RF Amplifier ~*~ ‘ Sd ay ‘ ae constructor ee tC Pr Py itca x-te[=13 las ti FYContents HF/ME/VHF Amplifiers (1 to 54 MHz) An Easy-to-Build 25-Watt MF/HF Amplifier A Compact I-kW 2-50 MHz Solid-State Linear Amplifier A Broadband HF Amplifier Using Low-Cost Power MOSFETs-Parts 1 and 2 A 1.8 to 54 MHz 5-Watt Amplifier An Experimental Solid-State Kilowatt Linear Amplifier for 2 to 54 MHz ‘An All-Band, 1500-Watt-Output 8877 Linear ‘Amplifier-Parts 1 and 2 High-Efficiency Class-E Power Amplifiers-Parts 1 and 2 A 100-W MOSFET HF Amplifier ‘The FARA HE Project VHF/UHF Amplifiers A Compact “Brick” for 6 Meters A.300-W MOSFET Linear Amplifier for 50 MHz A No-Bandswitch, Dual-Band VHF Desktop Amplifier ‘An 8-Watt, 2-Meter “Brickette” 903-MHz Linear Amplifiers~Parts | and 2 25-Watt Linear Amplifiers for 144 and 220 MHz. A High-Power 2-Meter Amplifier Using the New 3CX800A7 A Quick Powerhouse A Cathode-Driven Tetrode for 6 Meters AUHF Amplifier—from Scratch A Solid-State 6-Meter Linear Amplifier You Can Build Build a 6-Meter “Mini-Lini” A Grounded-Grid Kilowatt Amplifier for 432 MHz Microwave Amplifiers ‘A Quarter-Kilowatt 23-cm Amplifier-Parts I and 2 A2.W 13-cm Amplifier 1296-MHz Solid-State Power Amplifiers Amplifier Maintenance Amplifier Care and Maintenance Gary Breed, K9AY H.O. Granberg, K7ES/OH2ZE Mike Kossor, WA2EBY Zack Lau, KH6CP Joel Paladino, NCAMG Jerry Pittenger, KBRA David Rutledge, KNOEK, et al. William E. Sabin, WOIYH Jim Valdes, WAIGPO Pat Bunn, N4LTA Richard Frey, K4XU Paul Hewitt, WD7S Bob Larkin, W7PUA, Dave Mascaro, WA3JUF Dave Mascaro, WA3JUF David Meacham, W6EMD Russ Miller, N7ART David Munyon, W7DVB John Reed, W610} Tarmo Tammaru, WB2TMD Wilson Hoag, WASOLT Stephen J. Powlishen, KIFO ER. “Chip” Angle, NOCA Zack Law, KH6CP Al Ward, WBSLUA Ward Silver, NOAXForeword If antenna gain alone is not sufficient to bridge’ the path between two stations, the alternative is to increase RF power. Hams have been aware of this fact since the earli- est days, and that is why RF power amplifier projects have always been popular. In RF Amplifier Classics we have assembled a collection of articles published it OST magazine, and its sister technical journal, QEX. The collection spans the early 1980s through 2003 and includes many prominent authors. In those few instances where an author provided a design revision (or correction) after the article was pub- fished, that revision is included in the article as presented in this book. See the leatest issue of QST for other ARRL RF design-related publications, or visit our on-line bookstore at www.arrlorg/eatalog. Please take a few minutes to give us your comments and suggestions on this book. There's a handy Feedback Form for this purpose at the back, or you can send e-mail to pubsfdbk @arrl.org, ‘Our thanks to the many authors whose work appeats in this book, Without their willingness to share their knowledge with the amateur community, RF Amplifier Classics would not be possible. Dave Sumner, KIZZ Executive Vice President Newington, Connecticut August 2004By Gary Breed, K9AY tesa ee ed An Easy-to-Build 25-Watt MF/HF Amplifier Do you need a medium-power linear amplifier for SSB or CW? Congratulations—you just found it! H Simplicity itself. What makes it simple is the use of a self- biased transistor module requiring few external components. To ‘control harmonic outpat, a set of Five-sec- tion low-pass filters is included, Power. supply equirements are +28 V at 2.5 Aand SV at 200 mA." With a gain of about 13 {4B,2 1- to 1.4-W driving signal is all that's needed to deliver 25 W output. Gain is fat within #0.75 dB across the covered fre se isn'tenough for you. it's easy to diecily apply the design information to builds 50-W amplifier—all you dois we a larger transistor module? Another step to ward project simplicity is the availability (of kits. Each kit contains all the major com- ponents for either a 25- or $0-W version? Amplifier Design ‘When designing a power amplifier, the Fir step is to select the right transistors) Emcalient bipolar-junction transistors (BITS) and field-effect transistors (FETS) fe available from well-known companies such as Motorola, M/A-COM PHI, SGS: Thomson, Philips, Mitsubishi and others. ‘A number of smaller companies also make Power transistors, usually for more-spe Gilized applications, MicroWave Tech ology, Polyfet RF Devices, and Directed Energy may be company names unfamiliar fo you, but they all make power transistors for ME and HP applications. In this amplifier, I use the SLAM-O1 LT from MicraWave Technology.’ | didn’t hoose it because of its gan, its efficiency, ‘oF even its price; | selected it because i's very easy touse. The device consists of two [power JFETs (the particular specialty of MicroWave Technology), operating in push-pull, Since JFETs behave similarly to triode vacuum tubes, the company dubbed them Solid State Trindes. SLAM (Solid staletriode Linear Amplifier Module) devices include thick-film bias resistors in the package withthe transistors, These re- sistors set the gate bias for class-A opera- tion, and establish a 50-a input impedance. Atthe rated power and supply voltage, the push-pull output impedance is also 50 2! With such convenient input and output impedances, matching the devices toa 50-Q system merely requires [1 balun transform rs at the input and output, Because the bias voltage is internally generated, the only other extemal circuitry required is asuitably bypassed and isolated 28-V power supply’ Circuit Description The amplitier schematic is shown in Fig. 1, The balun driving the gates of the push-pull transistors. is a conventional transformer. The primary and secondary windings are each three turns of #28 wire, ‘wound an a two-hole ferrite balun core of 3 material (x, = 2500). These transform- fs are broadband enough to provide 1.8 to 30-MHz operation and offer de isolation ‘with no additional components, The input- transformer primary is center-tapped and bypassed to provide access to the gates for ‘external de bias (moee on this later). ‘The output transformer is constructed jn the same manger as the inpitt trans- former—it's just larger. Two ferrite beads HF/MF/VHF Amplifiers (1 to 54 MHz) (of 77 material (1, = 2000) makea two-hole core, with primary and secondary windings ‘of three turns each, using #24 hookup wire. The primary (lransistor side) is center- tapped and bypassed to provide de voltage to the drains. Feeding de through a center tapped transformer eliminates the need for the usual bifilar RF choke seen in push-pull aniplifiers—another reduction in the com- Ponent count. Multiple bypass capacitor values (0.01, 0.1 and 10 iF) are used to cover the MEJHF range, That's the basic Amplifier block: two transformers, aSLAM. device, and a few bypass capacitors! Class-A Operation Notes By definition, transistors operating ia class A conduct over the entire 360 degrees ‘of the signal (that’s all the time, of course). ‘This operational mode assures that the tran sistor is always operating in the linear region of its input-to-output transfer char- acteristic. To do this, the device must be biased to handle the maximum signal at all Obviously, this class of operation is pretty inefficient, since full current is ‘drawn whenever the amplifiers on. A “per feet” transistor operating class A can only be 50-percent efficient, and real transistors 1suson 0-0 aaa | INPUT 2 soo over Lor-Peee* | TB teow © Gor cong acy a sxe soot == f Votes of capacitance are in merohrace (uF: rontonces 1 Son Tent cn Tobe Fig ‘composition or fim units Equivalent parts can Jt—Panel- mount BNC socket 42=$0'239 connector. Ja—Phono jack P1—a:pin male Jones plug. k1—SPDF relay with a 24-V de col. A surplus Potter & Brumfioid KHP series 4- pole relay is shown in Fig 6; one pole is Unused (Ail Electronics catalog number 4PRLY-24N ($4) of Ocean State Erectromigs 12-1703-24 (610.90) aro suitable. See the Part Suppliers