The beauty of the 1N34 was its very low forward voltage drop compared with common silicon diodes. The germanium semiconductor material in the 1N34 gave it a forward drop of about 0.2 volts compared to about 0.6 volts for other types. That meant the 1N34 would start to conduct at 0.2 volts where other types needed a full 0.6 volts, so it made a much more sensitive RF detector or rectifier.
However, germanium is a very fragile semiconductor material in several ways, which is why germanium transistors are almost never seen these days. It continued to be used in diodes like the 1N34 only because it offered the low barrier voltage silicon couldn't match. Nowadays low cost Schottky Barrier silicon diodes offer the same low forward voltage drop as the 1N34 but in a more robust diode that can handle larger reverse voltage and total current flow. One example is the 1N5711 also used in many Elecraft circuits. They are available for less than a buck in single quantities from many sources such as Mouser. The K2's probe was designed in the 1990's when 1N34 diodes were still being made in large quantities and were very cheap. That's no longer true. Ron AC7AC -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, May 15, 2008 12:56 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cc: elecraft reflector; Jon Perelstein Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Very Dissatisfied With Elecraft Support Just Google "1N34A" and you will find numerous sites that have them for $0.39. Only problem is they seem to have very high minimums. Just order the parts from Elecraft and be happy. 73, Doug W6JD _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [email protected] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
