For info, I had a Philips low frequency synthesiser that used lots of reed relays in the frequency generation circuits. The known problem with the units design was failure of the reed relays. I was very surprised as the reed relay is normally quite a reliable device. In my synthesiser there were se era, that were not making a good contact when operated. The problem can be poor equipment design where too much current is drawn through the fine contacts, causing damage to them over time. Some precision reed relays have virtually no current handling and are designed for tiny signal levels. I fitted new reed relays and all was well.
On another unit, A tracking oscilloscope, I had a reed relay failure in the IF filter section. The reed relay was obsolete and unobtainable. I fitted a high quality miniature telecoms relay in its place and the unit worked perfectly. I mounted the miniature relay on its back, glued to the PCB, And used short wire links to the old reed relay PCB pads. At the IF frequency the short links had no noticeable effect on performance. Miniature telecoms relays have high quality contacts of gold or platinum so are decent substitutes for gold plated reed relay contacts.
Fraser
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