List on pp 35-40 of The 1994 ARAL Handbook for adgresses and telephone numbers. =£4) do no better than about 40 percent. This amplifier draws 2.5 4 from 4 28-V powe supply for an input power of 70 W. When itis providing 25 W, it's 36-percent effi cient. (When there is a0 input, it's Oper ‘cent efficient!) To help reduce the heat generated by an amplifier that requires 70 W, a negative bias can be applied to the gates when not transmitting. A bias of —S V results in a 0.25-A standby drain curtent instead of the full 2.5 A. The internal bias resistors are about 50 ~ on each gate, and dissipate a ‘maximum of TW. Under these biasing com ditions, the resistors each dissipate 0,5 W. Don’t try to cut off the transistors com: 1-2. Chapter 1 be substituted ‘$1—2-pole, 7-position ceramic rotary ‘switch. My switch ig made from two surplus CAL 11-position switch waters and ‘an indexing assembly providing Selactable stops. The wafers are spaced ‘about 1s inches apart. CAL PA-200 Series switeh waters and PA-300 series shalt an indexing assembles are Sullable (switches are available from Newark Electronics; tel 912-784-5100, fax 912-784-5100, ext 3107, to locate Yyour nearest Newark alstnbutor), Ti Primary: 3 tums #38 AWG: Secondary, 3 tuins #28 AWG, centor- tapped. Core: Fair Rite 42873002402 balun (Amidon BN 73-2402) pletely with greater bias voltage! You'll Fisk burning out the resistors, ‘Some may ask, "If class is this power hungry, why use i?" Io a word: Haearity. If you want excellent linearity (which means ‘migiwum distortion caused by harmonics or intermodulation), class A is the way to 0. For example, all small-signal amplif fers for receivers and low-level transmitter stages operate class A because they must handle signals without distortion, How- ever, they operate at very low power, so power dissipation is rarely an issue. This power amplifier further minimizes distor tion by using push-pull operation, which cancels ever-order distortion products in ‘Schematic dlagram of te 25-W class-A amplifie. Uniess otherwise specilled, resislors are ZW, 83e-olerance carbon- ‘T2_Primary, 3 uns #24, center-apped; Secondary, 3 tins #24. Core: two Falr- Rite 2677008201 beads (Amidon FB 77. 6301) UT—SLAM-0113 ultatioar 25-W, class-A, gall olased power FET module cr SLAM 122, 50-W version (Microwave Technology, 4268 Solar Way, Fremont, CA 84538, tel 810-651-6700, fax 510 651-2208). Mise: FG-174 coax, enclosure (3's x 5¥/s inches (HD), heat sink (9 x 4" ‘Whe inches {HWD), PC-board materia, knob, mounting hardware. the output and makes the next part of the design easier than usual, Harmonic Filter Design ‘As mentioned previously, the amplifier uses several low-pass filters to cover the nine MF/HF amateur bands, Each filter was initially designed for a cutott frequency 20 Percent higher than the upper end of their respective 160, 80, 40, 30, 20, 15 and 10. meter ham bands. The {3-meter filter is also used for 17 meters, and the 10-meter Filter for 12 meters. With no filtering, even-order harmon: ies (2nd, th, etc) are more than 40 dB. below the cartier, the result of good push:Teble 1 Finer Circuit and Comparison of Ideal and Final Component Values. Ideal Fitter Values ‘Actual Filter Values Gwtot Frog. C1,C5 C3 42,4 C1, 05 3 L214 (Me) BA) (BF) Gutty (pF) (oF) uty 2.90 121 2620 4.55 1470 2680 441 (1000 +470) (2200 + 680) (50 ton 50-2) 7e1 1310 2.27 830, 1430 237 (660 +270) (1000+ 430) (22ton T-50-2) a7 7181.28 430 820 125, (981 on F50-2) 218 = 900-818-0900 300 560 0.980) (14 ton 750-2) 222123850634 220 370 0.706 (270 + 100) (12ton T-50-6) wrk 14224 otzd 150 240 6.460 (101 0n T-50-6) set 1021780906100, 180 0314 (81 on T-50-6) In some cases I is necessary to the proper values of capacitance for C1, C2 ha inductors are wound on 750-2 0° T.50-6 cores, Inductors for the 160- and 80-meter fers are woune with 426 AWG wire In ordor to ft all turns on the ores; the other meuctors ‘me wound with #22 wire pull balance using factory-matched tran- Sistors, The 3rd and Sth harmonies are more than 15 dB down, To reduce the 3rd ha monic to at least 0 dB below the carrer, a five-tection Chebyshev filter with low passband ripple is an appropriate choice. This typeof filter has a good SWR in the passband, and a smooth roll-off character iti. The design process began by creating ideal designs using a public-domain filter design program ‘eal designs rarely correspond to san dard capacitor or inductance values that fem be realized with « discrete number of {urns on common toroid cores. Using a cir- ‘uit analysis program? the ideal designs were analyzed to see the effects of such tealworld limitations on harmonic rejec- tion and SWR performance. Fist the ideal component values were entered into the program, and varied +20 patent to see which ones had the greatest effect on performance. Cl and CS (see Fig Band Table 1) were found tobe least sen- shive wo variations, L2 and LA were moder- ately sensiive; varying C3 had the greatest ‘effect on both passband snd stopband per- formance, The ideal capacitor values were then replaced with standard capacitor values or—in some cases— parallel com binations of two common eapacitor values. Inductors were given the near-st value available for coils wound on either T-$0-2 ‘0 T-50-6 toroid cores. The final filter de- signs are the result of trade-offs between fuctance, capacitance and filter perfor. ‘mance. Table I shows the filter topology, along with a comparison of the original ‘deal filter component values and the val vues selected for the finished unit. SLE Se, Fig Mechanical assembly of the ampliier-madule PC board, aluminum Spacers ang heat sink. sink (see Fig 5, next page) HF/MF/VHF Amplifiers (1 to 54 MHz) Fig 2—Sohematic ofthe filler used for each band, Construction [ built my amplifier and low-pass filter ‘modules on single-sided PC boards, using pads 10 mount the components. No hotes are drilled except for mounting screws) and all Teads are attached by soldering them to the pads. The PC-board patterns for the ampli fier and filters are available (see Note 2). Fig 3 shows the amplifier-assembly paris. This assembly is mounted to a heat sink (see Figs 4 and 5) capable of dissipat- ing more than 40 watts without excessive temperature rise. (This assumes. a worst ease of $0-percent transmitting time, and ‘T-watts dissipation in standby.) A cutout in the middle of the amplifier board allows placement of the SLAM device. The PC board leaves a conducting path around the ends of the SLAM to maintain a ground potential across the entire board. Four ‘mechanical components make up the am: plifier assembly. The first is a0.1875-inch- thick aluminum base plate to which the SLAM is mounted. Nextare two aluminum 0.1-ineh-thick spacers, which are placed between the base plate and the circuit board. These spacers set the proper dis- tance from the base plate to SLAM leads. ‘The SLAM is installed through the top of the PC board, and its leads ae soldered to the traces on top of the board. Fig 4—The assembled smplifier-module PC board in position and secured to the heat 13Fig 5—Rear view of the completed ampitier showing the hefty hea sin Construction is easiest if the trans- former connections to the SLAM are not soldered until after the SLAM fs fnstalled This eliminates the possibility that the transformer connections wil get inthe way when you try t0 solder the SLAM into place. As with any power device, place @ {hin coating of thermal compound between the SIAM and the base plate, and between the base plate and the heat sink. Solder bypass capacitors directly to the trans- former center tap and to the ground plane, with the minimum possible lead lengths. The low-pass filter board is constructed one filterat a time. Fist, install the eapaci- tor at the center (C3), then the inductors 12,14), and finally the end capacitors (Cl, €5). All inductors are wound with even spacing over three-quarters