Welcome back Jim how are you feeling how's your health doing good I'm so happy you came back you make me wait about you let me know how you doing

Jim I add my appreciation for all you do. I am thinking of your health situation and trust that your medical "team" has everything figured out. 73, Al W1VTP Manchester, NH

Hey Mr. Jim. Looking good, there. I am always floored when you show your shack. Be well, merry Christmas. KC3BXZ Joe

Wow! That is some relay box and you are thinking outside of the box. Brilliant Jim.

Good to see you again, Jim. Thank you for the interesting and also timely video. Stay safe!

Thank you, Jim. As a new ham myself, I am grateful for your generosity in sharing your experiences, wisdom and knowledge. Best wishes to you. Bob Triggs W2YBK

Hi Jim, good to have you back. I am back down in Indio, Ca for the winter with my small station. 7300 with a HiQ screwdriver vertical antenna. Cheers and good health! VE7BFM/W6

Hey Jim, glad to see a new video. I hope all is well around your way. I wanted to comment and tell you I appreciate all you do. I have followed your channel for quite some time. I have operated on the 11 meter band for 23 years (started at 13yo) and decided to make the leap over to amateur radio. I passed my technician and general class exam yesterday, so just waiting for my license to hit the database. Thanks again, 73

Thank you for making these videos. You inspire me and educate me. Greg, NB8X, Saint Joseph, MI.73

Good video. I learned something. They say you should learn something new each day. I was contemplating building a manual coax criss cross switch and hadn't figure the current difference from 60hz to 28Mhz. Your video prevented a failure. Merry Christmas. 73 W9DLP

Looks a substantial bit of kit. Well done Jim 👍🏻

Hi Jim, so very pleased to see you. I cannot thank you enough for the expertise you have shared with us all. I hope you are well Jim my love and appreciation as always, take care of yourself. I think you are very wise to stay home as much as possible during these uncertain times. I would love to think that next year we could make a contract on HF. To better times Jim 73

Hello Jim, very nice job. Back in the '70s/'80s I received a rf test set for which I had to perform an acceptance test. A little while after taking possession of the rf test set, I believe I had problems with one of the compact flat packaged relays. When sourcing a replacement I found a relay with the same specifications and size, but it was a 'yellow' sealed nitrogen filled relay. I changed all 6 signal relays with the nitrogen filled relays and never had any contact problems again with the equipment. A few years ago, I looked for those nitrogen filled flat transparent yellow tinged sealed cased relays for a project I had in mind, without success. Back in the '70s/'80s there were many new high tech components manufactured, sadly quite a few of these excellent components have sadly disappeared.

Thanks Jim! I am very thankfull you for these DIY

Was starting to wonder about you the last couple of months. I'm happy to see another great video!

WOW Jim, very nicely done. beautiful construction job.

Good to see you Jim. You look great! Always happy to see you feeling better. Thanks for the vacuum relay tutorial.

Nice little switch, ...liked the relays - I've never seen them in vacuum tube configurations.

Jim, thank you very much. I learned a lot with you, and I'm still learning! Well done. 73, take care. 9A3GVD, Dom

Also the nc contact is usually rated at half the current. Its only held with a spring. The no contact when energized is held with a magnet.

Hello Jim, great to see you doing videos again. I read about your health situation and glad to see you are back at it and looking good! Happy Holidays to you and yours. Thanks for all you do 73, David W5DPV.

Glad to see you back on KZfaq. I loved this project, can't wait to see it mounted and running. I just received my ARRL upgrade to Amateur Extra class Q&A book today. I'm still waiting on the Manual, funny thing, order both at the same time. Keep making videos and 73 KB3YJU

Hi Jim, glad to see what you've been up to! Merry Christmas to you and yours. 73!

You look good Jim !!!

Nice relay box Jim. I hope you are doing well. Glad you are staying home and staying busy. We are doing the same. Stay Safe. 73 Joe

Always good to see you in another video, Jim! Merry Christmas to you and your family from your friend in WV, W1WRE, 73.

Hello Jim, nice to see from you again. Happy weekend from Uncle Günter.

What a neat project! Those vacuum tube relays are really something! 73!

Happy to see you again sir.73 from Romania.

Jim's back!!!!

As always, a great learning experience! Great to see a new video. As a new ham, you make it easy to understand and follow along! Thanks!

Great to see you again Jim, glad you are well. Nice build, I want to do that type of set up on my beam so I can use one run of 7/8 heliax I was given to switch from vertical and horizontal and to my fan dipoles.

