W4BQF said,
>> Had to change that vacuum relay annually!
[K9YC notes that W4BQF works very high speed CW, so he
puts that relay through a LOT of cycles annually.]
To which Bill Tippett replied:
>Hmmmm...there's a lesson somewhere in there guys!
Hmmm right back. I have to use a muffler on my car, to protect
for air quality and reduce the noise it makes. That muffler wears
out every few years. I have to buy plugs every year or two. Should
I switch to a car that doesn't need either? Should I switch to a
bicycle that requires neither?
That vacuum relay allows me to operate with a higher degree of
sensitivity to what is going on around me, which, as noted in my
earlier post, I see as my responsibility when I choose to run high
power. I see that vacuum relay, and that muffler, as part of my
cost of ownership of that amplifier and that automobile. It is part
of my responsibility to be a good neighbor.
And now you have shared with us your reasoning for the foot
switch, I have another rhetorical question. Would YOU be a more
sensitive operator with a fast vacuum relay instead the foot
switch? Is your reason for avoiding the relay that you don't want
to have a failure in the middle of a contest, or is it the COST of
the relay? If it is the latter, I would say you are being cheap and
not factoring in your responsibility to other hams, especially
since I have learned that good surplus vacuum relays are widely
available for $40. If it is the former, I see it as being conservative
with respect to equipment failure.
Jim Brown K9YC
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