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Replacement 2879's


That's a phenomenal price for a beta matched pair of transistors. I did not know that DEI has discontinued making product. They were only 80% parts. That's all you could expect out of them power wise.
 
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4 years ago I had really bad luck with them. But I have had friends buy from them recently. Within last few months and it seems they have gotten their act together. So far no issues. Don't know if they have tried biasing them yet.
 
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A local guy has assembled a few amps with them and they seem to be holding up. I don't have any personal experience with them.

There are some matched sets on ebay. Some have the hfe written on them of 66 and 70. I've bought toshiba transistors from rf parts as high as 116. I am curious what the average gain of the HG transistors are compared to the Toshiba.
 
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I'd bet less. Still a work in progress.

work_in_progress.jpg
 
The Power Pill transistors seem to be doing okay as far as I know. Haven't heard anyone complain about getting a new TNT amp and having issues with the Power Pill transistors. The days of the Toshiba 2879's are gone for the most part, unless you want to pay an arm and a leg to get them installed into a new amp. Xforce will do it as well as Dave made and I am sure some other amp builders still have their stashes of them. But once they are gone they are gone! I truly tnink the way to look now is using LDMOS devices or good MOSFET's like the ones being used in most new HF radios. They are actually made for RF applications. The only issue I really see with the LDMOS stuff is getting the voltages up to where they need to be. But that is also changing as well and I don't think it will be long before someone comes out with a good amp using them. And I don't mean BBI using already made boards and covering them with flex seal either!! If you have to hide your work like that you have issues as it's not like there aren't others that know how to build these amps!!! He just wants to be able to say he made it happen LOL!! But truth be told he is a long way from the truth. Buying a pre made board and adding the devices to them doesn't justify or mean he re invented the wheel! But don't tell him that as his feelings might get hurt LOL! Sorry I just could not help it.:D;)
At any rate, the other manufacturers of these new transistors need to step up and make things works right if they plan on staying in business. JMHO's. And let me say I am I NO WAY an amp tech or do I claim to be. So if I have written something wrong please dont hold my feet to the fire!! I myself truly hope that here in the near future that other options will more steadily become available to the consumer. But in reality is it worth it at this point in time with the 11m band being mostly dead. I hope it doesn't affect the way things get made.! Besides this is a good time to make sure that proper testing is done and that that the best product that can be made and work well is what these companies need to focus on. And the only reason I say that is due to the 11 meter band being dead most of the time at the moment.! And I just don't see it getting any better. So I would think that demand shouldn't be at a high at the moment. A good time to test and perfect what is being produced if you think about it!! Again, it an amp guru or even a slight bit inclined to be working on them, but I do see the need for some other viable options as to what transistors or devices that get used in amps being made today. JMHO's. To All, have a great Christmas Eve and a Christmas Day!!
73 and God Bless from the sandpile of Daytona Beach, FL
222DBFL
Sean.
PS- again please don't flame me guys if I'm way off track.!! It's early this morning and I am still working on my first cup
of coffee:sleep::coffee:
Sorry for the wall text. But anyhow. Again, to everyone here on the forum, have a great and safe Holiday weekend!!
 
I have a matched pair of 2879 HG's that have an HFE of 68. factory states the HG's will produce aprox 95% of toshiba ratings
 
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Well it's either the HG 2SC2879's , or the PP100's, or pay the price (currently $65 ) for the Toshiba's that are still available. It's all that is available for this type of transistor. ( DEI 2SC2879 transistors are junk)
 
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Most find they work just fine just do not attempt to volt them!! I would not take them past 16V. Likewise do not drive them with more watt's in that is listed on Toshiba white papers for the 2SC2879. They take a bit more drive to produce their peak wattage than a true 2SC2879 but really if you after peak watt's and volting the 2SC2879 is a bad choice and the Chi-Com clones are even worse. For sane regular rf communication use they work GREAT. As you drive them harder and harder they gobble up more current than a real 2SC2879 generate more heat and will blow faster.

So for block head CB'er that like to over drive their gear and over volt it they suck but are cheap and readily available. For responsible user's that are not block heads they will function almost transparently with out the user even knowing they are not Toshiba's!

I have not problem with them but I am not the type to abuse my gear or try to make a 4 transistor amplifier perform like a 6 or 8 transistor amplifier.

A lot of guys that are not looking for the cheapest game in town and that are not going to abuse the gear have been happy with MRF and SRF parts like the MRF454. People building fresh with no reason to stay tied to bipolar devices have been moving towards LDMOS.

