I think I resolved my issue of a few weeks ago whereby the signal would just start dropping out and a tap on the CW key would bring it back to life. It was either a relay problem OR a bad PL-259 sold
Interestingly, I happen to have an RCS-8V opened up in front of me as I type this. On the RCS-8V, there's a separate relay for each switch port, so there's really no "common" relay. Are any of your r
I have two of these switches and they worked reliably for about 6 years. Then, one prot at a time, they fell into the "tap with cw to bring to life" mode. I could also bring a position back to life f
Well, cleaning the relays is not something I'm up for right now since I'd have to climb the tower. If/when I fix or replace this box I'll move it from its current position at the top of the tower to
Some time ago, another correspondent on this or a similar list said that the relays in the RCS8 were self-cleaning. Up until that time I had been doing an annual PM by using a burnishing tool on the
I don't know if the RCS-8V relays are self cleaning; since they're a MFJ custom part, there's no data sheet to go look at, although an inquiry to Tom, W8JI, might be productive on this point, since h
Frankly, I don't know what would make them self cleaning either, but what you describe makes sense. I haven't burnished my contacts for several years now and they keep working OK even in a windy envi
I've used a bunch of these over the years. A couple of ways the contacts can get crappy. One is to let moisture in...not the ambient kind, just not securing the top and have it blow off and that sort
I must have a loose connection somewhere. I'm not sure if it is in the switch or not. I've had no problem for a couple of days now. I'm beginning to distrust the RCS8-V though. Maybe I should conside
I would measure the coil current on each of the coils (which you can do without climbing the tower) and see if there's something unexpected. If you've got a scope that can do captures, you can look a
Author: "WA3GIN @ Arlington County, VA" <wa3gin@erols.com>
Date: Tue, 05 Dec 2006 15:57:53 -0500
Seems like a lot of focus is being placed on the relays. What about the power lead to the box. Are the connections still good and providing the needed voltage? 73, dave wa3gin _______________________
Good question. For my current problem (or should I say, the problem I was seeing over the weekend but no longer) this would be a more plausible explanation since the symptom now affects all antenna i
Author: "WA3GIN @ Arlington County, VA" <wa3gin@erols.com>
Date: Tue, 05 Dec 2006 16:48:30 -0500
Could mean that something is broken and making noise that is being heard on all ports. I modified my switch so that un-used inputs take the port to ground. I suspect the ground or DC return lead or b
Probely a problem with some bad ground ! so a bad connection with the shield ! marc on4ma 16:07 _______________________________________________ _______________________________________________ TowerTa
Yep. It looks like it is either a bad SO-239 jack on my FT-857D (which I've been using for the past 2 weeks while my FT-1000MP is being repaired) OR a loose ground connection on my PL-259. The RCS-8V