Tube Dreams

Joe Buch joseph.buch at DOL.NET
Tue Jan 6 14:07:32 EST 1998


Actually, QST magazine ran an item in the 1920's describing how proper
biasing of a carborundum detector could make it oscillate to facilitate
copying CW transmissions of the undamped sort which were being sent by those
new fangled vacuum tube transmitters, as opposed to the damped waves which
were sent by spark-gap transmitters.  Damped waves were audible on regular
crystal sets.

This was probably the first demonstration of the tunnel-diode effect but its
importance went unrecognized.  This is a good lesson for us all.  If you
can't explain why something happens, check it out.  You may have
accidentally invented something.

                                                 \////
                                                ( o o )
                                         _____oOO_(.)_OOo______
There are no passengers on Spaceship    |  _               _  |
    Earth; there are only crew members. | |_| @ @  @  @ @ |_| |
~*-.,_,.-*~'^'~*-.,_,.-*~'^'~*-.,_,.-*~'|      @ _____ @      |
Joe Buch                                |  @  @ |     |  @    |
Amateur Radio N2JB                      |       |_____|       |
joseph.buch at dol.net                     |    @  @ /-\ @   /-\ |
-*~'^'~*-.,_,.-*~'^'~*-.,_,.-*~'^'~*-.,_|        |   |   |   ||
Old boatanchor users never die;         |     @   \__/Oooo\__/|
          they just go down the tubes.  |____oooO____(   )____|
                                             (  (     ) /
                                              \__)   (_/

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