Portable Radio Communication Equipment Use Reed Relays

Introduction

Portable military radios typically operate between 3 MHz and 30 MHz. These frequencies are relatively low by today’s standards when compared to the telephone bands in the 1 GHz to 4 GHz range. However, even as low as 30 MHz the signals will ‘ride’ on the outside of their conductor (skin effect). When switching between transmit and receive, reed relays have become the design-in choice, because they are hermetically sealed and packaged in a rugged epoxy, making them a good choice for the outdoor environment. MEDER uses copper plated reed switches to minimize skin effect. 

Full write-up: Portable Radio Communication Equipment Use Reed Relays

Features

• High reliability
• Ideal RF characteristics
• Ideal for carrying fast digital pulses with skew rates less than 20 picoseconds.
• Ability to carry RF signals from DC up to 20 GHz (SRF)
• Switch to shield capacitance < 0.5 picofarads
• Dielectric strength across the contacts 200 volts
• Dielectric strength switch to coil 1000 Volts min.
• Contacts dynamically tested