[TowerTalk] SIXPAK PROBLEMS

[Pete Smith]

At 02:00 AM 9/21/2008, ZS4RY wrote:
>.... Adjust the voltage to see at which point it starts to switch. If
>its not around 11v, take a pair of long nose pliers and start bending the
>rear vertical mounting of the spring to either increase or decrease the
>spring tension so that when you apply the 11v the relay start to switch.
>
>Reduce the power to 10v and ensure that the relay does not switch anymore.
>It takes some fiddling to get the tension just right but it can be done.

What this indicates to me is that anyone using a 12-volt supply to power a 
6-Pak should assume it won't work reliably over a control cable of any 
significant length, and that it would be a good idea to power them from a 
13.8 volt supply if you have one available.  For whatever it is worth, my 
Top Ten relay boxes switch reliably down to 9 volts, so even though I only 
have 11 volts under maximum load at the base of the tower, there is lots of 
headroom.  It sounds like the relays chosen for the 6-Pak, whatever their 
other virtues, aren't very forgiving.

73, Pete N4ZR