[Amps] Sad News for Eimac Users

[John Becker]

> Things cannot be well for the company right now, with the economy stale and
> tubes being in less demand. They supply some very unique bottles to
> markets that depend on them.

I made an inquiry to Eimac recently, asking about the future 
availability of certain tubes.

> Date: Wed, Aug 8, 2012 8:34 am
> Subject: Current and future tube availability
> To: "Parent, Doug" <doug.parent at cpii.com>
>
> Please tell me which of the following tubes are still in production:
>
> 3CX1200A7
> 3CX1200D7
> 3CX1200Z7
> 3CX1500D7
>
> How long is it likely that they will remain in production?
>

And they replied:
> In production for the indefinite future.
>
> Doug Parent

Indefinite could mean 10 years or 10 days!

Then I asked the Eimac distributor, Richardson Electronics, for a price 
and availability quote.

>  Item   Qty Part Number                     Br Unit Price  Extension Delivery
>    1      1 3CX1200A7                       EI   1,625.00   1,625.00 18 Weeks
>    2      1 3CX1200D7/YU121                 EI   1,200.00   1,200.00 Stock
>    3      1 3CX1200Z7/YU181                 EI   1,200.00   1,200.00 Stock
>    4      1 3CX1500D7                       EI   1,395.00   1,395.00 18 Weeks

I have no idea what "Br" and "EI" mean in the quote.

I'm not buying any of these. I was just curious.

BTW, I had never heard of the 3CX1500D7 until recently. It's a fast 
warm-up (Thoriated Tungsten Cathode) variation of the 3CX1500A7 with a 
50 watt grid dissipation rating. It seems preferable to the relatively 
fragile 3CX1500A7 with its onerous 3 minute warm-up requirement. I 
wonder why manufacturers haven't switched over?

73, John, K9MM