I know people who have been building a lot with the HG's and like them it just depends on who it is for and how it is going to be used. That said a lot of the "custom" builders have shitty designs with poor quality control and clients that will abuse the units anyway so it does not matter what they throw in the unit. These guys do not provide a warranty and even if they do they have a 1 year return time on repairs and most of these units go through 3-4 shops and multiply owners.

China can build what ever you are willing to pay for in terms of quality and durability but normally people go to China for cheap shit. I do a lot of business in precision machined parts with Taiwan. I have yet to see parts that are on par with Japanese, Korean,European or American made parts when talking about electronics. The ones that are are owned by big name non-Chinese companies that operate plants in China but are not Chinese companies like Nippon, Sanyo,Fujitsu,Panasonic etc....are almost as good as they where when operating in Japan but not quite but you do not see the huge price saving either like you do with Chinese brands and clones. Just keep that in mind.

The above is just my opinion but I think the biggest deal with China when not talking about purposeful junk knock-off is the lake of quality control. I find Chinese made capacitors, resistors and transistors tend to have a huge variance from part to part even when talking about parts from the same lot made with the same die's on the same day and same shift etc.....
 
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.... I have not problem with them but I am not the type to abuse my gear or try to make a 4 transistor amplifier perform like a 6 or 8 transistor amplifier. ....

One thing to keep in mind is that the types of amps that people do this with are primarily designed for competition and the classes in these competitions are based on the number of transistors, if you're competing in the 4 pill class increasing your output by using a 6 or 8 pill instead isn't going to fly. If you want to be competitive you have to squeeze as much wattage as you can out of the number of pills specified by the rules for the class you're competing in.

Personally I would never run my equipment this way, but there is a reason why these amps are built the way they are.
 
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You got it StrangeBrew!!! If people could understand there is a group just like other groups, that just so happen to be into CB stuff and LOT's of power!!
As much as they can make work correctly. Yes building them this way is the way they are wanted by the customer. They are going to key it a few times and then they will most likely sell it to someone and start over again. They do keep some of the stuff, but the small amps usually get sold. But that is what they are built for. Power output. Not signal purity. JMHO.
Now have a good amp built with class AB, thermally tracking bias, some sort of VSWR protection, reverse polarity protection, filtering, and such, and make sure you let the customer know exactly what to drive it with and how many watts dead key and PEP as well on both AM and SSB modes.
Yes it's going to cost more than a regular amp, but probably not much more than one of the comp built amps that are worth a crap. But hey I could be wrong. I think the time invested in doing all the above mentioned to an amp for illegal use isn't on the top of most guys list though LOL!!
But hey I bet there are a couple builders that would do it if you asked that it be built that way. Or at least part of the stuff mentioned. Yes VSWR and reverse polarity can be passed up, but not filtering and a good bias scheme as well as thermal tracking. Keep it clean and mean.
Guess that is the bottom line. And by doing that it usually includes not overdriving your amps!! Heck I use a single final radio to drive my TNT 600hd anymore if I even use it. It's been on the shelf for about 2yrs. now. Or a little more possibly.
Just don't need all the power. 100w max is plenty for me. Most of the time it's about 15-20 watts that work for me these days. No one crowding the band up.
At any rate, the ones that get these comp amps built darn sure again aren't looking at the oscope, more like the Bird Watt Meter.
Different strokes for different folks.
 
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So for block head CB'er that like to over drive their gear and over volt it they suck but are cheap and readily available. For responsible user's that are not block heads they will function almost transparently with out the user even knowing they are not Toshiba's!

The above is just my opinion but I think the biggest deal with China when not talking about purposeful junk knock-off is the lack of quality control. I find Chinese made capacitors, resistors and transistors tend to have a huge variance from part to part even when talking about parts from the same lot made with the same die's on the same day and same shift etc.....
I agree, nobody has to know if the box is not going to be volted or overdriven.
China can provide a part that works & lasts but you have to know/trust your source, and test everything.
I think the problem is more due to the huge black market for reject or "midnight run" components, as they enter the same market as the good ones.

Rejecet or even re-used parts get tossed in the same search engine, ebay seller's list, google result as the "real parts". Some factory's product will have a tighter QC, but really the problem can be the "machining tolerances" or the wrong/poor quality materials being used from the start.

Now have a good amp built with class AB, thermally tracking bias, some sort of VSWR protection, reverse polarity protection, filtering, and such, and make sure you let the customer know exactly what to drive it with and how many watts dead key and PEP as well on both AM and SSB modes.
Yes it's going to cost more than a regular amp, but probably not much more than one of the comp built amps that are worth a crap.
This product would be in demand! Can you say single side band!


I think the HG parts are a good option if you are into the "2879 boxes".
 
