Hi Dave

 > NP> Yours is worse when 3055's go up in smoke.
 > NP> I thought they were indestructable.

 > Only some.  The 3055 spec is met in several different ways - only the
 > RCA original appears to have the self-destruct immune behaviour pattern.
 >  Homotaxial base, they called it.  Could just as well have been auto-
 > distimmed doshes - but they didn't blow up, and just about everything
 > else made at that time would, given sufficient urging.

You are obviously more experienced in that field than I.


 > Yup.  About the same time, I was playing about with chopper power
 > supplies for telemetry in the Snowy Mountains.  3055's were new, and the
 > epitaxial "just as good" variety was 10% cheaper.  Our
purchasing side
 > changed supplier without bothering to inform engineering -


There are always some dickheads in a big organisation :-(

 > I wound up
 > hanging by my toeses from the Geehi inlet structure float well while
 > replacing transistors with real ones - major fun, not.

I can imagine. It's always the tech that ends up having to fix up the other
persons mistakes. It was why I went into business for myself in 1970. I
didn't mind having to wear my own errors.

Cheers
Niels Petersen

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