Jim,
Generally vacuum relays designed for hot switching have copper based
contacts while the others are tungsten based. My tests with the RF1D
were due to the fact that I scavenged it from a piece of used gear and
didn't really care about the specs. I built a little tester that can
drive any relay and has a 1k ohm resistor across each contact. Then you
can see the make, the transfer, and the break (including any bouncing)
very easily with a scope.
See http://www.w0qe.com/Technical_Topics/relay_operate-release_tester.html
Also I tested a bunch of small signal relays at RF with hot switching
with very interesting results
See http://www.w0qe.com/Technical_Topics/small_signal_relays_at_rf.html
73,
Larry, W0QE
On 11/10/2013 9:25 AM, MU 4CX250B wrote:
Very interesting experiment with the RF-1D, Larry. I may try the same
life test with an RJ1a to see how it holds up. Incidentally, I did
test an RF –1D earlier this year and found it to be surprisingly slow,
especially for such a little tyke. I don't have my notes here at hand,
but I think the make time was around 4–5 ms with several bounces.
As I'm sure you know, some vacuum relays are specifically designed for
hot switching DC loads, but most are not. Gigavac makes some very nice
PCB-mount relays rated at 5 ADC/10 kV. I believe they have tungsten
contacts, with high melting points.
73.
Jim w8zr
Sent from my iPhone
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