Rather than argue about "instant on" tubes versus turning on
the amplifier when one enters the shack ....
Does anyone have reliable data on holding tube heaters at a
temperature low enough to eliminate the need for the blower
yet high enough to eliminate the 3 minute (8877) to 6 minute
(3CP5000A7) warm-up time or reducing the delay to less than
30 seconds? A contester could care less ... but for other
operators, to expend 200 to 500 watts of filament and blower
power, listen to even the most quiet blower, and dispose of
extra heat (particularly in warm climates!) for the entire
evening just to have an amplifier ready for one 30 second DX
contact is rather absurd.
Until the price of 100 volt transistors or FETs reach a level
that will make 1.6 to 2 KW solid state amplifiers possible in
the $1,000 - $1,500 price range, tubes are the obvious choice
for (US) legal limit power levels. Even when solid state is
reasonable for HF use, tubes will continue to predominate at
VHF and UHF for some time.
73,
... Joe Subich, W8IK/4 ex-AD8I
<W8IK@IBM.NET>
--
FAQ on WWW: http://www.contesting.com/ampfaq.html
Submissions: amps@contesting.com
Administrative requests: amps-REQUEST@contesting.com
Problems: owner-amps@contesting.com
Search: http://www.contesting.com/km9p/search.htm
|