One other comment on this subject, the manufacturer's ratings are based on "hot switching" at the rated current. We cold switch all relays so this increases the effective lifetime even more.
Gerald Gerald Youngblood, K5SDR President FlexRadio Systems 13091 Pond Springs Rd. #250 Austin, TX 78729 Phone: 512-535-4713 www.flex-radio.com "Tune in excitement!" (TM) -----Original Message----- From: Gerald Youngblood [mailto:ger...@flex-radio.com] Sent: Wednesday, June 17, 2009 7:14 PM To: flexradio@flex-radio.biz Subject: RE: [Flexradio] Life expectancy of the relays in the 5K? The answer is 100,000,000 operations min. (at 36,000 operations/hour). That is probably longer than the average ham's life expectancy. ;>) To my knowledge, we have had no field failures of the TR relay. Gerald Gerald Youngblood, K5SDR President FlexRadio Systems 13091 Pond Springs Rd. #250 Austin, TX 78729 Phone: 512-535-4713 www.flex-radio.com "Tune in excitement!" (TM) -----Original Message----- From: flexradio-boun...@flex-radio.biz [mailto:flexradio-boun...@flex-radio.biz] On Behalf Of John Sweeney Sent: Wednesday, June 17, 2009 10:30 AM To: flexradio@flex-radio.biz Subject: [Flexradio] Life expectancy of the relays in the 5K? Flex, Tim, et al, What should be the life expectancy of the relays on the RFIO board for QSK CW use? I think the relays should outlast me, so I've not been concerned. However, a few 5K owners have told me they have stopped using fast break-in CW in order to save the relays. I have had Icoms and Ten Tecs for years with relays, not solid state switching, with no problem. I doubt a problem here. If Flex Radio came up with a new RFIO Board with a near silent relay, or even solid state, the "silent" RFIO board would sell like hotcakes and tie down ropes at a Pancake Fly-in with thunderstorms approaching.:) John , N3WT _______________________________________________ FlexRadio Systems Mailing List FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ Knowledge Base: http://kc.flex-radio.com/ Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/ _______________________________________________ FlexRadio Systems Mailing List FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ Knowledge Base: http://kc.flex-radio.com/ Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/
