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Solid State amplifiers have many advantages, and yes, the PEP figures for both transistors and tubes alike, can be 4-5 times higher than the RMS figures quoted by manufacture specs. They don't recommend or warrant them beyond those levels is all.

The reason Hams use tube amplifiers is because they need to meet FCC guidelines, and using an amplifier that has to be tuned for each band makes for an easier way to control spurious emmissions, harmonics, and the alike. This is because solid state amplifiers are very broad banded by design. Also many hams run at a higher SWR due to the larger range of frequencies they operate, and tube type amplifiers tend to hand abuse without total destruction/failure better.

For a ham to use a legal limit solid state amplifier, they have to use a design that makes it less broad banded, and protection circuitry to handle the SWR stresses.

Sounds silly to make an amplifier less broadbanded, when a Ham operates many frequencies, but this is normally required to meet FCC specs. The ham than needs to tune or switch relays to switch bands.. Thus the benefits are outweighed by these extra costs to auto switch the bands and the added protection circuitry.

<blockquote data-quote="niterider" data-source="post: 143463" data-attributes="member: 7278">Solid State amplifiers have many advantages, and yes, the PEP figures for both transistors and tubes alike, can be 4-5 times higher than the RMS figures quoted by manufacture specs. They don&#039;t recommend or warrant them beyond those levels is all. &nbsp;The reason Hams use tube amplifiers is because they need to meet FCC guidelines, and using an amplifier that has to be tuned for each band makes for an easier way to control spurious emmissions, harmonics, and the alike. This is because solid state amplifiers are very broad banded by design. Also many hams run at a higher SWR due to the larger range of frequencies they operate, and tube type amplifiers tend to hand abuse without total destruction/failure better.&nbsp;For a ham to use a legal limit solid state amplifier, they have to use a design that makes it less broad banded, and protection circuitry to handle the SWR stresses.&nbsp;Sounds silly to make an amplifier less broadbanded, when a Ham operates many frequencies, but this is normally required to meet FCC specs. The ham than needs to tune or switch relays to switch bands.. Thus the benefits are outweighed by these extra costs to auto switch the bands and the added protection circuitry.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="niterider, post: 143463, member: 7278"] Solid State amplifiers have many advantages, and yes, the PEP figures for both transistors and tubes alike, can be 4-5 times higher than the RMS figures quoted by manufacture specs. They don't recommend or warrant them beyond those levels is all. The reason Hams use tube amplifiers is because they need to meet FCC guidelines, and using an amplifier that has to be tuned for each band makes for an easier way to control spurious emmissions, harmonics, and the alike. This is because solid state amplifiers are very broad banded by design. Also many hams run at a higher SWR due to the larger range of frequencies they operate, and tube type amplifiers tend to hand abuse without total destruction/failure better. For a ham to use a legal limit solid state amplifier, they have to use a design that makes it less broad banded, and protection circuitry to handle the SWR stresses. Sounds silly to make an amplifier less broadbanded, when a Ham operates many frequencies, but this is normally required to meet FCC specs. The ham than needs to tune or switch relays to switch bands.. Thus the benefits are outweighed by these extra costs to auto switch the bands and the added protection circuitry. [/QUOTE]

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