K6RB added:
>Pretty much any transistor that goes bad can be replaced with a suitable
>substitute. ICs are a different story. That's why it's good to have a parts
>rig to draw from. Just be resourceful.
Transistors aren't what they used to be anymore - there is
limited choice when it's more like a complete watt & a bit
gain stage in a small SMD package, originally meant for
cellular & low additional parts count. The DL Freescale
support chap was most apologetic, but it had been obsolete
for some time (that was nearly two years ago).
I was a bit surprised. Not the end of the world, but the
part was near end-of-life around when the product using it
came out.
The move away from axial lead components is not so bad
as I used to work on SMD - it's this unique or obsolete
component thing that is scary. Added together... I must
admit I'm not looking forward to when I have to suck a big
special cockroach or the like off a donor rig in order to keep
something going.
Serviceability increasingly is an important feature in
radios, especially outside major markets like NA. I think
it fair to say that radios are moving away from what we
are used to & it will be harder to keep our favorite more
recent rigs going as was possible before. As well as
increasingly difficult to do it yourself.
I inadvertently ended up with a donor MP & as time
goes by I'm happy I kept it. ;^)
73, VR2BrettGraham
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