4 ms·

I think this article is focused on consumer products? Last time I checked, large scale items such as radar were still using vacuum tubes. I know there were huge

I think this article is focused on consumer products? Last time I checked, large scale items such as radar were still using vacuum tubes. I know there were huge breakthroughs in solid-state radar back in the 1990s, but I don't think that technology has seen a wide commercial roll-out.

AnimalMuppet 12y ago
I went to college with this guy who was on a scholarship to study tube design. (This would have been 1981 or 1982.) I said, "What are you studying that for? Semiconductors are going to make tubes obsolete." He said, "You have 6000 amps you're trying to control. Try that in a transistor." I mean, yes, there are schemes that try to use multiple high-current transistors in parallel, but... 6000 amps is a lot of current for semiconductors, even today.
- eru 12y ago
  And even if it came to the end of tubes, servicing obsolete hardware (and software) can be very lucrative. Kids don't learn COBOL anymore.
- Animats 12y ago
  There's been a lot of progress since then. One IGBT pair. 1200 amps. 4500 volts. 140x190 mm housing: http://www.infineon.com/dgdl/Infineon-FZ1200R45HL-DS-v03_01-en_de.pdf?folderId=db3a304412b407950112b4095b0601e3&fileId=db3a304345087709014516f875431b4b http://www.infineon.com/dgdl/Infineon-FZ1200R45HL-DS-v03_01-...
  - wtallis 12y ago
    Impressive, except that the times are listed in units of microseconds, so it's completely irrelevant to microwave use.