LED Frequency Counter
Connecting to the Receiver

Small coax is used for the VFO and Osc Freq connections. Other connections are single wires.

The pictures for this section come from the first PCB version of the counter, but no changes were made in the second PCB that change what is said here.

The place on Board 1 at the VFO for the "VFO In" and "Gnd" connections from the frequency counter board.

The picture above shows how the connections are made underneath the board. Be careful to leave enough room around the hole for the spacer to seat against the PCB.

The 20/17 connection on the Frequency Counter PCB.

The 40/20 connection on the Frequency Counter PCB.

The connections to the Bandpass Filter and Crystal Filter connections. The 20/17 and 40/20 labels refer to the side of the switches the wires are soldered.

The connections shown underneath the board. The 40/20 connection is by itself. The 20/17 is connected with an existing wire.

There are holes on the sides of the switch to make the connections or the wires can be soldered to the pads as shown in the picture.

The 12 Volt connection on the Frequency Counter PCB.

Connect a piece of small coax to the 12 Volt and Gnd connections and tie into the same connections on Board 1 or at the back of the bottom board where you are making incoming power connections

A shield is placed on the bottom side of Board 1 above where the counter will be mounted. The picture below shows the top side of a piece of single-sided PCB that is included with the kit when ordering the counter.

The black arrows point to the connections to the ground plane of Board 1 of the ELR. Short pieces of bare wire are soldered to the PCB and then bent down to the ground plane of the receiver. NOTE: Double check you are soldering to the ground plane and not a trace!

Notice that the bottom of the board in the above picture is cut shorter than the top. This allows the board to be soldered even with the front of the board where the counter mounts.

One easy way to mount the frequency counter is with solder lugs soldered to the PCB mounting board.

The holes on each corner of the Frequency Counter PCB can be used in any creative way to mount the counter.

A close up of one of the solder lugs.

When 220 ohm resistors are used to connect the boards, the back PCB of the frequency counter can be bent down to give as much distance from Board 1 of the receiver to help prevent/lessen birdies from the counter getting into the receiver.

The newer boards use headers to connect the boards. They cannot be bent down and are mounted in parallel. The shield provides enough shielding for good performance.

The frequency counter will switch automatically as you switch the Bandpass Filter and Crystal Filter switches.

You will notice a slight delay (about 1-2 seconds) and see the frequency counter read the offset frequency. Then one second later will show the correct frequency for the band you have selected.

When powering up the receiver, depending on the band the receiver is on, there may or may not be a delay on the crystal oscillator frequency.

When turning the receiver on, off and then back on, wait five seconds or so for the delay capacitor at the crystal oscillator to fully decay. If you get the wrong frequency at start up, just switch to another band (wait for it to show the new band) and back, the frequency counter will correct itself.

The installation of a rotary switch uses different connections than using the slide switches on Board 1. Skip the instructions "The 20/17 and 40/20 Connections" and go to Connecting 12 Volt Power after wiring the rotary switch. "The 20/17 and 40/20 Connections" instructions are for wiring the slide switches on Board 1.

Depending on where you mount the Rotary Switch, you may want to make your connections to Board 1 on the copper traces underneath the board for a cleaner look.

Top connection coming from "40" switch contact:

The middle connection from the "30" switch contact (on Board 1, Section 3):

The two locations for the bottom connection: