[Amps] SS vs. Tubes (was "I gotta tell this")

[Gary Smith]

Time to repost the pix of the 3-500z's doing their job.  And, quite well I 
might ad.  Who has them?  Or were they 4-400'S?  At any rate, those were 
nice pix of RF watts being generated.


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Theo Bellamy" <theo.bellamy at spirittelecom.com>
To: "Ampscontestingcom" <amps at contesting.com>
Sent: Wednesday, March 29, 2006 12:13 PM
Subject: [Amps] SS vs. Tubes (was "I gotta tell this")


> Cliff N7HIY wrote:
>
>>the broadcast, commercial and military transmitter industry has long ago
>>switched from archaic tube amplifier technology to solid state devices.
>>we, ham radio, are the laggards in the change of technology
>
> I really wish I could get excited about building an amp with solid state
> devices. I know we are not on the cutting edge when we build amps with 
> 813s
> from WW2 or Russian Tank Radar tubes, but the transistors just seem so ...
> how can I put it? .... boring and lifeless. Maybe if I saw some really
> interesting looking homebrew ham amps with transistors I could get
> interested. But they all look like aluminum show  boxes. There is just
> something about hurling electrons through a vacuum with great heat, 
> guiding
> their flow with a little voltage as they slam into a metal plate with a 
> high
> and lethal voltage applied, hoping you have things adjusted correctly 
> where
> it won't self destruct in a flash of sparks and smoke. This all seems
> natural to me. The way God himself wants amplifiers to be. There is just
> something slightly evil and deceitful about the way transistors just die a
> silent death. And then there is all that solder and heat sink compound. It
> just ain't right .....
>
>
> ;-)
>
> Theo K4MO
>
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