[Elecraft] 1N34 (WAS: Very Dissatisfied With Elecraft Support)

[Ron D'Eau Claire]

The beauty of the 1N34 was its very low forward voltage drop compared with
common silicon diodes. The germanium semiconductor material in the 1N34 gave
it a forward drop of about 0.2 volts compared to about 0.6 volts for other
types. That meant the 1N34 would start to conduct at 0.2 volts where other
types needed a full 0.6 volts, so it made a much more sensitive RF detector
or rectifier.

However, germanium is a very fragile semiconductor material in several ways,
which is why germanium transistors are almost never seen these days. It
continued to be used in diodes like the 1N34 only because it offered the low
barrier voltage silicon couldn't match. 

Nowadays low cost Schottky Barrier silicon diodes offer the same low forward
voltage drop as the 1N34 but in a more robust diode that can handle larger
reverse voltage and total current flow. One example is the 1N5711 also used
in many Elecraft circuits. They are available for less than a buck in single
quantities from many sources such as Mouser. 

The K2's probe was designed in the 1990's when 1N34 diodes were still being
made in large quantities and were very cheap. That's no longer true. 

Ron AC7AC 



-----Original Message-----
From: elecraft-bounces at mailman.qth.net
[mailto:elecraft-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of w6jd at comcast.net
Sent: Thursday, May 15, 2008 12:56 PM
To: w3fpr at arrl.net
Cc: elecraft reflector; Jon Perelstein
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Very Dissatisfied With Elecraft Support


Just Google "1N34A" and you will find numerous sites that
have them for $0.39. Only problem is they seem to have
very high minimums. Just order the parts from Elecraft and
be happy.

73,
Doug W6JD