ofthe core cir= cumference, Simply solder the capacitors to the pads and ground plane. Silver-mica capacitors were used in the prototype be- cause they Were On hand, Ceramie-dise capacitors with 200- to $00-V ratings will ‘work equally wel f the band Switch is located elose tothe filter board (see Fig 6), short lengths of hookup wire can connect the filters to the switch wafers. ‘A spacious box houses the filter and amplifier assemblies, along With a TR re- Tay that also switches the standby bias, Powerand relay control leads are bypassed ‘where they enter the enclosure, Before final assembly, gave te panels of the case a brushed look using a sanding block with oifed sandpaper. Band markings forthe switeh (see the title-page photo) are drawn on a. Inrgey adhesive-backed label attached to the front panel Performance Amplifier gain ranges from 12.5 to 14 4B between 1-8 and 30 MHz. The gain flat- ness i basically a function ofthe input and output transformers. (It’s possible to make the amplifier gain Mat within | dB from MHz to 100 MEZzusing transmission-ine 4-4 Chapter 1 Fig 6—This interior view of the amplifier shows its simple and clean layout. The band switch 18 centered on the front panel Immediately beneath the bang switen isthe Titer assembly. Behind the swich and to the lefts the TH relay, Ki. 8 fourpin ‘Jones plug power connector is mounted on the rear panel behind ‘and to the left ofthe relay. On the bottom, near the outside ip of the tear panel, is Jt. Above Wis J2. with id to ts ight. Most of the rear panol—trom its mide to the right lip—is oseupiad by the ‘SLAM IC PC board and the aluminum spacers secured to the heal sink mounted on the rear panel's exterior. Rubber feet on the cabinet bottom help prevent scratching the supporting surface beneath and keep the amplifier trom sliding. The bang-switch Knob canter ggction is 1" inenes in diameter the skirt fares t0 a diameter ot Ws inches. transformers and frequency compenss- tion.) The required drive power for 25 watts output is 10 to 1.4 watt On-the-air performance is excellent. Besides low distortion in the SSB mode, 3 small advantage of linear amplification sa complete absence of rise and fll distortion of a CW waveform, which sometimes ‘occurs in class-C amplifiers, ‘Summary ‘This project shows how new RF prod. ucts can make home construction of ams teur equipment very easy. Home-brewers can benefit from a growing trend in RF product engineering: reducing develop: Inet time by Using “super components” that require few external components and litle engineering time to design them into 1 product ‘A secondary purpose ofthis project isto show how even simple software tools can be used to speed up design, The programs used Yo design the ampliler’stow-pass fi ters are inexpensive, and accurate at fre- quencies in the MF/IIF bands. In this case, they made i possible to examine tradeoris among standandvalie ‘eompanents for seven diferent filters, sithoet having 8 build, measure and tweak each bite ‘The revit a linear power amplifier with good gain and performance. Its un complicated design Yeaves Bite room for error, and ne fancy teat equipment ix needed to successfully Build it, Projects, this eayy can make an old-timer forget about the “simpler” days oF vacuum tubes! Notes omer supplies ar avaliabo trom Man P jonas i” Rasen na PO Box aos Laks ane rt Sag8-0668 fe sor or6 82: fx {Sbotie a 2a ka ora proect are avadable rom stone “Engi, PO." Bop are ftfeten: co BBB 3-770:4700, Each Kieudoe a eiclone: and machanta Sompotonts for tho init module an Gupaee iter asoeroy, cus. seat Sota nt ian tery Sand smc eit incu ar anced canmacore of iPlay 25-4 a ing ho SCANT TYSON ctingthd agers oes ig16d ade Soper foraipping, Payment may be mace by chock, monay ster SA atierGard 9" Ameren Bxpese PC oara pater or the amples and tier re aatabitoaron tie ARAL: San our recuest fo tne Techmesi Qepatment Weel an. 25 a St Rug, CF Op tTY. Wan our requsL ate ‘MuPtinien PC-SSARD TEMPLATE. one ‘ise a businesses emlepe sth Ono Fratcase samp ‘nha Teuhnblogy, 4268 Sear Way, Fe- row CR sek, i reduce oe t's {ie by itardnon Cosas, aOvis0y KeSinge Men CaF Be 8014, tl 700 ‘ote Ene. ~A coppers Fat: Desin Tagam> WE eam ay Woon eee Ham tear ie A ey re.Ganen PO ox S02, Melon CO Spe aOa tel SoRTTONPO oar #RFOOTO, B18 postpaid). NOVA, a shareware program by Reber: ‘Sieton’ aise svmaninrem tre RE Design ‘Save Boric panaEDLOWO) Si FPO)Cees eee md A Compact 1-kW 2-50 MHz Solid-State Linear Amplifier Solsitce heh power irae amps are becoming More and more populist inthe field of han radio a the prices of HE power transistors continue to fall. 250-W devices are now available for almost half the price they were selling for a few years ago. RF power FETS are still more expen: sive, but eventually their prices will also fall, although not as fast since they are still, novelty items and the manufacturing yields are low due (0 ESD problems and require ‘nent for cleaner facilities for wafer pro: cessing General It is much easier to design wideband power amplifiers with FETs than bipolar transistors mainly due to their higher input impedes a Teast upto VIF. Their input impedance also varies less with frequency than that of bipolar devices and changes in ‘the output load Fine are reflected hack to the input to a lesser degree because of the much lower value-f feedback capacitance (collector to base vs drain to gate). Pract cally all RF power FETs on the market today are of the enhancement MOS type, ‘caning that positive voltage at thes respect tothe source is required to turn the device on. The I-kW amplifier described here would be difficult if not impossible, to design to cover four and hall actaves with comparable performance using inexpen- sive bipolar transistors. In addition, a s2- Ties of power splitters and combiners ‘would be required to each high power lev els. Biasing to class AB linear operation is also much simpler with FETs since the gate does not draw any de current, whereas current equal to Ic(peak)/hyp, must be SUP= plied to the base of a bipolar device. One example of this and the spliter-combiner complexity is presented in the Application Note AN-758 by Motorola, Inc This article features a state of the art extremely compact design using i pair of FETs rated for 000 W of power output each, It would be capable of & power output of 1.2 KW asa push-pull eireuit, but with the output matching employed, which is opti- ‘mized at around 8O0.W, the unit starts satu ating at around | kW at a 50-V de supply, resulting in high IM distortion, Similarly at 4 40-V supply, it would be usable up to 800 W. ‘The type output matching trans- former employed allows only integers as ed, 1:9. 1216, ete. The 1:16 imps ratio transformer would make the output ‘matching optimized at 1400 W, which ‘would result ina poor efficiency at 1200 W and lower power levels. The only way 10 ompensate for this would be to adjust the supply voltage accordingly, in this case 45-46 V. However, the 1:16 ratio trans formerof this type is physically much more difficult to fabricate than the lower ratio ‘ones, and may not be avaiable inthe com- rwercial market ‘The Blas Regulator The gate bias regulator (ICL in Fig 1) allows the main supply voltage tobe varied or the use of an unregulated supply while keeping the gate bias voltages and the FET idle currents constant, Since the maximum ‘operating voltage of the regulator ICis ony 40 V. a Zener diode (DI) is employed to Keep it ata safe level. The regulator supply Terminals are separated from the main power supply permitting the use of sepa- tate bias supply if desired. There is also an ‘option for athermistor connection 0 stab lize the idle currents agsinst temperature changes. The thermistor should be ina physical contact preferably with a mount ing flange of one of the FETs. The gate voltages are individually adjustable (RIL 2) making gate threshold voltage match ing