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Why didn't the use of tubes help those models?
MK Dynamic range. Overload immunity. ........... Because of tubes? I dunno...All of my radios have good enough dynamic range, and none overload...Tube, or solid state...That doesn't tell me too much... Only cheaper radios have poor dynamic range, and overload...:/ But, we ain't talking about R-390's. We are talking about tubes themselves vs solid state.. I'm still waiting to hear why the use of tubes didn't help some radios to avoid being pieces of junk... If tubes themselves are so great, *all* tube radios should be about on the level of a R-390. But they ain't... Not by a long shot. The old collins/R390's, etc, etc, and the collins A and S amateur line, and the older 4 line drakes are about the only tube radios that I still consider worth using. All the rest are basically junk, for my needs. I'm sure this will attract flames 0-plenty, but I'm picky. I demand *very* good stability. The collins and drakes basically used the same type of circuitry. A collins or drake is just as stable at 30 mc as it is at 3 mc. And the readout scale is the same also..You can't say that for many other old tube rigs. I can think of a few that are best used as doorstops...Unstable at higher freq's, and drifty as a Chicago snowstorm. Both my kenwood and icoms can be turned on dead cold, and never need to be retuned to clarify a SSB signal. Ever. I can sit on freq for weeks at a time, and never have to touch up my tuning..."Sure, they may microdrift with temp changes, but it's never enough to notice by ear" Most tube rigs can't do that. I know my drakes can't. They can come close, but after about a day, you will usually need to touch up the tuning a tad. I don't know how a R-390 fares in this regard, but if it's *rock* stable, it's the tube exception to the rule. And if it is, it's probably cuz it has a xtal oven, etc...Not cuz it uses tubes... I won't mention that most of my tube gear needed annual alignment tweaks and tube checks/changes to keep 100% up to par. My solid state rigs never change...Don't have to be fussed with every few months, if you leave them on all the time like I did/do. I still like tube radios, and still have a few, but I'm not blind to reality...There are not many tube radios that are up to R-390 standards. Tubes look warm, and may add slightly to the BTU rating of the heating system in the winter, but they ain't the magic answer to SW-MW nirvana... Heck, I hardly use mine anymore..Overall, I find them inferior for *everyday* use. IE: readout resolution, stability, tuning rates, memories, heck , I could go for days... The R-390 is a great radio, but not all tube radios can claim to be R-390's.....Quite possibly none can. The collins and drake ham radios are fairly close though. But neither of those were cheap radios when they were built either. MK |
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