Coaxial switch handling power

[hosein_rabiee_g]

Hi friends.
I want to use a coaxial switch, which can handle 10 W.(mini-circuits, MST2P-18-12)
but the peak power that will delivered and cold switched in device is greater(100 W) with 1% duty cycle.
Do anyone have an experience about maximum peak power of such devices?

 

[FvM]

There are two constraints to consider:

- RMS current handling, 100W 1% dc corresponds to 10 W cw and should be o.k. if the pulses are sufficiently short, e.g. < 1 ms

- breakdown voltage, 100 W means 100 Vp (for VWSR = 1, otherwise more). There's no voltage handling specified for the RF relay. So this can be a problem, although I believe that most mechanical relays will at least withstand 100V.

 

[jiripolivka]

Mechanical contacts in a RF coaxial relay should be only used by maker's specification. RF voltage and current are derived from the nominal power under MATCHED conditions, while unmatched loads can drive the RF voltage and current to higher values and damage the contacts.
Environmental conditions are also important, air humidity and low air pressure reduce the RF voltage that can be applied to quite lower values.