of the devices unnecessary, In case of device failure, such as a drain-gate short, D2 and D3 block the Full supply voltage from being fed back to destroy the regula tor, RIO, RIL and C3, C4 are merely AC HF/MF/VHE Amplifiers (1 to 54 MHz) Filters to protect the regulator from possibly strong RF fields. To set the idle currents, RI and R2 must be adjusted to minimum, R3 is, then adjusted for a egulator output voltage ‘of about double the FET gate threshold vot ‘ages (ICI, pin 3). The current is monitored at the main supply voltage point while ad- justing Ri for a desired idle current, typi ly $00 MA-1.0 A. R2 is then advanced until the current is doubled, resulting in ‘equal idle currents for both devices. After this procedure, the settings of R} through 3 should remain until one or both FETs ust be replaced. The RF Path ‘The amplifiers designed to operate into the industry standard 50-ohm input and ‘output interface. The impedance matching to the low impedance levels of the FETs is accomplished with broadband RF trans formers. Both the input transformer (T1) and the output transformer (12) are of the so-called eamentional type in contrast (0 transmission Tine transformers. Both employ only one turn inthe low impedance ‘winding. T2 is far more critical than TT because it determines the efficiency and the high frequency end gain characteristics, plus it must be able to handle a larg amount of RF power. For increased band- ‘width characteristics, its low impedance, fone turn winding consists of three paral Jeled 10-ohm coaxial cables, esulting in a tight and controllable coupling between the primary and secondary. According to for- mules given in Reference 2, approximately twice the present 7 emt Ferrite Foss sec= tional area would be required in order for the core not to saturate with the calculated 127 gauss flux density. ‘The saturation mainly occurs atthe lowest frequencies, in this case at 2-3 MHz, Unfortunately most {ferrite manufacturers do not give informa tion on saturation flux densities that applies to applications such as this, However, iis known that high permeability ferrites, in 15Unless otherwise noted, all resistors are ‘YeW metal fim type. Ali chip capacitors except C13 are ATC type 100/2008 or Dielectric Laboratories type C17. (NOTE: The PCB mount BNC output connector used is type BNF34, available from ORA Electronics, el 818-701-5848) Fig 1—Ciroult Diagram-—2 to 50 MHz Amplifier 2-50 MHz Amplifier Components List R1,R2—1 kA single-tum Trimpots R310 ka singleturn Trimpot BA —A70 0, 2 watts Ae 100 Re AI2.RIS—2 kee 7-100 FB—Exact value depends on thermistor Re used (tically §-10 KO) R9—Thermistor, Keystone RL1 009-5820-97-01 or equivalent RI0,R11—100 0. 1 W carbon RI4/15—EMC Technology model 5208 or KDI Pyrofilm PPR '870-150-3 power resistors, 25 (2 Di--t NSS57A or equivalent 02,08—1N4148 or equivalent ICi —Mc1728 (728) voltage regulator C1—1000-pF coramic dise capacitor 62,03,C4-~0.1-uF ceramic disc capacitor (C5—0.01-F coramic chip capacitor G5.C12-~0.14uF ceramic chip capacitor 67,e—two 2200-pF ceramic chip capacitors In parallel each 6o\820-pF ceramic chip capacitor 610,C11—1000-pF ceramic chip capacitor 6130.47-uF ceramic chip capacitor or two smaller values in parallel C'14™Unencapsulated mica, 500 V, Two 1000-pF units is series, mounted under T2, LAE $5 nh, connecting wires to R14 and R15, 1.5 om each, 420 AWG. L310 nH, 10 tums #12 AWG enameled wire on Fair-Rite Products Corp ferte toroid #8961000401 or equivalent 1,72—9:1 and 1:9 impedance ration RF tanstormers, types FiF800.9 and AF2067-9 R, respectively (AF Power Systems, 3038 E Corrine Or, Phoenix, AZ 85032) general, saturate ensier than low perme ability materiats. Thus, the lowest perme: ability material should be selected that will satisfy the minimum inductive reactance requirement at the lowest frequency of operation. The formula to calculate this is NX, = 2Rgi, where: Xi=inductive reac tance for one turn, N = number of turns, Ryu) = source or load impedance. Low permeability material is also less lossy at high frequencies, resulting in less heat gen- crated in the transformer. TH, which must handle only 8-12 W of power, is made of higher permeability ferrite. This makes it 1-6 Chapter 1 possible to make the unit physically small as well. In Ti, the secondary consists of metal tubes (see Ref 1), where three turns of the primary wire is threaded through. Metal tubes are also used in T2, but only to hold the structure mechanically together. ‘At high-power levels generated with solid-state devices, which operate at rela- tively low voltages, the impedance levels, automatically become low. This creates a problem for finding passive components, especially capacitors to handle the high RF currents involved. In vacuum tube circuits a similar problem exists, but in the form of hhigh voltages. In this design, C14 gets the roughest treatment. It must be able to carry RF cucrents in excess of 10 amperes at the higher frequencies, although the voltage across itis only 75 V rms. At firs, several ‘g00d quality ceramic chip capacitors were tried in parallel, but temperature excursions caused them to erack resulting in AF ares thin burned the circuit board in the area as well. Finally, to unencapsulated mica capacitors (brand names sch as Unelco, Underwood, Standex, Elmenco and Semco) were soldered in series by attaching the terminal tabs together, making it a sym-POWER OUTPUT (WATTS) 70 E POWER INPUT (WATTS) oe FIOURE 3 — POWER GAIN ANO INPUT VSWR VERSUS FREQUENCY Vos = 409 795, = Stow iNeuT vewn Eavrrocew, 2 we 6 FREQUENCY (WH) Foe Fig z a & a rr FREQUENCY (MH) ogee 400 a0) ea O98 tO ‘FOURE 4 — DRAWN EFFICIENCY VERSUS FREQUENCY POWER QUTPUT (wars EP) Fig¢ Fags rans OF (COMPONENT LAYOUT — BOTTOM SIDE ORR O-nmmn oe OEE, COMPONENT LAYOUT — BOTTOM SIDE Fig metrical structure, Since each is doable the total value required and with double the number of plates, this increases the RF ‘current carrying capability and provides a larger area tobe soldered tothe board metal foil make the cooling more efficient. The low impedance winding terminals ae then soldered to the tops of the capacitor metal casings, leaving the effective capacitance across the winding. For further fine tuning, an Arco (Elmenco) #469 or Sprague #GM- 49900 compression mica timmer can be soldered to the fronttop terminals of the transformer. Sloc openings in the metal foil Fig? (Fig 7) located on each side of the output transformer, next to the drain terminals, ‘were provided to increase the series indue tance for certain highfrequency narrow: band applications, This tunes out some of the FET output capacitance, resulting in increased elficiency. At lower frequencies, (below 80 MHz) however, they only add 10 the IR loss and should be shorted, The loca: tion of C9 is also critical and should be placed approximately as shown in Fig 7. Tis will affect the input VSWR at frequen cies above 30 MH, Bypass capacitors C0 through C12 must HF/MF/VHF Amplifiers (1 to 54 MHz) also be of good quality. The center tap of T2 should be free of AF if the circuit is balanced, This may not always be the ease, in which ease these capacitors will aid this function, L3 and C13 form an additional filter, ensuring that 40 RF energy is being fed back to the pover supply. Switchmode power supplies especially are. sensitive fgainst RF and may actually get damaged From i [Negative feedback is provided through the networks LI-RI4 and L2-RIS. ts pur- pose is to produce a relatively flat power Bain versus frequency response, It also 7improves the input turn loss and helps to stabilize the amplifier at low frequencies, where the power gain would be 25-30 dB ‘without it, The feedback js at its minimum, atthe high frequency end and at maximum. at low frequencies, where most power is dissipated in R14 and RIS. This power is roughly the difference in power input with- fut the feedback between 2 