[VHFcontesting] rf sense on mirage amps.

[Mark Spencer]

Re the Rf sense on mirage amps.   I ended up just buying a coaxial relay from RF parts and triggered the relay with a sequencer (that I need anyways for a pre amp.)

On RX I bypass the amp completely.   On TX I hard key the amp and the external relay switches connects the amps to the radio and antenna.   I'm not a fan of the relays typically used in these amps and a real dpdt coaxial relay with N connectors that was designed for RF use cost me less than $200.00 delivered to my door.   At times I had odd losses of RX sensitivity  that I traced to the relays in my mirage amp.  I'm not picking on Mirage amps as many manufacturers seem to use non coaxial relays in this application.

I also spent some time trying to figure out how to disable rf sense on my mirage amp and believe I concluded that the rf  sense and the vswr protection were co mingled (I may not be fully remembering this but it appeared a non trivial task to disable rf sense on my 300 watt amp.)

your mileage may vary.

Mark S

VE7AFZ

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