13 Mar
2013
13 Mar
'13
7:07 p.m.
I still use tubes (aka valves in UK) as they are
still the best way to produce lots of power from HF thru to SHF.
Not any more. Semiconductors have taken over that field almost
completely. It is far better (reliability, cost, and efficiency) to
use an army of silicon over one or two vacuum tubes. The big
manufacturers of superpower tubes, like CPI (Eimac), do most of their
business fulfilling replacement for existing sockets.
The metal envelope type are of US military origin and
fairly rugged.
No, the metal tubes were originally a cost savings design. The US
military did not start using them until 1938-ish, yet metal tubes were
introduced a few years earlier. There are dozens of civilian radios
that used them before the military adopted them.
--
Will