[Elecraft] Re: Relay life in KAT2?

[Wayne Burdick]

Joe P wrote:

> I just finished building the KAT2 ATU and adding it to my K2.  It all
> seems to work just fine, but I was wondering how long those little
> relays will last under "normal" use. 


Joe,

These relays are incredibly reliable. Before we designed them in, we subjected a
large batch to millions of set/reset cycles, and saw no degradation of
performance. So you're not likely to wear them out in normal use. One key factor
in maximizing relay life is keeping the switching voltage and current low, which
is why we drop power to 2 watts or so during auto-tune.

By the way, average tune times should be more like 1 to 3 seconds. If the relays
"spin" for 10 seconds, the load must be pretty awful!

73,
Wayne
N6KR