-----Original Message-----
>From: Eric Rosenberg <w3dq@arrl.net>
>Sent: Dec 6, 2007 3:11 PM
>To: towertalk@contesting.com, PVRC Reflector <pvrc@mailman.qth.net>
>Subject: [TowerTalk] Mounting a Remote Antenna Switch?
>
>I have an Ameritron RCS-8V I'd like to mount, along with lightning arrestors,
>inside a weatherproof box that will go on the exterior wall of my house (I
>don't have a tower, but do have a number of wire antennas).
>
>My questions:
>
>1. Can I mount the RCS-8V with the relays facing out and not down, as one
>would if it was mounted on a tower or mast?
Sure.. the relays are not position sensitive.
However, they ARE vibration/shock sensitive. Bump the box too hard, and the
little tabs on the back of the armature will unseat from the notches in the
bracket. I suspect that a fair number of "DOA" relay boxes are from getting
shocked in shipping. Out of 5 RCS-8V boxes I got in one big shipment, I had 1
relay that had unseated.
>
>2. Can I use CAT5 cable for the control line? It is 4 pairs of small gauge
>cable, and the switch wants 5 conductors.
Are you sure it's only 5 conductors? Isn't it 1 common and 5 relay lines?
In any case, Cat5 is AWG24 and will work just fine. It's about 25 ohms/1000 ft.
The relay has a 120 ohm coil and probably pulls in at about 8-9 Volts. 10-20
ohms in series probably won't keep it from pulling in. The RCS8V control box
isn't particularly voltage sensitive (it's normally fed by a 12V wall wart) so
you could probably run it a bit overvoltage (possibly shortening the life of
the LEDs) to make up for the loss.
jim, W6RMK
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