and 50 MHz assuming a constant power output (in this cease 25-30 W). A simple formula for cal- culating the feedback resistor values as ‘well as their dissipation ratings is given in Reference 5. Reference $ also includes information on physical construction of RF transformers such as used here Thermal Aspects Assuming a 50% worst case efficiency forthe unit, each FET dissipates 500 W of heat in an area of | x 1.5 inch, Itis impera- tive that the transistors are mounted on the surface of a material with low thermal re- sistance such as copper. This is called a heat spreader as itis then attached to a heat Fig @—Amplifior mounted to the Heat Spreader. sink made of material with poorer thermal resistance, It should extend about one inch beyond the edges of the FET mounting flanges at least on three sides. It is even more practical to make the heat spreader as large or largerthan the amplifier itself. This ‘would allow alleizcuit-board spacers to be an equal height of 0.125 inch. The thick- ness ofthe heat spreader should be @ mini- mum of 0.375 inch. The heat spreader is then separately attached to the aetual heat sink, which can be a. [2-inch length of Wakefield Engineering type 4859 extri= sion or equivalent. Heat sink compound rust be appli to all thermal interfaces And the recommended transistor mounting procedure should be followed, including the sezew torque. Fig 9 shows the amplifier mounted tothe heat speeader. Although the heat sink is not shovwa, one must be used for continuous operation and for test per- cos longer than a couple of minutes. For Continuous operation, two S-inch muffin fans under the heat sink will suffice. They will Keep the device ease temperature at HF/MEF/VHF Amplifiers (1 to 54 MHz) below 80°C, and the die temperature, Which equals to device thermal resistance X power dissipation + case temperature = (0.13 x 500 + 80, at less than 145°C, which is well below the 200-degree maximum recommended value. We must realize that the 500-watt dissipation is only valid when the unit is operated into a $0-ohm load. Under mismatched conditions, depending fon the phase angle, the dissipated power may be lower or higher than this value. Performance Some of the amplifier performance characteristics ate shown in Figs 2 through 5, Although at 30 MHz and above all harmonics are 25 dB or more below the fundamental, an output filter is required to comply with FCC regulations. However, it can be a simpler one than required for the Tow frequencies, where the third harmonic may be only attenuated 12-15 4B. In push- pull amplifiers, the even harmonies are not ‘usually a problem since they are attenuated by the balanced operation of the circuit. Information on high power low-pass filters For applications as this can be found in Ref- erence 7. These filters are automatically relay switched with BCD code available in ‘most modern transceivers. References ‘The citeut Boards and ether components for ‘his design ave avaiable tom Communica: fron Concepts, ine, 808. Milsione_ Orve, Xenia, “Ort i385, “te 513-420-9811) Pease? ‘Mota, ng, Semiconductor Secor Anpea- tion Notes AN-749 ana AN 95, Aitibers AH. "Design of HE Wideband Power Trgealrmeis aetna Laboraiory Hepot ecosuor and ECTS SBleeksome, Aoderck K, "Prachal Wideband AE Pome! Transiomars, Camoners. and Spitters: Proceedings of RF Expo February hae 19Eeinoncnieachs UCLA ema A Broadband HF Amplifier Using Low-Cost Power MOSFETs Minny sites ave zen writen en couraging experimenters 10 use power MOSFETs to build HF RF ampliti- cers. That's because power MOSFETs — popular in the design of switching power supplies—cost as litle as $1 each, whereas RF MOSFET prices stat at bout $35 each! Over the years, [wicked away several of these articles, waiting for an opportunity to experiment with them, That opportunity came when I received a call from Al, ‘W20BI. Al wanted a low-cost linear ampli fier to use with his 5 W QRP transmitter ‘when band conditions got poor. Ideally, the amplifier would generateat least 25 W onall the HE bands. Al's ingutty renewed my in terest in the topic and provided the motiva tion I needed to get my project underway. Al provided me with an extensive list of RF-amplifier construction articles that use power MOSFETs." These articles provides useful information about MOSFETs and general guidelines for working with them, including biasing, parasitic-oscillaion sup” pression, broadband impedance-matching fechniques and typical amplifier perfor- mance data, It was clear from the perfor- rmancedata that Al's desire to get 25 W out pi from power MOSFETS on 1.8 to 30 MHz, ‘was going to be ackallenge! The RF output power of most af the ampisfiers described in the articles drops off to 10 W or fess. as fee= quency increases just to 14 MHz, ‘An Idea Brews After hundreds of hours of experimen- tation, Teame up with a design that exceeds ‘our original objective: One watt of input power produces over 40 W of output (alter harmonic filtering) from 160 through 10 meters. To the basic amplifier, | added an RE-sensed TR relay and a set of low-pass filters designed to suppress harmonic out- 1-10 Chapter 1 Part 1—With only 1 W of drive, you'll get over 40 W out—from 160 through 10 meters! Taetternaae Carnet men <0) z oe é Hg ig 4B : 3 rey Figure 1—Jim Wyckoff, ASX, “1 W in, 90 W out With Power MOSFETs at 60 M” Hints ‘and Kinks, QST, Jan 1899, pp 50-51TR SWITCH S18 Fg 3 cpt cio of capac tance are motores CaP) thers mrnscetoese (9: Figure 2—Schematic of the MOSFET all-band HF ampifier. Unless otherwise specified, resistors are ‘/s W, 8% tolerance {arbon-composition or fim units. Equivalent parts can be subst ted. Part numbers in parentheses are Mouser (Mouser Efectionics, 860 N Main St, Manstield, TX. 76063; tol 800"946-6873, 817-483-4422, fax 617-485-094", sales@ mouser.com, hitpuiwww.mouser.com}; soe Note 8 1-08-01 uF chip (140-C5022104M) 6887 pF chip (140-CCS02N470,) Gt0—100 uF, 85.V (140-HTALIBV100) G1, C13-"15 uF, 35 V (140MLRGBV10) 6121 uF. SOV (s40-MLRLSOV! 0) 61423 iF, 95 V tantalum +2 2Ma5V) (015-0.09 uF chip (140-C05028109K) 616, G17~0.001 ue cp (140-0502 102k) DitN4733A, 5.1 V. 1 W Zener diode (689-1NG733A) Da-AN4O044(589-140048) (02, D3—1N4148 (583-1NaIA48) DBLINAT4A, 15'V, 1 W Zener diode (83-1Na7aia) .31,32-80-259 UHF connector (s2581-120) K1—12 v DPDT, 960 @ coil, 12.6 mA (4g1-OVR-SH-2121) Li, [21h tums #24 enameled wire, losely wound 0.26-i. 1D (3-7 turns #24 enameled wire, closely wound 0.180-in. 1D (Q1, G2" AFS10 power MOSFET (G70-1RF510) 3—2N3904 (610-2NG804) Fi, R2—10 ka trim pot (823-5000-10K) 9, R427 ©, Ye W (298-27), Ret ka chip (263-1) R7— 4.7 KA chip (263-4.7K) FB—130 0,1 W (281-130); for 7 dB pad (6 Win, i Wout), R943 6, 2 W (282-43); for 7 dB pad (6 Win, 1 W out), 10130 0, 3 W (289-190); for 7 dB pad (Win, 1Wout) HF/MF/VHF Amplifiers (1 to 54 MHz) 8, R10—300 0, "a W (273-300); for ‘3B pad (2 W'in, 1 W out) AG—18'0, 1 W (281-18); Tor 3 dB pad (2Win, 1 Wout) BII—24'K0, "ie W (299-2.4K) T1—19 bitlar wins #24 enameled wire on fan FT-50-49 core. T2=40 bililar tine #22 enameled wire on two stacked FT-50-43 cores. T3~pri2 tums, sec 3 tums #20 Tetlon- ‘covered wire on BN-43-3312 balun core, Mise: Aluminum enclosure 8.586 inches (HW0) (]B7-TE-783), two TO-220 mounting ks (534-4724), heatsink (577-1977), ampliier PC board (Gea Note 8), heat sink (AAVID [Mouser £532-284609B02}; see text), about two feet 01 RG-88 coax, #24 enameled wire and 120 Teflon-inoulated wire. utput and comply with FCC requirements. ‘The amplifier is built on double-sided PC board and requires no tuning. Another PC ‘board contains the low-pass filters, Power- supply reqivements are 28 V de at 5 A, although the amplifier periorms well at 13.8 V de. Several of these amplifiers have been built and exhibit similar performance. Al thas been using his amplifier on each of the HF bands, logging well over 500 contacts in 18 months. Signal reports indicate a no- tiveable improvement in readability (about two Suits on average) over his 5 W rig. No indications of in-stabliny, CW key clicks or distortion on SSB have been reported. To make it easy for you to duplicate this, project, PC boards and parts kits are avail- able, all ata cost of about $100! ‘An Overview of MOSFETs MOSFETs operate very differently fiom bipolar transistors. MOSFETS are voltage-controfled sevices and exhibit a very high input impedance at de, whereas bipolar transistors are current-controlled d- vices and havea relatively low input imped- ance. Biasing a MOSFET for linear operation only requires applying a fixed voltage to its gate via a resistor. With MOSFETS, no special bias or feedback cir- ‘uitey is required to maintain the bias point ‘over temperature as is tequired with bipolar transistors to prevent thermal runaway !