[Elecraft] Coax Switch between two rigs (long)

[Mike Harris]

G'day,

| There is a neat way to check whether you are going to experience a 
dangerous
| amount of RF pickup.  If you can find a Radio Shack that still has and 
can
| find hobbyist parts, look for their "grain of wheat" miniature 
incandescent
| bulbs.  They have some that are rated at 6v/25ma etc, but you want the 
one
| rated at 1.5V/25ma.  Solder it to a coax connector and screw it into an
| unoccupied port on your switch.  Crank up your tx/amp to the max power 
you
| are going to use and key the TX.  Watch the bulb.  If you see nothing 
from
| the lamp, you are ok.  If you see a dull glow, be worried about just how
| consistent your switch is (I have an Alpha Delta--which I use now only 
for
| beverage switching) which shows variable performance, the reason for 
which
| is apparent if you open it up and look at the guts).

The Yaesu FT-101 had a lamp in series with the RX side of the TX/RX change 
over relay.  When I was in the Antarctic ('74 - '76) and running traffic 
on the main station (1.5kW) it was not unusual to see the lamp flashing 
along with the CW or SSB if I left the antenna on the '101.  Never hurt 
it.

Regards,

Mike VP8NO