For years with slower keying rigs I would key the amp which would key the rig. This saved relays. When Kenwood came out with the TS-930. 940 etc. they had very nice QSK. But it was best to use a Mosfet or something to key the amp rather than the internal rig's relay which was too slow. I used to key my 2000A then key the rig till I got my first K3. Now I key the K3 which keys the amp.
If I am running I do not use QSK. It gives my ears a break. But if I am hunting and pecking I always use QSK and wish more did also to minimize QRM. I have no complaints after 17 years of use of the 2000A and only having to change the vacuum relay once. A very small price to pay for the luxury of QSK. And changing a vacuum relay is usually a lot cheaper than changing the switching diodes which failed in quite a few Alphas. Next time you have a vacuum relay fail cut it open to see if the contacts are burnt from hot switching. 73, N2TK, Tony -----Original Message----- From: Elecraft [mailto:elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Jim Brown Sent: Monday, February 27, 2017 11:28 PM To: elecraft@mailman.qth.net Subject: [Elecraft] Vacuum Relays and 30 WPM QSK On Sun,2/26/2017 3:04 PM, Guy Olinger K2AV wrote: > But even though the K3 is cycling TX/RX very fast the 8410 is not > banging the vacuum relay to death trying to follow 30 wpm dits. 30 wpm > QSK*does* significantly shorten relay time to failure. Contesting, > I've worn some out in less than a year. I own three very nice vintage Ten Tec amps that use vacuum relays. All of them came to me used, and I've replaced those relays in each amp at least once. After a few rounds of that, I stopped running QSK with those amps. :) I'd like to hear from others having experience with vacuum relays and QSK at contesting speeds. I mostly work between 28 and 32 WPM. The original equipment relays were Jennings, and I've mostly used Gigavac as replacements. I haven't had to replace one since giving up on QSK about 8 years ago, but I really would like to run QSK. Have I made the right decision to avoid it when running with a vacuum relay? 73, Jim K9YC ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to tony....@verizon.net ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
