Hello Paul.
The U3S changes the state of a transistor switch that in turn powers
the relays. the DC to DC convertor runs all the time. I guess I need
some sort of latching device that stays in the latched state even if
just a glitch from a short duration of high RF is seen on the receiver
port. Needless to say for testing no RX will be connected....! Thanks
for the reply.
Monday, April 16, 2018, 2:19:02 PM, you wrote:
> Hello Chris,
> The only "something" I can think of would be a really small fast
> blow fuse. Fuses come in ratings down to 1mA at least but they tend
> to be pricey and a bit hard to find. I can't be sure that would blow
> fast enough to catch all potential momentary glitches which might
> harm a delicate receiver. Surely someone here has a better idea!
> Reversing the amp and antenna connections should not cause the
> problem in and of itself. Reversing those connections combined with
> failure of the relay to switch would but in that case you probably
> shouldn't have been receiving anything earlier in the night since
> the antenna would never have been connected to the receiver.
> I don't see how delayed relay switching would have caused your
> problem (unless the connections were in fact reversed) but exactly
> how is this configured? Does the U3S switch on the DC-DC converter
> or does the DC-DC converter run all the time with the U3S simply
> energizing the relay from it? I'm wondering about start-up time for
> the converter...
> Good luck with it. I personally don't like using the transmit
> antenna for receiving as it slams way too high a level into the
> receiver, leading to possible overload issues. I suppose you could
> use an attenuator.
> Even with a dedicated and small receiving antenna it's wise to
> provide some sort of overload protection for the receiver. I
> measured 250mW coming down the line from my LNV while transmitting
> on LF with 200 watts! Not good! Here the protection is extremely
> crude, a pair of back to back diodes across the receiver input. That
> has protected my receiver but causes its own set of issues.
> Unfortunately I don't have a better solution that works at LF.
> Paul
> On 04/16/2018 06:24 AM, Chris Wilson wrote:
>>
>>
>> Hello LF'ers,
>>
>> After an expensive accident whereby my home brew antenna change over
>> relay put nearly a kW of RF up the RX antenna jack of my Kenwood
>> TS-590 i want to safely long term test the relay. It may have been my
>> lack of foresight in using two identical N type sockets for the amp
>> input and the antenna on the relay box and they got reversed...The
>> relay is a Russian
>> http://qro-parts.com/product_info.php?products_id=102
>>
>> It needs 24V to reliably change, that is sourced from 12V via a DC to
>> DC converter that is energised via a safely long delay from my U3S
>> exciter so TX is delayed 100mS It's connected like this:
>>
>>
>> The output of my 1 kW amplifier to NO connection and receiver to NC
>> connection of the same relay, with COM port to antenna), then
>> de-energized I'd always be in RX mode and energized I'd be in TX mode
>> and there's no way the TX should ever be connected to the RX no
>> matter what failed. (Theoretically! I am not sure what reversing the
>> amp and antenna connections may have caused, but I am concerned some
>> other issue caused the RF to appear on the RX port....) I don't think
>> the pre LPF voltages from the amp would be too high for this relay,
>> but can't be 1005 sure of this given what occurred. In any case
>> there's also a 40 Amp 24V automotive "safety relay" that grounds the RX
>> output jack
>> when in TX mode. The failure of this to protect the TS-590 further
>> suggests I might have had the antenna and amplifier connectors
>> reversed, although it all worked fine until the early hours when the
>> WSPR spots ceased and I found the bad news.
>>
>> Anyway, I need a "something" to put across the RX antenna output BNC
>> socket that wil blow or somehow tell tale if RF is injected there. I
>> don't have a high power enough dummy load other than a huge water
>> cooled 10kW Bird one which means flowing mains water through it to an
>> outside gutter overnight or longer. My none water cooled one won't
>> take high power for long at all. If a FET blows in the amp I can
>> swallow that, rather than my current Red Pitaya receiver getting RF up
>> it :) So what could I put across the jack instead of a receiver that
>> will tell tale anything nasty happening during a prolonged test
>> please? Thanks.
--
Best regards,
Chris mailto:[email protected]
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