Date: Tue, 11 Apr 2017 15:10:04 +0000
From: Manfred Mornhinweg <manfred@ludens.cl>
To: amps@contesting.com
Subject: Re: [Amps] Tubes, transistors, and 'abuse'
It's fun to see you quarreling, once again, over the "are tubes or
transistors better" question! I thought this had been about settled,
back around 1960 so or...
>> When you handle them, do you have an anti-static mat and wear a
>> ground wrist strap?
And in this regard I must have missed something... Because I don't have
an anti-static mat, nor do I have a grounding wrist strap. At the job
some people used those straps, but I refused: Grounding one of my wrists
means that if I put my other hand into something that has enough
voltage, it's _me_ who needs to be replaced, rather than a MOSFET!
I started using MOSFETs in 1980, after doing my first steps in
electronics (detector radio) in 1977. I'm still using them. I have
"handled" lots of them. And I can't remember having lost any of them due
to static while handling it. In fact the only case I can remember when I
did lose something to static was a case of sheer stupidity: At work, I
walked over to the office of a colleague, an unprotected card in my
hand, on a dry day, and when he extended his arm to grab it, a nice
spark jumped from his fingertip to the card edge and gave all three of
us a jolt: My colleague, me, and the card. After that the card didn't
work, and I had to replace a CMOS chip on it.
But that was the only case of static-induced damage, in all of my career
so far!
### At the telco I worked at for 34 years, ALL pcb assys came in anti
static bags.
The wrist straps had coiled cords, that would stretch a fair ways. Came with a
heavy duty
banana plug on the end. Was adjustable for a snug fit on ur wrist. They
are stretchy, so
they fit over ur wrist. They also come with a BUILT IN 100 K ohm
resistor.... no way you are gonna
kill yourself..end of problem. I have seen hundreds of thousands of dollars
worth of pcb assys
over 35 years, fried, cause some idiot didnt use a wrist strap. Each
equipment bay would have
at least 1-2 banana jacks built into the bay, bonded to the ground buss.
Anti static mats were seldom
seen, except in repair areas. The mats were well bonded to the main ground
system. The tips of all
soldering irons , used for pcb work, were also grounded via the 3rd prong.
Equipment rooms
all had controlled heat..and humidity.
Jim VE7RF
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