On Sep 22, 11:48*pm, AJ Lake wrote:
wrote:
There are several reasons you don't see much manufactured tube gear,
such as a "modern" version of the TS-520S.
The first reason is cost.

Agreed. Tranceivers of today are generally much less costly (and have
many more features) than the tube gear of the past. Progress is good.

Yes, amateur HF transceivers are generally less expensive to buy new
when you adjust for inflation. But at the same time there is far less
really-inexpensive new gear, and working on it yourself is much more
involved. Plus many "older" SS rigs are difficult to repair because
they used custom parts for which the only source is another rig of the
same model. A ~50 year old tube rig can be easier to fix up than a ~25
year old SS rig for these reasons.

There is also the fact that in many situations it's better to have
good basic performance rather than "features". Many "modern" rigs
include lots of "features" because they are easy and inexpensive to
include, but lack basic performance that was common 40+ years ago.

So while there is progress in cost and features, it comes at a price
in other areas.

The second reason is size.

Agreed. My 100W mobile rig sits on my dashboard. Try that with the
tube gear of the past. Progress is good.

But simply making a rig small isn't always progress. For mobile/
portable, small is good, but in the ham shack it can be a bother
because the displays are hard to read, the controls tiny, and many
functions are buried layers-deep in menus.

I'd rather have a rig with a decent front panel than one that fits in
a shirt pocket.

The third and most important reason is that tubes have
become electro-politically incorrect.

Tubes are electro-politically incorrect?? Now that is funny. The
conspiracy theory? Black helicopters.... *8-O

No, it's a fact. Your response proves it.

As a case in point, look at the Elecraft K2...
it blew away much more expensive rigs in many performance criteria.

How many tubes do they use to get this performance?

None - for the reasons listed above.

You ever use one? I have. They're very good.

But with almost no advertising over 6000 have been sold.

Have you contacted them and suggested your 7360 tube front end idea
for use in the next model of the K2? How long do you think it would
take for them to stop laughing...

See? You're saying tubes are electro-politically incorrect.

---

btw, the all-time DX record for a radio built by humans is held by a
tube transmitter.

73 de Jim, N2EY