[VHFcontesting] Transmit Inhibit on FT-817

[Jarred Jackson]

I am re-designing my rover station. I am considering using the transmit inhibit pin on my FT-817 which is used only as an IF radio for my transverters. I have no separate pre-amps in my system. The point of this would be to avoid sending RF into the IF RX stage of the transverter if the sequencer has not been keyed up (either from not connecting something, forgetting to flip a switch, or a cable becoming unplugged in the hustle of a contest weekend). In my rebuild I am trying my best to make the rover "stupid resistant". Despite my best efforts I do some really dumb things during a contest.



This would add a bit of complexity to my system, so I am not sure its worth it.  I have been operating without this feature for a couple of years. Despite sending RF into an unkeyed transverter at least a half dozen times, so far I have not experienced any failures. However reading an article online from a subject matter expert indicated that its just a matter of time before I experience a failure.


For 902 and 1296 I have  a spare "event" on the sequencer to use. For 2304 and 3456 I would have to either replace the sequencer or add a relay to the amplifier event to disable the TX inhibit. Any thoughts on this from those who have used a feature like this as well as those who intentionally do not ? Are there are down sides to using the transmit inhibit?


Jarred - KF2MR