[Amps] AL-811: Tuning, Setting ALC, Operating

[Martin J. Morgenbesser]

Regarding my previous post in which I concluded that, according to the 
specs in the Icom manual, the IC-718 doesn't need an amplifier keying 
interface for the AL-811:

If one reads the specifications in the IC-718 manual, one would conclude 
that the IC-718 does not need an external interface to handle the AL-811's 
12 volt DC at 100 ma keying line. Well hold the phone. I just received 
email from an Icom technician who said that if I didn't use an interface, 
it would damage the IC-718's send relay and that such damage would not be 
covered under the Icom warranty.

When I asked how such damage could occur, given the specs in the manual, 
the Icom technician told me that the specs as printed in the manual are 
misleading and that the IC-718 send relay can only handle "16 volts OR 2 
amps, not both."

Huh? That doesn't make any sense to me. None-the-less, given Icoms's 
attitude about whose fault it would be if the IC-718's send relay got 
fried, I decided to invest in the relatively inexpensive insurance of an 
ARB-704.

Thought you'd all like to know.