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
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Hi Gents,
The "secrete" to running QSK with an amplifier is proper sequencing
of whatever keying is used...relays or PINs.
I still have, and use, my old Alpha 86 which uses PIN diodes, but
it is set up to be keyed *first*. When the Alpha is ready to transmit,
*then* the keying signal is passed on to my K3 or whatever radio
I have connected to it. If I just key a radio first, without the
amplifier being set up, the amp will "trip out" and announce
that it had a "T-R" fault.
Keying a radio ("exciter"), then keying a amp, will cause
hot-switching unless there is a built-in delay of RF from the radio.
73,
Charlie, N0TT
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