[1000mp] sticking relay problem

[Tod Olson]

I am not sure this comment will apply, but I am going to make it anyway =
and
let people consider it.

One of the amateurs living in Idaho Falls, ID had trouble with the =
relay(s)
in his TL-922 (an amplifier). It seems that the symptoms were very =
similar
those being reported in this thread. He determined that the relay was
actually making a physical transition, but that the contacts were not
passing the receive signal all of the time. Apparently it is well known =
that
contacts that have essentially no current flowing through them *may* =
develop
a film that has high impedance over time. (not sure if it is resistance =
or
resistance and reactance)

To test this idea the amateur installed a circuit that ran about 2 ma
through the contacts during receive. The DC path was blocked going to =
the
receiver and the amplifier. This immediately cured his problem. Several
months later he was changing something and inadvertently removed the =
circuit
that provided the current flow. In a matter of days he began to notice =
an
intermittent problem on receive. He had forgotten about changing the =
circuit
and it took a bit of detective work to find that the 2 ma was no longer
going through the contacts. He restored the circuit and has had no =
problem
on receive since.

I would emphasize that this is what worked for him. It may or may not =
have
applicability to the FT1000X relay contacts that close on receive. =
Further,
it may be impossible to install such a circuit in the FT1000X models. It =
is
my recollection that the current through the contacts needs only be a =
few
microamps rather than milliamperes. Others reading this thread may have
additional information -- including that which will indicate that (a) =
the
problems are not the same and (b) even if they are the same, a similar
solution may not be possible.

Tod, K=D8TO
>