° With MOSFETs, the gate-threshold voltage increases with increased drain current. This ‘works to turn off the device, especially at clevated temperatures as transconductance Gecteases and Rs. (stati drain-t0-source donresistance) increases, These built-in self- regulating actions prevent MOSFETs from being affected by thermal runaway MOSFETs do not require negative feedback 10 suppress low-frequency gain as is often required with bipolar RF transistors. Bipo- lartransistor gain increases as frequency de creases. Very high gain at de and low fre quencies can cause unwanted, low- frequency oscillation to occur in bipolar transistor RF amplifiers unless negative feedback is employed to prevent it Low-frequency oscillation can damage bi Polar transistors by causing excess power dissipation, leading to thermal runaway. MOSFET Limitations Of course, MOSFETs do have their limi- tations. The high gate impedance and the device structure make them susceptible 10 electrostatic discharge (ESD) damage, Some easily applies precautions prevent this: Use a soldering iron with grounded tip, use a wrist strap connected to ground through a | MQ resistor to bleed off excess body charge while handling MOSFETs and do all work on an antistatic mat connected to ground via a | MQ resistor. The sensitivity of a MOSFET's gate to static and high-voltage spikes also makes it vulnerable to damage cesulting from pata sitie oscillation, This undesired seif-osel lation could result in excessive gate-10- 4-12 Chapter 4 ‘A rear panel view showing the heatsink source voltage that permanently damages the MOSFET's gate insulation. Another MOSFET limitation is gate eapacitance Tis parameter limits the frequency 3 which a MOSFET can operate effectively asanRF amplifier. Irecommendreviewing the referents of Notes 1-3 if you are inter- ested in more detailed information about MOSFETs, Power MOSFET RF Amplifiers Of the several power MOSFET ampli- fiers built to check their performance, the ‘one providing the hest performance is the push-pull design described by Jim Wyckoff, ‘AAIX, in OST (see Nove 3). Lused IRF510 power MOSFETs rather than the IRF511s, specified. The performance of this power MOSFET amplifierdesign is summarized in Figure I; its basic design is very similar to another amplifier described in the referent ff Note 4, written 10 years earlier. That am- plifier uses a pair of more-expensive MREL38 MOSFETs designed specifically for RF applications, As Figure | shows, the Hints and Kinks amplifier performance isexcellent from 1.8 ‘MHz to 7 MHz and far exceeds the pub: lished figure of 30 W output on 3.5 MHz. ‘As frequency increases above 10 MHz, however, output drops off rapidly, falling below 10 W above 21 MHz. (These levels, were measured after harmonie filtering.) Although the amplifier is identified as stable, my first attempt at duplicating the amplifier resulted in oscillations that de- stroyed one of the IRF510s. I was puzzled by this. At first, [thought the problem caused by my substitution of the slightly more robust IRFS10 MOSFETS for the called-for IRFS1}s. That idea proved ‘wrong when my second attempt to power up the amplifier with IRFSI1 MOSFETs installed also resulted in a blown IRFS11. (Thank goodness these are $1 power MOSFETs, not $35 RE MOSFETS!). I fi nally achieved good stability when I added ‘a small amount of inductance in series with the MOSFET source to ground (just two turns of #24 wire, 0.125 inch diameter. ‘With this added inductance, I was able to remove the ferrite beads feom the circuit without any sign of instability. Ibelieve tbe substitution of the IRF510 and minimizing source lead inductance are the reasons | obtained significantly higher RF output power and wider bandwith than described in the referent of Note 3. This experiment ‘underscores the need to abserve exact con: ction techniques and physical layout if similar performance isto be expected, Even though T used PC board construction, { got significantly different results because my Tayout was not the same as the author's Modifying the Design Although the amplifier performed bet ter than expected, its bandwidth was sig nificantly less than desired. Considerable experimentation, (and I do mean consider ble!) resulted in the cixcuit shown in Fi 12. This amplifier consists of two power MOSFETs operating in push-pull and em- ploys an RF-sensed TR relay. During receive, TR relay K1 is deener- sized. Signals from the antenna are con- nected to 12 and routed through Kl toa tan ceiver connected to. (This path loss is ess than D.368 from 1.8 MHz through 30 MHz.) In transmit, RF voltage from the transceiver i sampled by C17 and divided by R6 and 7. D2 and D3 rectify the RF voltage and charge C16, Q3 begins conducting when the detected RF voltage across C16 reaches ap. proximately 0.7 V. This energizes K1, which then routes the transmitted RF signal from J1emo a ate oxRIeN SaT I ero wz wee Bea casper capone cusp Figure &--Low-pass fiter schematic. In some cases, the actual flter component values. Affe rom the calculated values of a standard 60 0 put filter. Such dilferences Improve the impedance matching between the amplilier and the load, Capacitors are ali Adpped mica units 01, 62, C5—1500 oF {8883-19-500V1500) (622700 pF (5982-19-500V2700) G4, 68, C8820 pF (5982-19-S00vaz0) G7, 69490 pF (Boe2-15-500V480) tb, C12, C1430 pF (6982-19- 800330) 10 the input of the amplifier and sends the ‘uipat ofthe amplifier to the antenna at 12 RF-sensed relay response is very fast, No noticeable clipping of the first CW character has been reported. ‘made provisions to include an RF at tenuator(consisting of RB, RO and RIO) 19 tenable adjusting the amplifier input power 01 W. (The parts list contains resistor val es toeduce the ourpat of 2 or 5 W drivers WLW.) The 15¥ signal is then appliedto the primacy of TI via an input impedance: matching nctwork consisting of L3, TL isa 1:1 balun that splits the RF signal into two Gulpuls 180 degrees out of phase. One of these signals is applied by Cl to QI's gate ‘The other signal is routed via C2 to Q2's fate. The drains of QI and Q2 are connected to the primary of output transformer 73, ‘where the wo signals are recombined in phase to produce a single output. T3 also frovides impedance transformation from the low output impedance of the MOSFETS tothe $0 © antenna port. De power is pro- Yided tothe drains of QI and Q2 by phase- reversal choke, T2. This is a very effective 11880 pF (5982-19-500v560) G13, C17-"180 pF (5882-15-500V180) 615-200 pF (5882"15-500V200) 616, C18-"100 pF (5982-10-500V100) S12 pole, 6 position rotary (10¥x026) Miso: bw-pase titer PC board (see Note 0) ‘method to provide powerto Ql and Q2 while presenting a high impedance to the RF sig hal over a broad range of frequencies. The drain chokes for QI and Q?2 are wound on the ‘some core, nd the phase of one ofthe chokes, Gee the phasing-dot markings on T2) is re- versed, CD increases the bandwidth of im- pedlance transformation provided by T3, es pecially at 21 MHz. The 5 V bias supply voltage is derived from 28 