[BC] The value of tube transmitters

[Robert Meuser]

Phil Alexander wrote:

> On 20 Feb 2007 at 11:57, Robert Meuser wrote:
>
>
> > Now, please give me a logical reason to keep a 50 year old TX on air.
>
> On the air? No, that increases expenses, but as a back up Tx, or one to
> run when the thunder rolls ... that is good economy. They are also useful
> for serious tuning work on DA's because they are tolerant of loads that
> would choke any SS box off the air.

Provided you maintain it properly run it and don't let the caps dry out. 
Also there is that small issue of finding the now expensive replacement 
tubes and hoping some other hard to source item does not go south.Often 
a TX that old once not in regular service goes south quickly. As for DA 
work, all you need to do is roll back the power output of the main TX 
and VSWR is not an issue. Besides, with modern design techniques a DA 
should come up pretty close to being on.

R