[Elecraft] slow amp relays

[Guy Olinger, K2AV]

Pretty ordinary relay in the Ameritron, actually. Just not a reed or
high speed vacuum. Setting here looking at a garden variety Deltrol
Controls 12VDC frame relay, leftover from converting my AL1200 to
pulse-driven reed/vacuum relay QSK circuit.

You wanta pay Alpha prices, you get Alpha stuff. You want to pay
Ameritron prices, you get ordinary stuff.

Either reed, vacuum or pin should work with the delay I see on the K2.
But it's NOT sufficient to work with ANY frame style relay I've ever
seen. I can give you a long list of amplifiers where the trouble will
occur, not just Ameritron, because they all use relays that have to
move a spring-loaded contact mechanism 15-20 thousandths of an inch,
or more.

There's no problem at all using my K2 as is to drive the Ameritron QSK
box behind my HL-1K 4CX250 amp. Slick.

Guy.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Vic Rosenthal" <vic@rakefet.com>


> There's a nice margin of time between the KPA100's t/r output, which
is
> driven from the K2's 8r line, and the appearance of RF.  I've used
it
> both with reed/vacuum relay systems and with an Alpha 86 (which has
PIN
> diodes) with no hint of hot switching.  In fact, if the Alpha
detects RF
> before it gets a t/r signal it will fault, and this has never
happened
> with the K2.
>
> The problem with the Ameritrons is that the relay is just too
slooow.
>
> Vic K2VCO
>
>