[Milsurplus] Question about EMP

[scottjohnson1 at cox.net]

I respectfully think this is all BS, Mac had a small lot of the cabinets custom made by the original mfr. Also, The B-52 which, is probably the most EMP protected asset going, has plenty of gear with SS front ends.  High Mu Frame grid front end tubes are also very static sensitive, probably more so that a protected FET.   This fanciful notion that the Russians held on to tubes for EMP reasons is pure hogwash, they simply didn't have the technology at hand to produce good low noise devices.  They lagged the west by 8-10 years in semiconductor technology, and when they could design in western parts, they certainly did so.   I can relate to you first hand there is no old equipment "Stashed" in Cheyenne Mountain, there is no room for it.  EMP protection is just as important for tube and hybrid gear as for MOS populated gear.  I think one advantage radios like the R-390A have over typical solid state designs is much better IM performance in a strong signal environment, such as a naval vessel, or a comm central.  The fact that the GRC-106 and R-1051 were designed to run in a full duplex environment may account for the continued use of front end tubes as much as anything else.

Scott
---- "Todd wrote: 
> On 11/25/06, C Whitaker <whitaker at pa.net> wrote:
> > de WB2CPN
> > Twenty or so years ago the rumor within MARS
> > about the non-availability of certain choice radio
> > equipment and other electronic things was that it
> > had been stashed inside Cheyanne Mountain, and
> > would survive a N-Blast.  Also heard that a lot
> > of tube-type stuff was hidden away.   Of course,
> > I could be wrong and all this a cover story if all of the
> > goodies went out of the country to some "friendly"
> > government.
> 
> I can't comment on your specific stories Clete, but there are several
> accounts of just this sort of thing taking place in the '91 Gulf War.
> Seems the new whizbang boxes they brought over were suffering from a
> combination of clogged air filters from the fine sand/dust in country
> and static discharge on external antennae taking out front ends. A
> number of mothballed FRC93s were pulled from storage and brought up to
> spec by Dennis Brothers (fmr Collins tech) for use in theater. Also
> R-390As including (IIRC) a new contract for CY-979A cabinets.
> 
> Well, we all know how it ended. Stormin' Norman got the job done
> sooner than expected, and a lot of restored gear went to the surplus
> market. I think Davilyn in 6 Land got the FRC93 gear and Mac
> McCullough ended up with the new CY-979 cabinets, which he sold to
> folks for their receivers. Not sure if any R-390As ever got completed
> and if so, where they ended up. Maybe St Julians?
> 
> Hopefully some gear still exists in secret squirrel holes around the
> country. Satellite comms work great until a healthy solar storm comes
> along...
> 
> ~ Todd,  KA1KAQ
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