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Re: [Amps] Best source for Gigavac GH-1 ?

To: amps@contesting.com
Subject: Re: [Amps] Best source for Gigavac GH-1 ?
From: Jim Brown <jim@audiosystemsgroup.com>
Reply-to: jim@audiosystemsgroup.com
Date: Sat, 09 Nov 2013 22:59:30 -0800
List-post: <amps@contesting.com">mailto:amps@contesting.com>
On 11/9/2013 10:38 PM, Larry Benko wrote:

What is failing on the relays? Is it the coil opening up, the contacts sticking, the receive side contact appearing open, or the pivot getting sloppy and the contacts bouncing too much?

My symptoms have been sticky contacts, mostly RX, but also TX. Since I stopped doing QSK with my Titans (about 2007) I've yet to replace a relay.

As to operations -- an active, aggressive contester will either CQ constantly and hopefully send an exchange every 20-40 seconds, or will search and pounce and do the same. I typically operate 24 hours for Sweepstakes, 24-30 hours for DX contests, 14-16 hours in RAC, IOTA, and WRTC contests and I work at least 12 such contests in a year. As Bill has shown, that's a LOT of relay operations if you're full QSK.

As a competitive contester, it's not the cost of the relay or even the time to replace it, but simply that I don't want to have to lose 90-120 minutes of contest operating time while I do it. Being analytical about it, the relays I've replaced have mostly been those that came with the three 20-30 year old Titan 425s I bought used, so perhaps it's only my contesting that pushed them over the edge. :)

73, Jim K9YC
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