V by Zener diode DI and current- limiting resistor R11. Bypass capacitors C3, C4, C5, C6 and C13 remove RF volt ‘ges from the bias supply soltage. Gute bias for Q1 and Q2 is controled independently. RI adjusts Q1's gate-bias woltage via R3 and LI. R2 works sieslurly for Q2 ia R4 and £2, AC low frequencies, the amplifiers in- put impedance is essentially equal to the Series value of R3 and R4.L{ and L2 im- prove the input-impedance match at higher Irequencies. The low value of series resis- tance provided by R3 and R4 also reduces the Q.ofimpedance-matching inductors LI and L2, which improves stability. De block: HF/MF/VHF Amplifiers (1 to 54 MHz) ing copacitors C1 and C2 prevent loading the gate bias-supply voltage. Cl4 keeps transistor Q3 conducting and K1 energized between SSB voice syllables for CW elements. Without Cl4, KI would chatter in response to the SSB modulation envelope and fast keying. Increasing the value of C14 increases the time KI remains energized during transmit, The reverse voltage generated by KI when the elay is deenergized is clamped ty a safe level by Dd. DS drops the 28 V supply t0 13 V to power 12 V relay KI. DS can be replaced With ajumper if KI has a 28 V de coil or it you intend to operate the amplifier with 3 13.8 V de supply. Harmonic Filtering ‘Although biased for class AB linear op eration, this amplitier (Vike others of its type) exhibits some degree of nonlinearity, resulting in the generation of harmonics ‘This push-pull amplifier design cancels even-order harmonies (2f, 41, 6f, et) in the output transformer, T3. Odd-onder harmon- {esare not canceled. Second-order hatmon- ics generated by the amplifier are typically less than 30 dBc (30 dB below the carries) ‘whereas third-order harmonics are typically only 10dBe. FCC regulations require all HE RE-amplifier harmonic output power to be atleast 40 dBc at power levels between 50 to 500 W. To meet this requirement, itis com: mon practice for HF amplifiers to use low pass filters. Separate low-pass filters are needed for the 160, 80, 40 and 30 meter bands, The 20 and 7 meter bands can share the same low-pass filter, So, too, the 15, 12 tnd 10 meter bands can share @ common low-pass filter see Figure 3 ‘Switching among the six filters can be a messy siting problem, especially on the higher-frequency bands where lead lengths should be kept short for optimum perfor= ‘mance. This problem is solved by mount- ing all six low-pass filters ona PC board. A two-pole, six-position rotary switch (SI) ‘mounted ditectly on the same PC board manages all filter interconnections. One pole of SI eonneets the amplifier output to ‘one ofthe six filter inputs, while SI's other Pole simultaneously connects the corre- sponding filter's output to the TR relay, KI. Only two coaxial-cable connections are required between the RF amplifier and the low-pass filter board, Next Month In Fart 2, [ll wrap up with amplifier ‘construction and adjuszment, and discuss the amplifier’s eserall performance. See you then! Notes "Doug DeMaw, WIFB, “Poner-FET Switches ga he Ampere" OBT. Ar 989, pp 30-9. See also Feedback OST, May 1988, 51 2Wes. Hayward, W7ZOl, and’ Jel! Damm, Warn “Suiie HEXFET AF Power Amel: ‘irs, Technical Correspondence, GST, Nov 198, pp 38-40; alo seo Feedback, OST. Har ig90.p ay ‘ulm Wyekoll ASX, “1 Watt in, 90 Walls Out ‘wit) Power MOSFETs at 80 Meters" Hats and Kinks, QST, Jan 1998, pp 60-51 1413‘Doug DeMaw. WIFB, “Go Ciass 6 o¢ C with Bower MOSFETs, ST, March 1989, pp25- a DeMaw, WIFB, “An Experimental 1S Transtar. OST, May 1879, po 18+ Silos Hayward, W720, “A VMOS FET Tans miter for 1O-Mater CW," GST, May 197, pp 27:90. 7Ed Oxier, ex-woPRZ (Sk), “Bull a Broad ‘bard Uivalinear VMOS Ampier, OST. May 1978, pp 23-26, soary Breed, KEAY, “An Easy-to-Bulla 25-Watt MPD Ameliior QST. Feo 1994, pp 31-34, Panis for his project are avaiane int 144 Chapter 1 ati sem oe ie eae Gu eoominetean sauces eaten cea emeni pepotee tied Scenes conabng of the longpace Hor PC boare, = cra unmatats coceeee, Seon Sy at te Reaee, Reale 2). Price $15 each, plus shipping. ee cbeag ie ete en nts (eo ‘Amidon Ine (Amidon, ire, 240 Briggs Ave, Costa Mesa, CA #2626, tel 1-890-006-1888, FHé-8504660, fax 714-850-1163). ampliior feet (Arison PA HrAPG) coniamng ne tite cores, balun coro and magnet and “tion wars to wind the irensiomara forthe Hi apie. rc: $3 50 ps taping: Lo pass fer coves kt (Amidon PIN HEFL) co {Bining al on cores ana/wire for he low pa titers: Prce:'S4'50 plus ship 19899 Motoroia’ Application ‘Heports 1/95, “normal runaway is @ cond vith bipolar transistors because bipolar tan> 8 conduct more as. temperature In leases, the incronses conduction causes an imoreasé im temperature, whieh further ne ‘Greases conduction, ele. The evele repeats ‘damaged:From QST, April 1999 A Broadband HF Amplifier Using Low-Cost Power MOSFETs Part 2—Let's put the finishing touches on this all- Leith Leone nist and | Lieretopmen:of his 30 W overage am “pier. I'm sure you're ansious to ger your fapliier finshed and on the ain 20 Tes ae gaia! Ample Construction “The amplifier is constructed ona double sided PC Boatd with plated through holes to Jove topside ground connections. [sed ‘hipesstrs and capacitors to simplify con- Sincion, but leaded capacitors may work if Tea lengths ate kept short. First, assemble alleip capacitors and resistors on the PC Beat. Tweezers heiptohandle chip compo- pests Work with only one component value Aa time Leip caps and resistors ae very dificat to identity). Chip capacitor and ressloe mounting is simplified by tinning tne side of the PC board trace with solder efor positioning the capacitor or resistor. “Touch the soldering ron tip tothe capacitor resistor o ack tin place. Finish mouse ing by Soldering the opposite side of the FF outnut Power ve Frequency Pint W Voc = 428¥ 06 ont rower (o eusatususesssazss os 0 Fraquency (ut) 1s 2 Figure 4—AF output power comparison of the Hint and Kink amplifier and this. des.gn (attr nero fitering ol hermonice < 40 ae) band HF amplifier! component. Don’? apply 100 muck heat 10 chip eapacitors. The metalized contacts on the capacitor can be damaged or compictely Femoved if too much heat is applied. Use 150 20 W soldering iron and limit soldering time to five seconds, Mount axial-leaded resistors, diodes and remaining capacitors next. To avoid dam: ‘aging them, mount inductors and trans- formers last. Ll and L2 are wound on a 0.25-inch deill-bit shaft. By wrapping the wire around the shaft 10 times, you'll get ‘Ms turns, The last turn ares only a hsbFcurn before entering the PC booed. L3 is wound on a 0.190- inch diameter drill bit with 3% turns wound the same way as LL and L2 Mounting KI issim- plified by first bend ing all its leads 90° ‘outward soit lies lat waceay Hane ve csr as won 1983 5 HF/MF/VHF Amplifiers (1 to 54 MHz) fon the PC board. Use a wrist strap con- nected to ground through a | MQ resistor to bleed off statie body charge while han- dling MOSFETs, and do the work on fn anti-static mat connected to ground via 41 MQ resistor. The gate input can be dam- aged by electrostatic discharge! When winding 13, wind the primary first and add the secondary winding over the primary. Be sure ouse Teffon-insulated wire for T3's windings; the high operating temperatures encountered will likely melt standard hook-up wire inst WA2EBY HF AMPLIFIER 141550 fa. 2. Ee gs 10 os ww 2 Frequency (te) Input SHR vt Fraqueney cs maa \ * Fraqunoy (ua) Figure 5—Etficieney comparison of the Hint and Kink amplifier and this one Heat Sinking Together, QI and Q2 dissipate up t0 59 W. A suitable heat sink is required to prevent the transistors from ovetheating and damage. used an AAVID 244609B02 heat sink originally designed for de-to-de power converters. The amplifier PC board und heat sink are attached to an aluminum enelosure bby two #4-40 screws drilled through the PC board, encfosure and heatsink at diagonally