Modern Electronics (was Re: List charter mods & headcount... ;

Hi You see, knowledge already lost. Yes, a magnetron has a vacuum in it. It has a filament and a plate ( with cavities in it ). While the principles of these things can be found in books, much of the mechanical and physical methods used to create these things is lost. Partly because of the fact that manufactures don't tell all and partly because no one is dealing with these kinds of things. While it is claimed that the information is in books, there are some feel things that rarely seem to make it into these books. Can anyone tell me what controls the gain of a vacuum tube ( other than someone that actually worked with these )? Can anyone tell me how the grids must be placed for an electrometer preamp tube and why? While we don't need these kinds of things today, the knowledge of what makes these things work is still quite valuable. This understanding can keep us from making mistakes with other related problems. I can't say that these specific things that I've mentioned will be the most important things to remember but these are the types of tidbits that make the difference when looking into new problem areas of the future. Those that understand these things will always be in demand. Those that think they can ignore these kinds of things will wonder why things are beyond understanding. This goes for the entire range of things. You can't understand how to think about things without actually thinking about things. Dwight