He will be talking about the "Constant Efficiency Amplifier" which is another advance in the design of IOTs. His talk will provide a chronology of UHF transmitter output amplifiers used over the last forty years and conveys basic theory of operation for the klystron, MSDC klystron, and the Inductive Output Tube (IOT). This serves as a background for his main focus, which is the Constant Efficiency Amplifier (CEA).

Although standard IOT*s are over forty-percent efficient in NTSC analog transmitters, they can be as low as 12% efficient with an 8VSB digital signal. The CEA offers operating efficiencies of up to sixty-three percent in digital and analog operation. This leads to an average saving of $20K/year for every CEA installation.

As usual, our luncheon will be at Sinbad's just south of the Ferry Building on the Embarcadero near the foot of Mission St. We meet at 11:30 and are seated at 12:30. To make reservations call Paul Black at 925-827-9511 and leave a message on his machine.

In the early 1950s a couple of young men could make quick money putting up TV antennas on houses. And Bob and Don did just that. As they depended on referrals, Bob felt that Don's brusque manner might be hurting business. He told Don to be a bit more pleasant and conversational with the customers.

One day they arrived at a house with no curtains or drapes, no rugs, and scant furniture. The most commanding presence in the dwelling was the new TV console. As they crossed the threshold, Don said to the lady of the house, "Nice hovel you have here." Then, with a look over his shoulder, he added: "How's that Morrison?" The lady took it as a compliment.

A few years later Don was involved in a recording company with two other men. One recurring source of income was to record and transcribe to disk the services of various "scream and shout" churches. The divine in charge would then hawk the discs to his flock.

One minister figured he could save money if he had his own tape recorder and they offered to supply one. As luck would have it, their cash flow had gone to zip and the selling of this tape recorder was all that stood between the partners and their date with destitution. One Friday afternoon, the divine showed up at the appointed hour and requested a demo before parting with his money.

They turned on the machine and a few seconds later a wisp of smoke and the unmistakable odor of carbon was in the air. Don kept his cool and said, "A slight technical adjustment is required." He then took the recorder into the next room, found the smoking resistor, and replaced it with a higher wattage. Thus they postponed their fate for a few more days.

At www.techni-tool.com check under boxes and cases for their number 227CA2318. This is a travel case into which will fit most rack mounted items. It comes with sheets of foam and a knife so you can pad around the front back and sides. It is 22 13/16" by 17 5/16" and 13" deep.

Roy also posts the current newsletter at http://home.earthlink.net/~rhtrumbull but the posting is without links.