msg hath wroth:

I built it myself from an article in some long lost magazine
perhaps 30 years ago. It's just a 5watt fluorescent tube, with a few
turns of wire wrapped around it going to a broadband CATV amplifier.

I was quite excited by the acquisition of a CATV distrib. amp as a
giveaway at a local hamfest earlier this spring; I modified it to
accept external power and use BNC connectors and produced a hand-
drawn schematic which I will 'capture' when time permits and post
together with photos. I have used it as a front end to a freq.
counter and an oscilloscope and without it I could not have completed
several projects.

Good idea. I use a 5-1000MHz CATV amplifier as an output "booster"
for my various RF signal generators. It's especially handy if I want
to talk on a repeater using my signal generator or service monitor.

These units are so handy it is a wonder that (at least on the Web) there
has been little mention of their experimental uses.

Oh, they've been around. I've seen articles on how to use them as HF
AM and SSB power amplifiers. Many HF radios use CATV amplifiers for
broadband drivers. You don't see them called CATV amps much because
they are 75 ohms in and out, while just about everything else is 50
ohms.

BTW, which of the numerous newsgroups in this miserably cross-posted thread do
you regularly read?

Read? I don't read anything, I just post answers and rants.
http://groups.google.com/groups/profile?enc_user=tWGMphwAAAAGTj9X4k0U7wKkGyU8QhaBh axMG2M1PWkMtCZAt5tdxQ&hl=en
See "Recent Activity".
19,520 messages. Methinks I need a vacation, project, or something.


--
Jeff Liebermann
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558