[Boatanchors] SWEEP TUBES AND FPM 300S

[Glen Zook]

In the early 1960s, General Electric had, in their two-way radio series, the Pacer and Accent radios better known as the "Pooper" and "Accident".  These radios were built on a single phenolic circuit boards and were primarily tube-type units.


Those units were problematic from day one!  The circuit board was supported only at the corners and, often, if the vehicle hit a bump, the circuit board would flex and then break into two-pieces!  The "fix" was to repair all of the broken printed circuits with wire jumpers and then to put several layers of cardboard between the bottom of the cabinet and the circuit board.


In addition, the copper printed circuits would often, because of the heat of the tubes, come loose from the phenolic board and that, of course, caused problems. 

Needless to say, these radio were NOT popular with two-way radio technicians.  Also, very few examples have survived because they were immediately thrown away when a replacement was had.


Glen, K9STH 
 Website: http://k9sth.net
 

      From: Rob Atkinson <ranchorobbo at gmail.com>

Bob,

Vacuum tubes mounted on phenolic pc boards?  Seriously?  I happen to
like reliability and long life free of avoidable crapouts.  Life is
too short.  Have fun...I guess.