Just so everyone is clear, *in the US,* the external QSK5 runs about
$370 US, while the internal unit, dubbed the QSK5-PC, runs around $270
US. The price difference resides with the power supply built into the
external QSK5 unit.
Kim N5OP
On 3/20/2014 6:55 AM, bcarling@cfl.rr.com wrote:
Ver yinteresting gary...
I have to wonder why some guys will spend $500 for an external accessory to do
QSK with
their linear amplifier. The system in my TT 422 is so simple. A couple of
simple boards and
a relay.
On 19 Mar 2014 at 22:28, Gary Smith wrote:
That was a good breakdown, those are fun to do & read.
I look at it this way; I've been hamming 35 years and I ran QSK for
the last 33 years. I've never worn out a relay in an exciter. I had
the Corsair II since it was new & made the backup rig in 09.
In amps... The original SB220 had two that needed replaced. I put QSK
in it and that was good for several years using a RJ1A. I bought an
old Alpha several years ago and I had the amp less than a month &
needed to replace the HC-1A in it, no knowing the history of the
relay I can't speak for why it failed. I opted to replace it with one
of the RJ1A silicone encapsulated ones which was extracted from a
defibrillator unit I believe. It has had no trouble. I have a spare
in case it fails again but I'm not holding my breath. :)
Also, I have a remote QSK unit containing two RJ-1A's within which is
inserted in the line and offers bias control. I used that with an
Ameritron AL-1500 for several years to give me QSK, I've never had
any trouble with it and I bought it used.
73,
Gary
KA1J
I operate QSK and have the past thirty years using TenTec equipment.
One reason given by others for not running QSK is that the relays wear out
sooner in the transceiver and amplifier.
from http://www.ad5x.com/images/Presentations/QSKals500als600RevA.pdf
How Long will the Relays Last?
What kind of life can you expect from the relays? The relay life is specified
at 100
million operations minimum at 36,000 operations/hour. The service life
increases as the
operations/hour decreases. So let´s use the standard PARIS text that is used for
determining code speed.
PARIS has 10 dits and 4 dahs = 14 relay operations/minute at 1 WPM.
Assuming an average of 25WPM code speed, you would have 360 relay operations per
minute. So, 100 million operations = 4630 hours. Now you normally operate 50%
transmitting and 50% receiving during a QSO, so your relay operating time should
double to 9260 hours. There are 8760 hours/year, which means you could operate
1.057
years at 25 WPM before the relays exceeded their lifetime spec - IF you operate
24
hours/day! But when you operate, you are probably listening more like 75% of
the time
and in a QSO 25% of the time. So this says that your relay operating life will
be over 4-
years if you operate 24 hours/day. So what do you normally average in operating
time/day? I bet it is not more than about an hour/day. But let´s say you
average 4-
hours/day of operation (i.e. you are not married and have no kids, you don´t
shop or eat
or sleep much, and you don´t hold a full-time job). So the relay life will
extend to about
25 years! The bottom line - Don´t worry about wearing out the relays anytime
soon.
73 ES DX,
Gary - AB9M -...-.-
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