>So what good does having the tube instantly ready to for you if you still
>need to tune the amp? Or do you hear the DX and just tune up on
>frequency like a lot of morons do?
The answer is to pretune the amp when each band is dead and have a chart
with the presets taped to the front of the amp. For amps without tuning
numbers, small pencil marks or pieces of masking tape work well. I can get
pretty close to the correct tuning even with my old SB-221. If the grid or
plate current look a little high, or the power output looks a little low, I
can touch up the tuning on a clear feqeuncy in a couple of seconds. Touchup
isn't even necessary with venier tuned amps like the Alpha 89 and some of
the Ameritrons. With those amps, you can dial up the numbers and be right at
the sweet spot on every band. I don't think anyone would say you *must* have
an autotune amp to work DX effectively. I love the convenience of my 87A,
but it's primary advantages are for quick QSY when working multipliers in
contests and remote control applications where manual tuning isn't possible.
73, Dick, WC1M
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