"Did you use ChatGPT? That’s actually the issue date for the patent." Marc Howard
I did not use nor would I ever use ChatGPT or its ilk for obtaining any bona-fide information. Most, if not all AI hallucinate. Yikes! I had read 2 articles earlier this month and had forgotten about it until now as I stated in the note: They were from Tom’s Hardware and Soylentnews. To be correct the point-contact transistor was invented at Bell Labs in 1947; patented in 1950. I stand corrected in relation to the invention of and patented of the transistor. It was not my intent to mislead. Happy computing, Murray 😊 On Sat, Oct 25, 2025 at 6:58 PM Paul Koning via cctalk < [email protected]> wrote: > > > > On Oct 25, 2025, at 4:12 PM, ben via cctalk <[email protected]> > wrote: > > > > On 2025-10-25 2:01 p.m., Paul Koning via cctalk wrote: > >>> ... > >> "carborundum" is better known as silicon carbide. It has been a niche > semiconductor material for quite a while; I remember reading about its use > for blue light lasers, back around 1980. Nowadays it's mainstream for > certain application areas, like high power devices or high temperature > operation. > >> There are also silicon carbide resistors, very nice for high power > non-inductive applications. Ham Radio people know of these for "dummy > loads". I have one that happily takes 100 watts for minutes on end, and if > I were to dunk it into transformer oil for cooling it could take a kilowatt. > >> paul > > I think too that the same diodes are used as high voltage rectifiers in > the better hi-fi audio using valves. > > Ben. > > Could be, but I'm not sure why. Silicon diodes have been used in high > voltage service for many decades. It may be a case of using odd technology > just because. That would fit with stuff like using vacuum tubes, or using > oversized copper wiring, or any number of other weird things "high end > audio" people do. It would not be quite as strange as gold plated fiber > optic connectors. > > paul > >
