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FUN
WITH RELAYS |
Relays
have been around forever. Well, almost. What are they for? What
do they do? I've been asked such questions by more than one newcomer
to our hobby. OK, so the old hands will be thinking that this is
a waste of a web page. Think what you like. We all had to start
somewhere, didn't we? Like it or not, I'm going to write the page! |
A relay is nothing more than an electrically operated switch. Here's a scenario... You have a mains-operated outside light at the end of the garden. The problem is that the switch is also at the end of the garden. OK, you can do a couple of things. You can walk across the wet lawn in the dark and fumble for the switch. You can bring mains wiring up the garden to a switch in the house. The latter seems good. But to run mains wiring all the way to the house... Regulations? Safety? Yes, well.
There's another way. Use a 12 volt relay to switch the mains on and off to the light. A relay can be used as a sort of remote switch.
