If you want a hb amp that looks real pretty you are hb for the wrong reason.
Another obstacle to overcome is the perfectionist one. "What if it
doesn't work?" As one OT once told me anything worth doing is worth
*&^%ing up. Accept that there are going to be a few explosions and
smoke along the way.
The parts are out there. In some ways easier to find due to the
internet. Yes it is true, they are not free. It also helps to make
a few friends, do what they now call "networking," what used to be
known as talking to other hams at club meetings, to unearth nearby
sources. The internet which wasn't around when a lot of us were
getting started is also a great resource for advice and instruction.
The homebrewing environment is in a few ways at least, better now for
reasons like that. It used to be you were limited to club meetings,
letter writing, magazines, books and costly phone calls for
information. That was okay but progress was slow.
One way to start (my tactic) is to first get some old used item, an
amp in this case, and work on it, restore it, mod it, break it, what
have you. You figure out what it can do; what its limits are within
various parameters like plate supply, tube dissipation etc. This
helps you figure out what you want and what design to pursue. It also
helps to have a friend doing the same type things so you can share
tools, resources, compare notes, comiserate blah blah.
You have to have a work bench and tools and test equipment. That
stops a lot of hams, especially men who have young families and
working wives and money and time are in tight supply.
If you undertake a project you may as well make something you can't
buy. Most manufactured amps have wimpy B+ supplies. They also may
use some parts that barely get the job done, or have inferior "quiet"
cooling. Or they cram everything into a tiny cabinet because that is
what the consumer ham wants. Build that 200 lb p.s. that has to sit
on the floor with the RF deck in the roomy table top cabinet with the
filament supply metering (which is to an amp what on oil pressure
gauge is to a car--you can't buy either with them stock). When you
build you can have anything you want. That's the reason for building.
73
rob
K5uJ
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