RadioBanter - Solid state HF amplifiers

On Tuesday, October 14, 1997 at 3:00:00 AM UTC-4, Richard Karlquist wrote:
I would like to hear from anyone with experience homebrewing
a solid state HF power amplifier, especially at the legal limit
level. I see a lot of postings about tube amplifiers, but
no solid state. Outside of ham radio, I believe that no
new designs are using tubes at the 1500 watt level. Am I
unaware of some reason why tubes are great for ham amplifiers?
Also, is anyone aware of a commercially available ham linear
that runs 1500W PEP output using solid state devices? All
the solid state ham linears I've seen are not legal limit.

Rick Karlquist N6RK

I have built several HF power amps they are wonderful but to date the dollars per watt is still higher for solid state vs tube amplification. This is the fundamental reason most Ham amplifiers are still tube based. In the commercial world other factors besides cost of the amplifying element dominate.

Woody, WW1WW