[BC] Designers then and now

[Mark Humphrey]

On 8/6/06, Robert Meuser <Robertm at broadcast.net> wrote:
>. 4-400s were
> cynical marketing hype. This has nothing to do with new frontier
> engineering or the need for computer.  This is simply a case of bad
> engineering judgment probably driven by sales.
>

I've wondered for years if some transmitter manufacturers were "paid
off" by certain tube companies to require a particular type of tube in
their new designs.  In other words, given incentives to use a
proprietary, single-source, expensive tube (rather than a common
"generic" substitute that would work just as well) to stimulate future
demand.

Back when the same companies made both transmitters and tubes, I'm
sure this was common practice (the GE Phasitron comes to mind), but
have there been any confirmed cases of "Tube-ola" between unrelated
manufacturers?

Mark