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Bryan Bergeron
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CONTRIBUTING EDITORS
Jeff Eckert Russ Kincaid
Joe Pardue Fred Eady
Ron Hackett Louis Frenzel
Louis Dratwa Craig Lindley
Gerry Shand
I just got caught up on some of
my reading yesterday, and have a story
about matched pairs you might find
amusing; it’s a memory triggered by
your March editorial. Fifty years ago
when I was in high school, we had a
decent — for the time — stereo system
powered by two Dyna Mark IIIs,
which took KT88s. My brother insisted
we buy matched pairs, so we got
them from a company whose name
was something like Gold Lion.
Whatever kind of “lion” they were,
they may also have been lying.
The spec sheets that came with
each tube — with their little red check
marks for each tested specification —
were a perfect match, check inflection
to check inflection. In fact, when my
brother reordered another pair a
couple years later, the spec sheets
were identical to those of the earlier
tubes (yes, I kept those spec sheets for
reference).
I had no way to tell if the tubes
were matched because — back then —
I only had a simple good-bad vacuum
tube tester.
My brother and I were also both
hams at the time, and I later went into
stereo repair at the dawn of the
transistor era with soldiers coming
back in droves from Vietnam, with
stereo equipment from Japan in tow.
(A childhood and current friend of
mine still has his Sansui system that he
brought back with him).
I segued out of electronic repair
at the dawn of the integrated circuit
era as repair became must less
challenging to me, and got into
microprocessor system design and
programming. I segued out of that into
custom computer system
programming, which I stayed in until
I retired a few years ago.
I have a lifetime subscription to
NV, which I cherish. Is there another
magazine that even comes close to
supporting the electronic hobbyist?
Although my tinkering days are
over, I do enjoy reading the design
articles and keeping up with the latest
in µP technology. I will probably never
(in reality) lick a Stamp or take a
Propeller for a spin, but I do so
vicariously in your pages. Keep up the
great work.
Steve Borsher
CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT
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SHOW COORDINATOR
Audrey Lemieux
MARKETING COORDINATOR
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Brian Kirkpatrick
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WEB CONTENT
Michael Kaudze
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ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT
Debbie Stauffacher
PRODUCTION
Sean Lemieux
Thanks for sharing. I guess human
nature hasn't changed much in the past
50 years. My first real experience with
tubes was with a Heathkit DX60B
transmitter (6146A tube). I had other
tube-type equipment before then, but
I really learned to know the tube.
Peak the grid and dip the plate ...
If there's something you think we
should cover (more tubes?), please let
me know.
Bryan Bergeron, Editor
DC Power Supplies
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