There is nothing magical about a front end saver, IMHO. Several years ago
I built my first, a simple unit employing a pair of Panasonic PCB-type
relays which grounded both the RX antenna port on my transceiver and the
beverage antenna input to the preamp/switching system on transmit. As
long as you do not intend to use full break-in this system works very well
and costs peanuts to build; after some 15 years running a KW or better no
problems have ever occurred, and I have duplicated this simple design at
other stations.
Hi Bill,
It is easy to assume there is nothing critical about a front end saver (a
poor name in many applications) when we think we have one that works, but it
does a lot more than saving the front end.
Besides preventing damage, it also keeps radios from generating clicks and
spurious signals.
Some radios and installations do not need these systems, some do. Some
systems not needing them (or being critical) doesn't mean they are all not
critical.
They are system dependent for antenna types, antenna physical layout, radio
type, and power level.
73 Tom
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