A Look at Two Different Low-Power RF Switches. Omron G5V-1 (left) and HMC349 (right). Small signal relays, like the G5V-1 shown above, are frequently used to change RF paths in home-built amateur radio equipment. You could use two of them to switch an IF strip (with embedded filter, perhaps) from receive to transmit. (I used these in the IF strip of my 6m transceiver.) These devices are cheap (~$2.00 from the usual sources), switch relatively quickly (~5 ms), and aren't too power-hungry. Coil power consumption is rated at 150 mw. Of course, you have to supply your own board and connectors. I've used 3253-type bus switches for similar low-power RF switching tasks with acceptable results, but wondered if dedicated RF switches (like the HMC349 shown above) could work acceptably well for ham radio-type tasks. I found these breakout boards widely available on the usual on-line ...