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Controlling an antenna tuner with an arduino board. The project includes movies, explanation and the arduino code

This project describes an ARDUINO based automatic antenna tuner, for an end-fed half wave (EFHW) antenna, working on 20 & 40 meter bands

A system designed to automatically tune small transmitting magnetic loop antennas, particularly beneficial for **contest operations** where rapid frequency changes are common. The core of the system involves a PC-based control application, AutoCap, written in C#, which monitors antenna SWR via an external meter and commands a motor interface to adjust the loop's variable capacitor. The software is compatible with Windows and Linux via the Mono framework, offering a graphical user interface for monitoring system status, SWR, power, and motor commands. Key components include one or more magnetic loop antennas equipped with DC or stepper motors for capacitor adjustment, an SWR meter with data output (such as the Telepost LP-100A or a homebrew serial/USB SWR meter), the AutoCap PC software, and a motor interface. The most effective motor interface utilizes an **Arduino-based controller** with custom firmware, providing precise control over both simple DC motors and stepper motors, and supporting features like motor braking for finer adjustments. The system allows for configurable SWR thresholds, pulse widths, and motor effort settings to optimize tuning speed and resolution. Optional radio integration provides frequency hints, enabling the algorithm to learn the relationship between motor actions and resonant frequency, thereby speeding up initial tuning responses. The software also supports antenna profiles, allowing operators to save and recall specific configurations for different loops, including accumulated frequency hint data.

A low-cost SWR meter project based on Arduino that works with AutoCap automatic antenna tuner for magnetic loop antennas

Make and automatic antenna tuner based on Arduino and using economic card. This ATU Project can be installed outdoors and controlled remotely by an rs485 link

Arduino-based Automatic Amateur Radio Antenna Tuner