Reed Relays For Radio Front End: Still Used ?

Oct 07, 2010 0 Replies

Hello,



Am thinking about purchasing a shortwave defined radio receiver from WinRadio

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Here is copy from part of their spec sheet:



"The receiver's robust front-end is equipped with an ultra-high-linearity amplifier which results in exceptional strong-signal performance. This already robust front-end is further enhanced with a user-selectable preselector that can operate either in a fully automatic or user-configurable mode. As many as 119 different filter combinations can be constructed by the user (91 bandpass, 14 low-pass and 14 high-pass). The front-end employs 34 subminiature electromechanical relays (rather than often used but distortion-prone semiconductor switches) to ensure high dynamic range."



Was really surprised to see: The front-end employs 34 subminiature electromechanical relays (rather than often used but distortion-prone semiconductor switches) to ensure high dynamic range.



I am retired now, so haven't kept up withese things, or the state of the art nowadays, but are they still using electromechanical relays for front ends feeding a 16 bit A to D ?



Haven't semiconductor switches, caught up with reed relays for this application by now, or do they "still" provide a lower "on" resistance, etc. ?



Any thoughts would be most appreciated.



Thanks, Bob


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