[AMPS] Thanks, Dan.

[Phil Clements]

> I say have all the fun you want.  It seems you would only ever hurt
> yourself and that's all I ask from anyone's crazy hobby.

I think that is called freedom. Cemetaries are filled with good men
who gave the ultimate price for our current life style.
>
> Comparing the "engineering" in a "key-down" amp to a commercial
> communications amp is a bit like comparing a dragster to a production
> Porsche.  I know which one I'd rather drive in the real world.
>
> Mike
> N2MG

Well put, Mike.
Most vehicles are designed to do well over the speed limit so that they
will be reliable for many years at legal highway speeds. It is up to the
operator of the vehicle to abide by the laws of the road.

One of the sad things in amateur radio is that amplifiers on the current
commercial market, with a few exceptions, no longer have the built in
"head room" they should have to run the legal limit with no time limits.
It was in the 80's when the prices of RF switches, roller coils, and vacuum
variables sky rocketed, and we began to see the  "electronic Yugos"
start to appear on the market. Circuits that were designed for a
comfortable 800-900 watts output were now being tauted as "1500 watt"
units. This is when all the silly time limits started appearing in the ads,
depending on the mode of operation utilized. Many of the amp designs
were simply a "box of strings"....strings of tubes, small diodes, electrolytic
caps, bleeder resistors, and open frame relays. Almost every component
in the box was pushed to its absolute limit.

It's all about money, profit, advertizing gimmics, and wive's tales nowadays.
That is why the newsgroups are so valuable in educating the uninformed
and allowing the "electronic Elmers" out there to pass along their expertize
to the vulnerable victums of the flim-flam peddlers.

(((73)))
Phil, K5PC

> --
> FAQ on WWW:               http://www.contesting.com/ampsfaq.html
> Submissions:              amps@contesting.com
> Administrative requests:  amps-REQUEST@contesting.com
> Problems:                 owner-amps@contesting.com
> Search:                   http://www.contesting.com/km9p/search.htm
>
>



--
FAQ on WWW:               http://www.contesting.com/ampsfaq.html
Submissions:              amps@contesting.com
Administrative requests:  amps-REQUEST@contesting.com
Problems:                 owner-amps@contesting.com
Search:                   http://www.contesting.com/km9p/search.htm