Gary Hinson wrote:
> Thanks all for the excellent advice and links on T/R relays and switching
> times. A wealth of knowledge.
>
> That fascinating thread has perhaps delayed the day when I either rig-up a
> test circuit to check why my TS850+LK550 eats Jennings relays, or "just
> spend another $30" as someone put it. I must be on my 4th relay now (MTBF =
> 2-3 years) and noticed it sticking towards the end of WPX SSB this morning -
> hardly an onerous job for a QSK-rated linear I'd have thought.
Deterioration of the receive contact is the way they have failed for me.
I had one last about 2 years and another that is still going after
possibly 7 years (the amp is in the hands of another operator now). I
have heard -- but don't know -- that the Kilovac HC-1 version, which
looks identical to the Jennings RJ1A and has identical ratings, is built
differently and lasts longer.
With the TS850, you can get a little more 'headroom' against
hot-switching by not using the built-in relay to control the vacuum
relay, but by taking the +12v on TX line from the ACC socket and using
it to control a transistor that operates the vacuum relay. It saves a
little time and is quieter.
--
73,
Vic, K2VCO
Fresno CA
http://www.qsl.net/k2vco
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