[Elecraft] OT: Relays for antenna switching

[Solosko, Robert B (Bob)]

Hello All,

	I planning to put up a 20m switchable vertical yagi made up of 4
vertical elements, with a relay control box to switch the elements to be
either the driven element or the reflector elements. Preferable the
relays should be DPDT, although I can use SPDT relays if they're cheap
enough.

- What relays should I use (any specific recommendations?) , or what
characteristics should I look for in relays. The relay control box will
be mounted on the antenna, so it has to operate over a very wide range
of temperatures (below 0 to over 100 degrees), and be controlled via
12VDC. 

- What should the relay contact rating be to use with my K2 at 100
watts? 

- Will there be a significant amount of loss if I use power relays for
RF applications (which seem to be the only ones in the catalogs that
probably have a sufficient contact rating)? 

- Are the relays used in the KAT100 appropriate for "external" use (they
would be in mounted a sealed box)... and does anyone know what the
KAT100 relays are? (I expect the Elecraft would prefer that I order them
from some othe rsource so that they're not a parts supplier for
non-Elecraft projects).

Thanks.

Bob W1SRB