, resistance (relative to 50ohms) and
reactance measures (angle). And last, frequency signal pre-divided to off-load CPU timers. An interesting write-up
was done by G3YNH on SGC230 [http://www.g3ynh.info/atu/sgc230.html]  tuner, which surely was an inspiration for CG3k
engineers, hi :) Question if this method is better that typical SWR bridge only, then yes - the tuner finds a match faster.
It's got more data about the load impedance, so the L/C relay driving could theoretically dispatch ideal values for
which the matching circuit would cancel reactance and normalise the resistance once TUNE is pressed and frequency
measured by the CPU. Actually it might be used to better guide the tuning algorithm, since also SWR data is
gathered.

As the PCB has room for mounting a metal shield, I decided to make one and solder it. Maybe that's meant and
mandatory for other models to work properly, anyway that wasn't hard to do - below is final look of the interior. It's
made from 0.3mm copper sheet, additional two wire posts keep the construction rigid enough.

[https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-
BFiV8p38OSI/WXkZwsUDCOI/AAAAAAAAQV8/i4CJjRxs96UJ
46GfWZ0pK4blZGGgBKPOgCPcBGAYYCw/s1600/DSC_0122
.JPG]
After soldering into the PCB doesn't look crooked anymore.
[https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Uo-
UKg9TJn4/WXkZykPZUtI/AAAAAAAAQWM/dxeKeqaECjUEA8
vQ-
BkH5R6o2UkR0T6EwCPcBGAYYCw/s1600/DSC_0127.JPG]
Bit too short - SRAM chip is exposed. RF sense and further analogue
part is safe under the screen.

Finally, a small spark gap for static charge, trimmed to have its breakdown voltage just below of 6kV for which caps
are rated. When it's rainy, sparks as long as 2 centimetres fly around (from antenna wire).

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Before screwing the plastic cover I checked tuner operation with a dummy load and a few caps and coils in series and
parallel. Bingo, the tuner started working well again as a freshly oiled machine :)

Posted 27th July 2017 by pablos

Labels: amateur radio, atu, cg3000, hamradio, homebrew, sq5nry

2
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Kubekwkubek 27 February 2020 at 20:55

Dzięki za wpis. Faktycznie diody padają jak muchy. Ja stosuje na wyższe napięcie (150V). Gdzie dałeś ten
iskrownik na płycie?

Czy ta osłona miedziana nie powinna być trochę dłuższa i zamknięta po bokach?

Sławek SQ2HCZ
Reply

pablos 1 March 2020 at 15:21

Cześć Sławek,

Iskiernik zrobiłem w rogu, między ostatnim niebieskim kondensatorem a masą. Lepiej dać większy odstęp,
zauważyłem że na 1.8MHz przy krótszej antenie zaczyna już działać.

Osłonę zrobiłem tak jak w oryginalnym prototypie tej skrzynki SG-235 (a także CG5000). Na PCB brakuje pól masy
aby założyć pełny ekran.

Co do diod, myślę to kompromis między niskim nap. przewodzenia a napięciem pracy - zakładam że Twoje na
150V są przynajmniej Shottky-ego.

pozdrówka,

Paweł
Reply

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