[Heath] Solid State substitutes for tubes - More info

[Kenneth G. Gordon]

On 12 Feb 2015 at 20:42, MProc30634 at aol.com wrote:

> Be aware they have problems and maybe a short life in the meters.
> Mine drifted alot.

These are some of the reasons I removed mine and installed real tubes in 
their places. The meter now works reliably and accurately. I probably 
"misplaced" them for a good, but possibly subconcious, reason. I was not 
pleased with their operation.

I don't like them

However, recently, I had a very good reason to obtain a solid-state version of 
a 1L6 for my AN/GRC-109's receiver, the R-1004. I ran into a fellow on eBay 
who was making solid-state replacements for tubes which show up in the 
Zenith Transoceanic and which are very hard to find.

He makes these using FETs of some sort, and then seals them inside a tube 
envelope. It is not necessary to make any changes to the receiver: just plug 
them in and use them.

I tried one for my R-1004 and was amazed at its capability! It is far more 
stable and far quieter than the 1L6 I had in there. Furthermore, using one, 
the receiver no longer is pulled off-frequency by a strong signal...including 
the local transmitter when operating QSK.

It worked so well, I contacted the fellow again, and asked him to make me a 
SS equivalent of the 1T4s in my receiver.

He responded very quickly at what I considered to be minimal cost. When 
plugged in, the result was far better than a new tube.

Quieter, less noise, more stable, less interference from the transmitter, etc.

I am not only amazed, but also very pleased.

The fellow who is making them is an EE and apparently is very adept at 
matching the characteristice of tubes with SS devices.

You can find him by searching on eBay for 1L6. He also has a website. I'll try 
to find the info and will post it here.

Ken W7EKB