[Amps] copper or silver in tank circuit?

[Steve Thompson]

Larry Carman wrote:
> I was told by a pro amp builder to leave out the silver and use copper only
> in the tank circuit. Reason: because it helps prevent parasitic on the
> higher frequencies. I'm speaking of HF amps working to 30 MHz. Any Merits to
> this???

Not to mince words, it sounds nonsense to me. If that's the 
difference between a amp that's stable and unstable, them 
there's something much more fundamental needs fixing.

I recall an article in RF Design (but not in fine detail) 
where the writer argued that oxidised copper wasn't as much 
of a problem as people sometimes think, as the current will 
tend to head for lower resistance paths, driving it deeper 
into the wire/tube/stripline.

Will mentioned tin plating - I've seen harmonic filters 
(VHF, 200Wish) burn up pcbs and unsolder chip capacitors 
from the heat when enamelled wire was replaced with tinned 
to save on preparation time. Where the loaded Q is low, it 
will probably matter less.

Steve