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It's funny....I'm reading this.....like 4 years later right.....let's say a week ago...actually...2. Yea 2. Anyways, I'm like "man.....actually see if this guy's cutting on BBI...the guys awesome. Whatever....fast forward a little...I'm watching some videos. I'm studying the ldmos which I had never heard of until your comment. I'm blown away. The things these blfxr transistors are built. ...the input is sensitive little flower. And the output is chuck Norris on steroids lol. Give or take it ya know??? But yea I'm researching. And I realize the combiner circuit for these boards isn't the standard ferrite and 2 watt resistor type combiner. It's a little more then that. I'm still learning. But that's what I'm getting to....I'm trying to study that specific thing because obviously I don't want just one 2 pill section. I want 16....to start with anyways. Soon as I hit the lottery that is lol. But I want to be able to combine them anyways. And I don't want to go bankrupt on ldmos R&D ya know? Lol but yea I was like man this dudes shifting on him and now I look back ...having ended up here again coincidently lol and I'm like..Dude yea screw this guy like he's gonna hide the part I wanna see the most lol


The Power Pill transistors seem to be doing okay as far as I know. Haven't heard anyone complain about getting a new TNT amp and having issues with the Power Pill transistors. The days of the Toshiba 2879's are gone for the most part, unless you want to pay an arm and a leg to get them installed into a new amp. Xforce will do it as well as Dave made and I am sure some other amp builders still have their stashes of them. But once they are gone they are gone! I truly tnink the way to look now is using LDMOS devices or good MOSFET's like the ones being used in most new HF radios. They are actually made for RF applications. The only issue I really see with the LDMOS stuff is getting the voltages up to where they need to be. But that is also changing as well and I don't think it will be long before someone comes out with a good amp using them. And I don't mean BBI using already made boards and covering them with flex seal either!! If you have to hide your work like that you have issues as it's not like there aren't others that know how to build these amps!!! He just wants to be able to say he made it happen LOL!! But truth be told he is a long way from the truth. Buying a pre made board and adding the devices to them doesn't justify or mean he re invented the wheel! But don't tell him that as his feelings might get hurt LOL! Sorry I just could not help it.:D;)
At any rate, the other manufacturers of these new transistors need to step up and make things works right if they plan on staying in business. JMHO's. And let me say I am I NO WAY an amp tech or do I claim to be. So if I have written something wrong please dont hold my feet to the fire!! I myself truly hope that here in the near future that other options will more steadily become available to the consumer. But in reality is it worth it at this point in time with the 11m band being mostly dead. I hope it doesn't affect the way things get made.! Besides this is a good time to make sure that proper testing is done and that that the best product that can be made and work well is what these companies need to focus on. And the only reason I say that is due to the 11 meter band being dead most of the time at the moment.! And I just don't see it getting any better. So I would think that demand shouldn't be at a high at the moment. A good time to test and perfect what is being produced if you think about it!! Again, it an amp guru or even a slight bit inclined to be working on them, but I do see the need for some other viable options as to what transistors or devices that get used in amps being made today. JMHO's. To All, have a great Christmas Eve and a Christmas Day!!
73 and God Bless from the sandpile of Daytona Beach, FL
222DBFL
Sean.
PS- again please don't flame me guys if I'm way off track.!! It's early this morning and I am still working on my first cup
of coffee:sleep::coffee:
Sorry for the wall text. But anyhow. Again, to everyone here on the forum, have a great and safe Holiday weekend!!
 
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Reactions: Shadetree Mechanic
It's funny....I'm reading this.....like 4 years later right.....let's say a week ago...actually...2. Yea 2. Anyways, I'm like "man.....actually see if this guy's cutting on BBI...the guys awesome. Whatever....fast forward a little...I'm watching some videos. I'm studying the ldmos which I had never heard of until your comment. I'm blown away. The things these blfxr transistors are built. ...the input is sensitive little flower. And the output is chuck Norris on steroids lol. Give or take it ya know??? But yea I'm researching. And I realize the combiner circuit for these boards isn't the standard ferrite and 2 watt resistor type combiner. It's a little more then that. I'm still learning. But that's what I'm getting to....I'm trying to study that specific thing because obviously I don't want just one 2 pill section. I want 16....to start with anyways. Soon as I hit the lottery that is lol. But I want to be able to combine them anyways. And I don't want to go bankrupt on ldmos R&D ya know? Lol but yea I was like man this dudes shifting on him and now I look back ...having ended up here again coincidently lol and I'm like..Dude yea screw this guy like he's gonna hide the part I wanna see the most lol
Welcome to the forum!
 

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