This video really points up the overlap between the ham community and the maker community, which I didn't realize until I became a ham later in life. I love it! Those relays are monsters! And, in the spirit of the video, I'm wondering if I could make some vacuum tube relays of my own. Hmmmmm...

Great camera work

My experience says that most problems with antenna switches are either moisture or hot switching (could be because of RF in something causing it to switch such as a band decoder or power supply). I have used regular hermetically sealed Omron 16A or 2x8A relay contacts in all my switches and have never ever had any issues and I have A LOT of relays at SJ2W. When I started selling some of my switches I even went to a guy who has a big amp and ran them for quite some time with 6kW on 20m and no issues. However if you get VSWR and don't use vacuum relays you will have problems. My whole station is fully automated so no mistakes can be made transmitting on the wrong band, without an antenna etc. I even use a regular 16A relay in one of my amps as TX/RX relay and it still works 8 years later I installed it, but I have proper sequencing. So again, I think 95% of problems are either hot switching or moisture. WX0B switches I have not very good experience with, I would guess it might be a lot because of the open relays.

Hi Jim, Interesting video and perfect timing for me as I'm looking to build a remote antenna switching system in the new year! I heard Slavko S57DX work you on twenty a few weeks ago so I take it your new mast and beam are working well! Good health & Good DX Jim. 73 Tom.

Thanks for that, Jim. I loved the video and your manufactured auto switch. Have a Merry Christmas and hopefully a happier and more free New Year 73’s. Bob Runge W1LSZ

Just subscribed 👍🏻 Looking forward to watching more and reviewing past videos.

Great to see you Again Jim had me a little worried

Would like to see a bill of materials and a how to build video. Appreciate your time and knowledge, 73 N4JOM

jim in-joy your video lot keep show us more Rob Queensland Australia 73 JIM

Very interesting video Jim. Stay well mate.

Fascinating! Beautiful design/work. Thank you for sharing. 73s

Hy Jim so glad to see you again hope you and Family are doing well. Like always new things to lear with my Elmer God bless 73 de KB2SVC

Thanks for the video Jim! I enjoyed seeing your project. I would be interested in learning more about the relays you used and where you can find components like that.

Always enjoy your vids. A great Elmer.

Personally I like the box. I'm a beginner I'm just now getting back into radio. I enjoyed 11 m as a teenager but work quickly took that over and made it disappear. Not to mention the fact I've moved about every 3 to 5 years my whole life. So the idea of a base station wasn't really practical. I'm wanting to get back into all forms of radio. I still enjoy the CB which I purchased after gmrs. Very close to being able to get my technician. And I don't want to stop there. No I was weighing the cost of running separate cables. My first run of cable is the lmr400. In order to get out of the valley then I'm in in the Appalachian mountains. My run from my home to the base of my tower is going to be 300 ft. With a 60 ft Tower I'm gaining nearly 300 ft in straight up elevation. So I believe it's acceptable. But an option like this would definitely cut down the cost on running multiple cables for that sort of distance. The question is what little box like that cost?

Thank you for the video they are always great.

Good to see ya Jim, looking good and stayin busy.... "73" ....N8QZH

Hi,good to see you back, interesting video, bit beyond my building skills but good to know, thanks from Rotterdam.

Thanks Jim great video, it's great to see you have a great holiday stay safe and healthy God bless!.

Keep thinking up good things for us. I enjoy the videos.

Nice project! Have fun using it!

Now it's time for some long term testing ;-)

Welcome back Jim - Question regarding Return Loss I thought one wants an RL value as high as possible like 40dB best I can get. That is because RL is measuring how much energy is coming back vs going out. We don't want much if any RF coming back (miss match) so the larger the dB value means not much coming back. RL is indicating the difference in outbound vs reflection. Do I have it wrong? Bob - W6OPO

Wow, fantastic work! Thanks for explaining everything!

Jim do you happen to have a schematic available? Maybe a few pictures of the switch innards? Not asking for detailed build instructions, mechanically I think I can handle it but I’d like to see a more clear shot what’s going on here. Also any advice on how to pick other relays that may be well suited for high power ham use? I believe these relays you have are either hard to find or priced at unobtainable levels I’m not sure their part number or exact spec, thank you for all your efforts sharing you knowledge with the world! 73 de Seth - W8FG

Thanks for the video. My only comment is that relay contacts are rated at how much current they can switch (make/break) over a certain lifespan (like 100k operations). Breaking high currents is especially bad for creating high temperature arcs of several thousand degrees, which eventually destroy the silver contact points. As long as the antennas are not switched hot (while transmitting), the general purpose relays should be fine. I have been using GP relays for years at full legal power with no problems. I use DPDT relays for each antenna line, with each relay pair wired in parallel, which halves the current at each contact point. Regards, N4DXC

