> In my case it's a "forced Beta" of less than one.

Long, long ago, before computers, before I could calculate a
(transistor) current at all, I used an AD149 as off-hook detection in a
telephone circuit: the loop current went through the BE, the EC current
switched a relais that disconnected a second telephone. My mother
required that my second telephone would not listen in on her calls. I
had no idea at all what the loop current would be, but I reasoned that a
stury-looking TO3 transistor could probably take it, and that the ~ 0.3V
drop of a Ge BE junction would not be detected by the telco. I don't
reqcall how old I was at that time, probably 10. The circuit worked for
years.

Maybe this does not count as a <1 B, but the possibility that the
collector current was much lower than the B current was certainly within
the design specs of this circuit.

Wouter van Ooijen

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