As a competitive contester, it's not the cost of the relay or even the
time to replace it, but simply that I don't want to have to lose 90-120
minutes of contest operating time while I do it. Being analytical about
it, the relays I've replaced have mostly been those that came with the
three 20-30 year old Titan 425s I bought used, so perhaps it's only my
contesting that pushed them over the edge. :)
Using so-called "controlled PTT" on CW may be a reasonable compromise
between full QSK and semi-BK-in. I'm not a contester, but I see many ops
using either a computer card or other type of computer interface that will
automatically control the PTT cycle when using a keyboard - not sure it's
possible when using a keyer as it may require a typing ahead. Anyway, a
solution does exist that will prevent excessive T/R relay activations while
not having to wait from T=>R at the end of a transmission.
Paul, W9AC
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