[R-390] Standy or Off?

[mikea]

On Sun, Feb 27, 2005 at 12:54:56AM -0000, charles bolland wrote:
> Hi all,
> 
> I've burnt out a couple of Ballast tubes over the months and I am a little
> "gun" shy now.  I don't want to ware out other tubes in my set, so I am
> wondering which will prolong the life of any tubes in my receiver best of
> the three following options?
> 
> 1. Completely off when not in use - thinking about turning the set on and
> off all of the time.
> 2. Standby when not in use - thinking some tube still burning all of the
> time.
> 3. On when not in use - thinking all of the tubes are hot all of the time.
> 
> Any comments will be appreciated.
> 
> Chuck

It is my understanding that "Standby" causes the HV to rise, stressing 
the tubes to which HV is still applied, the filter capacitors, and so 
on, even more than normal operation. My preference is to just leave it
on all the time: no warm-up time, no additional stress, and normal 
operating levels everywhere. 

-- 
Mike Andrews, W5EGO
mikea at mikea.ath.cx
Tired old sysadmin