At 2/9/2007 15:11, you wrote: > > <---I swear by my last breath that I will *never* use anything other > > than Chip's stuff - there is simply *nothing* on the planet that > > comes close. I've been using his preamps and multicouplers for close > > to 20 years now and have *never* been disappointed (nor have I ever > > been disappointed with his service!). > >I agree 100%. I've NEVER had any of Chip's preamps fail. Ever. Out of >probably 50 or more in service, amateur and otherwise. They just work.
There was one in a system being fed by a community RX system I maintain, & it "let loose" big time: around -20 dBm coming back out it's own input right near MY input. The isolation of the RX splitter (~20 to 25 dB), 2 isolators (60 dB) & a 10 dB pad wasn't enough to keep the self-oscillation out of my system. Granted it was one of his older designs, but I don't know what brought this on as no other damage occurred anywhere in the system, including the tower-mounted preamp (also one of Chip's). Bottom line: I agree that Chip Angle GaAsFETs are the best. I even have one installed as a key element in a $300,000 submillimeter-wave test system at work. Like anything else that's man-made, as I found out, they are not infallible. Bob NO6b
