Full QSK

David43

Does the Power Genius XL have full CW QSK capability?

Russ Ravella

Hi David43,

No, it doesn't. The company that co-designed and manufactures it, 4O3A, says they chose not to use the super fast reed relays required to implement full breakin in favor of more robust and durable relays which are more reliable and last longer. Personally I prefer it that way as I find full breakin annoying anyway and much prefer improved reliability. Others have expressed disappointment as you'd expect.

73 Russ KR6W

John G3WGV

Resurrecting this thread as I am looking into the possibility of getting this amp. Not bothered about full QSK, provided that fast semi-break-in is OK (say 25ms or so) but slightly disappointed that changeover relays are used rather than pin diodes.

How noisy are the c/o relays? Also, are the fans noisy in everyday (non contesting) use? I currently run the Expert 2K-FA and that is rather noisy in both respects!

73, John, G3WGV

Mike-VA3MW

A while back I asked about the advantages of one of the other. I had several very smart rf engineers who convinced me that switching diodes can contribute to IMD and that reed relays are more RF-compliant.

Gord-VA7GP

The flip-side seems to be MTBF - I've had to replace reed-relays around 30yrs of age. At low RF levels (TV modulators for Rogers, Shaw, Scientfic Atlanta) we found PIN diodes were an excellent answer with all IMD products down more than -65dBc. But I also believe that higher levels are a different story, as Mike says.