Also, Check Out the New “Get Grounded” Shack Grounding Package from DX Engineering.
Over the next few months, OnAllBands will be featuring brand-new gear you’ll find in the 2025 DX Engineering Amateur Radio Products Catalog scheduled for release in May. In celebration of DX Engineering’s 25th anniversary, the catalog will be the biggest in the company’s history, featuring new transceivers, amplifiers, mobile antennas, tuners, keys and paddles, SDR receivers, dummy loads, antenna switches, test meters, soldering equipment, band pass filters, and more.
All items we’ll be featuring in OnAllBands can already be purchased at DXEngineering.com, including today’s spotlight products: the DX Engineering DXE-ISO-USB and the Get Grounded Shack Grounding Package.
ISO-USB USB Isolator
The solid-state inline ISO-USB provides surge protection between two USB 2.0 devices, typically a transceiver and a computer. This passive device requires no power and includes two ports, one USB A and one USB B. It is bi-directional, so it can be installed in either direction.
The supplied USB A to USB B 19.7-inch standard patch cable can be reversed and used for either type of equipment connection with the opposite connector to the mating port on the ISO-USB.
A user-supplied cable must have the opposite mating connector for the ISO-USB, and its other end must have the USB connector type that provides connection to the second piece of equipment or computer.
USB interface cables between several types of equipment can serve as a conduit to lightning pulses or other unexpected voltage pulses. For example, a damaging surge can occur whenever one device is connected to an antenna feedline that also has a USB cable to the other device connected to a commercial AC power main, or through a DC power supply. The DXE-ISO-USB protects a transceiver from a voltage surge coming from the computer, and vice versa, it protects a computer from a surge from a transceiver.
The maximum USB 2.0 speed of the DXE-ISO-USB is 480 Mbps (Mb/s). It is also backward compatible with USB 1.0/1.1/1.2 or 480 Mbps. This supports RS-232 COM port data speeds greater than the fastest 115,200 bps baud rate selection found in most USB-capable equipment.
NOTE: The DXE-ISO-USB does not support USB C GB/s data speeds, and it does not pass sufficient DC current for charging or powering a device. Maximum current is 100mA (0.1A). It cannot be used for data storage devices and is not to be used for charging.
In an unusual application, two different user-supplied cables, USB A to USB C and USB B to USB C, could be used to provide DXE-ISO-USB protection between two USB C devices, as long as neither device is supplying or drawing power.
DX Engineering Shack Grounding Package
Get serious about grounding your station with this package featuring proven products assembled by the experienced operators at DX Engineering. The kit includes:
- Alpha Delta UHF Connector Coaxial Cable Surge Protector (ALF-ATT3G50UHP)
- DX Engineering Copper Ground Bus Wall Mount (DXE-GBWM-W) for use as a station ground bus or as a single-point ground for surge protectors
- DX Engineering Radio RF Ground Plane Kit (DXE-RGP-MC, 16″ x 16″ copper sheet with hardware) used under and electrically bonded to radio equipment for reduction of stray RF pickup by equipment and interconnecting cable
- DX Engineering Tinned Copper Braid Assembly (DXE-TCB10-RT01, 12″ long, 1″ wide, 0.250″ ring terminals) for the proper grounding of individual pieces of equipment to a common grounding bus
- Two DX Engineering Tinned Copper Braid Assemblies (DXE-TCB10-RT05, 5′ long, 1″ wide, 0.250″ ring terminals)
- DX Engineering Universal Copper Grounding Clamps (DXE-UCGC-Z, with stainless steel hardware) for mounting up to six lightning protectors onto one ground rod
- ERICO Ground Rod (ERO-613460)
