Posts tagged ‘HP 493A’
My video on the teardown of an HP 493A traveling wave tube amplifier had generated quite a bit of interest. After I revealed that the electron gun portion of the tube was radioactive, a couple of my YouTube channel viewers had wondered if I could take the traveling wave tube further apart. So I did just that. Continue reading ‘Further Disassembly of the HP 493A TWT’ »
In my previous video featured on EEVBlog I did a teardown of an HP 493A microwave amplifier along with the traveling wave tube inside. I actually had done a teardown of an identical unit a while ago but this time I managed to take a peek at the traveling wave tube inside. Continue reading ‘The Traveling Wave Tube inside HP 493A is Radioactive’ »
Traveling-wave tube (TWT) is mainly used to amplify signals in the microwave frequency range. Unlike most vacuum tubes, which had largely given way to their more elegant semiconductor counterparts many decades ago, TWT is still being widely used today in many areas, especially in places where low noise and high output power is needed. I had always wanted to get my hands on one so when I saw an old HP 493A microwave amplifier for sale for peanuts, I simply could not resist snatching it. Continue reading ‘T is for TWT’ »