Thanks to a message from BobT to an earlier thread the problem has now
been solved.
I had the ac go on the blink almost a year ago but at times could fool
the system into working. Locally the problem was diagnosed as being a
bad compressor so I had that replaced. That was not the problem. Local
people were not able to track down the problem but Bob T did when he
suggested that it might be a bad magnetic relay. I bought the part and
popped it in and that has fixed the problem.
I bought the part from www.bobbridge.com for a nice discount. The part
number was 90080-87026.
I have sent a note of thanks to Bob T for his help with this.

Good luck to anyone with a similar issue.
Greg