Love watching your videos thank you for doing this for us. 🇺🇸

I was using a switch for 20 Years , equipped with small AC 220V 16Amp 2$ relays. NO FAULT EVER . Well the limit here is 750W , but i am sure they would even have been okay at 1500W . The Problem of these relays you showed is the OPEN FRAME .. the is prone to dust and moist which will build up resistance and ..therefore after time heat and oxidation. Vacuum relays are made to switch high speed under load. I replaced the switch some years ago due to rotten SO239 Sockets. Now i guess the newer switch with 32Amp surplus 4$ relays will live way past behind my lifetime....

Hi, Jim. Nice video.

Is there another video where you explain how the relays are remotely controlled?

Nice switch! 73 de VK2AOE

Thanks for this excellent video! Perhaps at some point you could share with us how to build one of these switchers, and where we might be able to source the parts? All the best!

Glad to see you are ok Jim. Lost 2 friends in November. Looks like a light at the end of the tunnel. Love the switch. So will the light shine if there’s electrical load over individual antennas. Such as static electricity ?

Hello, just stumbled on your video as I am looking to get into HAM radio. Really nice build. Some thoughts, the vacuum relays to my knowledge have a vacuum to handle high voltage switching in a relatively small space. The size of the conductors are what mostly determine the current. When I used them on a design for work they were really expensive with a long lead time. A potential alternative would be mercury wetted reed relays for a lot less money. Also, I’d suggest using DPST, or DPDT relays. Then have one contact for the main circuit, and the other to provide remote indication/confirmation. Thank you for sharing.

Can you post a schematic of the control logic for your relays? Or better yet another video! Good to see you holding up CA.

A project of this kind is right up my alley, Jim. I'm currently working on a mag loop for 20m. Should you have the opportunity and wish to do so, it would be great if you could call out some part numbers for the relays. On the other hand, having given a clear explanation of how to de-rate AC relays for HF work, anyone should be able to do the same when doing their research. 73, John, KJ7RDV

Hi Jim. Interesting design. For the measurements, did you have the other port open circuit? I assume so based on your use of 1/2 the return loss to approximate the insert loss. Can you show the return loss with the other port connected to a 50 ohm load so we can see how well the switch is impedance matched.

Thanks for the video 👍

Skin Effect plays a major role at impedance. Somehow people forget about that.

This was really interesting. Where do you buy those silver connectors and coax that you use?

Jim, nice job on the HF switch . Can you provide a diagram on your VNA test setup? I'm curious as to why you made an S11 Return loss measurement instead of an S21 insertion loss measurement.

Hey Jim, Odd question, but could this be run in reverse so to speak. I'm looking for somthing to switch between radios on the bench. I'm only running 1 antenna, but several radios. Thanks, I appreciate your time

HF antenne projects! I am a starting HAM radio amateur. Thanks for Sharing your knowledge ! Kind regards, Theo PA0HTY

jim question, where did you get the relay tubes at . and what are the numbers on the relay tube. . i really enjoyed the antenna relay box project . bob/kb5sqg/Granbury tx

Another good video. I am considering making my own antenna switch since the prices are $250+. I started looking for this was when I was trying to mount radios and antennas in my truck. Primarily it would be nice to run one feed line out of the truck and switch the antenna feeds outside of the cab (routing cable of any kind out of a truck can be “fun”). Where did you find the current capacity at HF? Thanks again, and all the best! 73 de KI5HXM

CQ REVEIVED...WP4MIX, QSL. 73

Brilliant construction G4PEY

Awesomeness!♡♡♡ 🤜🏻👍🤛🏻

Jim, I have a couple 12vdc relays with contact ratings of 12vdc 250a. do you think they’d work? I believe they are intended to connect / disconnect the battery in a car or truck so they are pretty heavy duty.

do you have any idea on how to switch between an tx amplifier and a rx pre-amp on the same antenna triggered by the ptt?

What would it cost to build this today if one did not already have parts on the shelf in the garage?

nice work but looks like the Impedance is off.

Nice...............

ITS THE fLU!

Great video! I recognize those "green and mean" relays .. they are Russian made. These relays are great for antenna switching but should not be used as a TX/RX relay they have a release flight time is a week and a half. KC8ZUL columbus ohio.

How far apart on the tower are your antenna's