[Elecraft] RANT front end protection

[Jack Brindle]

Darrell is correct. The relay on the K160RX board switches the RX  
path either to the main antenna or the external RxAnt jack. it is, of  
course, latching. The RxAnt is NOT grounded when it is not selected,  
not is the main antenna jack (of course).

Be aware that there is some leak-through that may occur through this  
relay. I had four QSOs (one with W5WMU in La.) during the first 15  
minutes of the 2004 Phone Sweepstakes before discovering I had RxAnt  
turned on! Yeah, the bands did seem dead...

With the Rx path being pretty much the same whether the main antenna  
or the RxAnt is selected, you have about the same opportunity for  
receiver overload either way. I wouldn't expect this to be a big  
problem. As others have mentioned, having a strong signal nearby  
while your are trying to receive is a different matter, and calls for  
bandpass filters and the like to keep that signal from desensing your  
K2.

On Feb 8, 2006, at 4:29 PM, Darrell Bellerive wrote:

> On February 8, 2006 04:15 pm, Augie (Gus) Hansen wrote:
>> The RECEIVE ANTENNA RELAY, K2 on the
>> K160RX board, disconnects the RX antenna during transmissions.
>
> Gee, I hope not. I thought that the K2 was completely solid state T/R
> switching. No clacking relays.


-Jack Brindle, W6FB
=======================================================================