[Elecraft] Vacuum Relays and 30 WPM QSK

[Jim Brown]

On Sun,2/26/2017 3:04 PM, Guy Olinger K2AV wrote:
> But even though the K3 is cycling TX/RX very fast the 8410 is not banging
> the vacuum relay to death trying to follow 30 wpm dits. 30 wpm QSK*does*
> significantly shorten relay time to failure. Contesting, I've worn some out
> in less than a year.

I own three very nice vintage Ten Tec amps that use vacuum relays. All 
of them came to me used, and I've replaced those relays in each amp at 
least once. After a few rounds of that, I stopped running QSK with those 
amps. :) I'd like to hear from others having experience with vacuum 
relays and QSK at contesting speeds. I mostly work between 28 and 32 
WPM. The original equipment relays were Jennings, and I've mostly used 
Gigavac as replacements. I haven't had to replace one since giving up on 
QSK about 8 years ago, but I really would like to run QSK. Have I made 
the right decision to avoid it when running with a vacuum relay?

73, Jim K9YC