[TowerTalk] Mounting a Remote Antenna Switch?

[Jim Lux]

-----Original Message-----
>From: Eric Rosenberg <w3dq at arrl.net>
>Sent: Dec 6, 2007 3:11 PM
>To: towertalk at contesting.com, PVRC Reflector <pvrc at 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