[BC] Tube transmitters and 4-400's

[Mike McCarthy]

I have a specific interest in this as I have three RCA 1R1's which I need 
to re-tube soon.  Two of which are "Jesus" boxes....boxes you pray light up 
and run because your main and back-up both failed (lightning).  We make 
them so that a J-plug is all that needs to be thrown for connection to the 
antenna/phasor.  Each box is isolated in that fashion by design.  Breaker 
power OFF, no remote controls other than by relay, RF by manual J plug, 
audio by switch.  The only thing connected is the ground strap.

On one station, between the two day (main and aux) and the night sites, 
I'll have 6 TX's.  Two of which are tube boxes...by design.
Another, I'll have 5 spread between two sites, again two of which are tube.

Before you think I'm nuts/paranoid, these are all 1KW boxes which have no 
useful resale value or outside life except for ham use.  And we have the 
space to leave them in place.  So why move them.....?  It costs nothing to 
leave them there (and little to fire up once a quarter and burn off the 
moisture).  But will be huge the day the site is rocked by something major 
and the other "hot" boxes knocked down.

MM

At 08:02 AM 3/9/2009 -0700, Powell E. Way III wrote

>There is a RCA BTA 1R2 in standby at WKDK.  Who in Russia is now making 
>4-400 tubes? I know there are Chinese ones, but at one time they 
>were  called "firecrackers".  I don't knows how reliable the 4-400's from 
>China are and from which manufacturer. I know one of the premium tube 
>makers in Russia was THINKING of making 4-400's.
>
>Powell
>
>NNNN
>POP email is powell at backroads  DOT     net
>
>--- On Mon, 3/9/09, RichardBJohnson at comcast.net 
><RichardBJohnson at comcast.net> wrote:
>
> > It's true that there have been problems with
> > manufacturers
> > forgetting how to make 4-400 and 4-1000 vacuum-tubes,
> > however they are available surplus and you can even get them from
> > Russia.