[NLRS] Question on FT897 TxH for EME use

[Jon Platt]

Over the last several months I've been piecing together a (very) small 1296 EME station.  I thought I would use essentially what I have to see if I could first actually hear anyone off the moon.  Last Fall I was successful in seeing (and hearing a little bit) the ON0EME 1296 EME beacon as well as decode a few stations.  My conclusion was that I can hear some of the big guns.  So now I am working to add transmit capability.  Towards that end, I now have every thing I need (I think) and have been working on designing the sequencing.  I plan on using my Yaesu FT897 with an older 50w DEMI 1296 transverter.  I do have a 402 series DowKey latching relay for T/R that has 80 dB of isolation and can handle 250 watts at this frequency.  This relay also has the "optional indicators" pins that can provide a signal that the relay has actually switched.   I have a W6PQL latching relay driver and his sequencer board.  My thought is tie my FT897 TxH (transmit inhibit) pin to +12v and to use the 402 relays indicator pin to pull TxH low (when the relay actually switches).  In theory, the FT897 will not produce RF output if TxH is held high, thus in this design my FT897 will not transmit until the T/R relay is actually switched to transmit and thus protect my preamp.  I do plan to also use appropriate sequencing, however using the FT897 TxH in such a way seems like good insurance.  My question for the group is does this make sense and has anyone used their FT817/FT857/FT897 TxH capability in such a way?
73, JonW0ZQ