[Heath] Solid State substitutes for tubes - More info

[Jim]

Also very easy to blow out if you're not careful making voltage measurements (pilot errors).  I ended up replacing the tubes, which were much more tolerant of my stupid mistakes.  Don't know what I did with the solid state subs, though.

 

On Feb 13, 2015, at 12:07 PM, "Kenneth G. Gordon" <kgordon2006 at frontier.com> wrote:

> 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
> _______________________________________________
> Heath mailing list
> Heath at puck.nether.net
> https://puck.nether.net/mailman/listinfo/heath