One key point to remember is that the manufacturers spec sheet doesn't
quite tell the truth in reality because to save their butts they deliberately
underspec the ratings.
I can prove that by saying that I have been running a bunch of QRP Labs
beacon transmitters for some 10 years now, all using BS170's.
The longest unbroken period of 100% duty cycle operation is probably about
5 years.
Now then, in that time I have fed something like 2.4 watts DC input, obviously
more than the? 0.85 watts specification.
Remember once again that is continuous operation for at least 5 years non stop,
and PROVES that spec sheet is very conservative.
But I do ensure that the antenna is pre-matched before transmitting.
That is vital, because as I have found out, if I run them into something like an
SWR of 2.5 for example then they start failing.
So the answer to the question falls upon the end user to do what any sensible
person would do, use a properly matched antenna, and as engineers have known
for almost 100 years now, you don't take take liberties with components.
It's not like we haven't had the? time to discover this stuff ;-)
- 73 de Andy -
