[TowerTalk] Vacuum tube 100 years old today
Al N6TA
n6ta at arrl.net
Tue Nov 16 23:41:33 EST 2004
I work for a guy who makes serious efforts trying to get the 'truest' audio.
He talks of the 'infetesimal perceptible' that needs to be considered when
evaluating the quality of an audio recording and its reproduction to sound
waves. His CD player is a hybrid tube and solid state unit that costs over
$5,000. Imagine the rest of the components in the chain...
-----Original Message-----
From: towertalk-bounces at contesting.com
[mailto:towertalk-bounces at contesting.com]On Behalf Of Gene Smar
Sent: Tuesday, November 16, 2004 13:32
To: Jim Miller; towertalk at contesting.com
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Vacuum tube 100 years old today
TT:
There was an interesting (to me) article in the August 1998 issue of
IEEE Spectrum magazine about the continued use of vacuum tubes in high-end
audio equipment and musical instrument amplifiers. The article's main
thesis is that tubes provide "better-sounding" audio at high levels than
could (or still can) be achieved by solid-state audio processing circuitry.
Apparently there are still some applications besides QRO microwaves for
which such hollow-state devices are better suited.
73 de
Gene Smar AD3F
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jim Miller" <JimMiller at STL-Online.Net>
To: <towertalk at contesting.com>
Sent: Tuesday, November 16, 2004 4:16 PM
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Vacuum tube 100 years old today
> I was in missile class in the Air Force in 1963 and the lab and course was
> entirely in tubes even though the missile was entirely in transistors.
The
> adaptation was very short (minutes, maybe and hour) and said that
> transistors worked like tubes except at lower voltages and power levels.
> That was all there was to transistors !!! Not bad really for a class that
> hadn't been rewritten yet (and that may have been all the instructor knew
at
> that time).
>
> 73, de Jim KG0KP
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Bob Nielsen" <nielsen at oz.net>
> To: <towertalk at contesting.com>
> Sent: Tuesday, November 16, 2004 12:10 PM
> Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Vacuum tube 100 years old today
>
>
> > On Tue, Nov 16, 2004 at 11:28:11AM -0500, Tom Rauch wrote:
> > > On Nov. 16, 1904 Fleming patented the Fleming valve. The
> > > vacuum tube is 100 years old today (exactly 46 years to the
> > > day older than I am).
> > >
> > > I was an electrical engineering student in the late 60's.
> > > The electronics lab stock room was full of tubes and
> > > sockets, and our benches had 300 volt power supplies. About
> > > 50% of our inventory and study was tube related. I built a
> > > complete 500 watt HF station, receiver and transmitter, from
> > > stock room parts in my spare time. Every component necessary
> > > was in the stock room. From a textbook I still use,
> > > "Electronic Amplifier Circuits" McGraw-Hill Electrical
> > > Engineering Series 1961, comes the following quote:
> > >
> > > "For many applications a relative newcomer, the transistor,
> > > is replacing vacuum tube types because of the greater
> > > inherent reliability, lower power consumption, and smaller
> > > size. However, the complete replacement of the tube by the
> > > transistor does not seem likely, for the latter has
> > > shortcomings at high temperatures and high radiation
> > > intensities and in the production of high power at high
> > > frequencies. "
> > >
> > > About ten years later I received a call asking if I wanted
> > > any of those old tubes, tube related books, or HV bench
> > > power supplies before they hit the dumpster.
> > >
> >
> > I was taking a senior physics class in electronics at UCLA in 1962 and
> > we spent some time studying vacuum tube circuits. The professor was
> > asked if we were going to learn anything about transistors and replied
> > that he had never studied them himself, since he felt that they were a
> > fad which wouldn't last.
> >
> > 73,
> > Bob N7XY
> > _______________________________________________
> >
> > See: http://www.mscomputer.com for "Self Supporting Towers", "Wireless
> Weather Stations", and lot's more. Call Toll Free, 1-800-333-9041 with
any
> questions and ask for Sherman, W2FLA.
> >
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> >
>
>
> _______________________________________________
>
> See: http://www.mscomputer.com for "Self Supporting Towers", "Wireless
Weather Stations", and lot's more. Call Toll Free, 1-800-333-9041 with any
questions and ask for Sherman, W2FLA.
>
> _______________________________________________
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_______________________________________________
See: http://www.mscomputer.com for "Self Supporting Towers", "Wireless
Weather Stations", and lot's more. Call Toll Free, 1-800-333-9041 with any
questions and ask for Sherman, W2FLA.
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