Patent ID: 8648268

Claim:
A switch for selectively connecting one of a number of microwave microstrip lines on a printed circuit board to an RF connector, comprising: a rotatable contact having one end configured to be placed in electrical contact with a selected microstrip line and another end configured to be in electrical contact with the RF connector; a shaft coupled to the contact; means for rotating the shaft in order to rotate the contact; means for axially moving the shaft to lift and lower the contact from a selected microstrip line and the RF connector; and a controller that is configured to produce driving signals that are received by the means for rotating the shaft and the means for axially moving the shaft such that the contact is selectively lifted from a printed circuit board, rotated to align with a selected microstrip line and lowered onto the selected microstrip line, wherein the controller is configured to produce driving signals that are received by the means for rotating the shaft when the contact is engaged with a microstrip line to clean the rotatable contact.