opposite corners. rectangular cutout in the enclosure allows Qi and Q2 direct access to the heat sink. This is essential because of the large thermal impedance associsied with the TO-220 package (mote on this topic Tater). Mark the locations ofthe transistor- tab mounting-hole location in the center of the heat sink in between the cooling Fins, Disassemble the hea sink to drill 0,115 inch holes for #4-40 mounting screws, or tap ##5-40 mounting holes ia the center of the heatsink fins Use mica iauslators and grommets when mounting QI and Q2 to prevent the 14-40 mounting screws fram shorting the ‘TO-220 package drain connections jtabs) {to ground, Coat both sides of the mica insu- lator witha thin layer of thermal compound to improve the thermal conduction be- toween the transistor tab and the heat sink. Be sure to install the mica insulator on the heat ink before assembling the amplifier PC board to she enclosure and heat sink, ‘The mica insulators are larger than the cut ‘outs in the PC board, making it impossible to install mem after the PC beard is mounted, Low-Pass Filter Construction Inductor winding information for the low-pass filters is provided in Table 1 Single Band A. PC-hoard trace is available on the amplifier PC bossd next to amplifier output (3) to allow the installation ofa single-band ow-pass filter between the terminals of J3 and K1's input, #4. This is handy if yosin tend to use the amplifier oa one band only ‘The input inductor of the low-pass filter ‘connects from J3 to the single PC wrace Jacentt0J3, The output inductor connects in series between the single PC trace to 4. The ‘htee filler capacitors connect from J3, J4 Figure 6—Input SWR comparison of the two amplifiers. and the PC-board trace near J3 to ground, This single trace is not used when multiple filters are required. Remenber to remove the single trace adjacent to 13 on he a fier PC board before attaching the amplifier board between the RF connectors on the enclosure's rear panel ‘Muliple-Band Filters Using the amplifier on more than one Dati requires different approach. A set of Table 1 Low-Pass Filter inducter Winding Information {(Reler to Figure 3 in Part 1)) Induotor No. of Number Tums _ Core Lite aotume 7-502 (ale 22tums T5028 (5.L6 — tetums 7-502 Tile iatums 7-502 Lee it tums 1-50-68 LijLi2gtums 1-50-68 Note: All inductors ace wound with #22 enameled wire except for Lt-t4, which fre wound with #24 enamelad wire A220" HF Linear Amplitar ‘output Power (W) BUSRSASES SNS | 01 m0 Frequency (sz) BF Ostput Power va Freaveney Pip 2 IW. Veg = 438,426, F138 OC (attr Manele ering. bermenice <0 Be) wessssessceesesseess eroeroture (°C) ) IRF8}0 Terma! Dato Paign = 28.56 par Troma, Ky down “acral 360 Hoot Sex with Fon a ae «90 cry ‘me (Secenet) Figure 7—AF output power versus eupply-wallage of tis amnpitior. 1-16 Chapter 1 conditions. Figure 8—Thermal performance of the amplifier during key-downTRFSI0 Thermal Date 1 4 { | ix owspass filters is built on a double- sided PC board with plated through holes provide op-side ground connections. A srt mount, two-pole, six-position switch does all low-pass filter selec ton. Sitver-mica, leaded capacitors are “used in all the filters. On 160 through +30 meters, T-50-2 toroids are used in the "T-$0-6 toroids are used for in- ctorson 20 through 10 meters. The num- ‘af tums wound on a toroid core are ‘on the toroid's OD as the wire through the core center (The ARRL andbook ® provides complete details for toroids). Assemble one filter sec- starting with the 160, 80, 40- ler, then the 30-meter filter. With {switch mounting position at your upper the filterinput (C1) is near the topedge ‘output (C3) is the Bottom edge. The last nwo filters ‘out of sequence: the 15-10 meter filter before the 20-17 meter filter) and inpursfoutputs are reversed to simplify “the PC-board layout. The input capacitors, C13 and C16, are mounted on the board ‘edge, and output capacitors, C15 “and CIB, are on the top edge. ‘Use care when assembling the rotary jich. AU 14 terminals must fit through SPC board without damaging or bending ‘you attempt assembly. Insert the switch into the PC board. Do not ess the rotary switch all the way into the board holes flush with the ground 3! Ifyou do, the top flange of the signal ‘may short to the ground plane. Adjustment ‘heblasing procedure is straightforward requires only a multimeter to complete. Bint set Rt and? elly counterclockwise, OV onthe gates of QI and Q2). Terminate AF input and outputs witha 50 2 toad. connect the 28 V supply tothe ampli ‘in seties with a multimeter set to the 300 mA curent range. Measure and he idling current drawn bythe 5'V supply The value should be approxi- BS mA Q8— 5:1 V)/ 24K = 2S mA), Set QI's drain current to 10 mA m= 21.7 por Toner, 20 WPM = 2.4 8.33 Dota/Sae “ermal 368 Het Sk win Fan ae Figure 9—Thermal peviormance of the S| amptior during Simulated CW Tek conditions. by adjusting RI until the 28 V supply cur- rent increases by 10 mA above the idling. ‘current (9.5 + 10 = 19.5 mA). Next, adjust RQ for @ Q2 drain current of 10 mA. This is accomplished by adjusting R2 until the 28 V supply current increases by an addi tional 10 mA (to 29.5 mA). ‘Amplifier Performance With a 28 V power supply and EW of dive, the RF output power ofthis amplitier exceeds 40 W from 1.8 MHz through 28 MHz, Peak performance occurs at 1OMHz, providing about 75 W after filter ing! A pesformance comparison between this amplifier and my moditied version of the Hint and Kink amplifier mentioned cuties is shown in Figure 4 As shown in Figure 5, this amplifier achieves an efficiency of better than 50% over its frequency range, except at 7 MHz where the efficiency drops to 48%. Incon- tras, the Hint and Kink amplifier delivers treater efficiency between 1.8 and 7 Mliz, but it drops rapidly to only 20% as tre: quency is increased igure 6 compares the input SWR of the two amplifiers. The Hint and Kink am plifier’s SWR is aeptable (< 2:1) only at 1.8 MHz. This amplifier is better, however it, too, exceeds 2:1 above 14 MHz, The in put SWR ofthis amplifier ean be improved to better thas 2:1 on all bands by adding a 34 pad (RE-RIO of Figure 2) at the input and supplying 2 W to the pad input. This keeps the amplifier drive at 1 W. Figure 7 graphs this amplifies’s RF out put power as a function of drain supply ‘oluige. Duting this test, che amplifier RF drive level was kept constant at 1 W. AS you ean see, even when using @ 13.8 V de Supply. the amplifier provides over 10 W output a gain of more than 104B) fom 1,8 to 30 Mit, Operation ‘The amplifier requires no waing while operating on any HF amateur band. You ‘must, however, he sure 10 select the proper low-pass filter prior to transmitting. Ifthe wrong low-pass fitter is selected, damage to the MOSFETs may result, Damage will HFIMF/VHE Amplifiers (1 to 54 MHz) likely result if you attempt to operate the amplifier ona band with the low-pass filter selected for a lower ttequency. For ex- ample, driving the amplifier with a 21 MHz Signal while the 1.8 MHz low-pass filter is selected will likely desiroy QP and/or Q2. The amplifier can also be damaged by ‘overheating, This limitation is imposed by the TO-220 packages in which QI and Q2 fare housed. The thermal resistance from Junetion to case is a whopping 3.5°C/W. ‘This huge value makes it virtually impos- sible to keep ihe junction temperature from exceeding the +150°C target for good reliability. Consider the following condi tions: key down, |W input, 53 W output ‘on 7 MHz (worst-case band for efticiency). ‘The amplifier consumes 28 Vx 4 A= 112. W, of which 53 W are sent to the an- tenna, 059 W (112 W 53 W= 59 W) are dissipated in QL and Q2. Assuming equal ‘current sharing between QI and Q2, each luansistor dissipates 29.5 W. To keep the ansistor junction temperature below +150°C requires preventing the transistor case temperature from exceeding 468°C (150 ~ [3.5 x 29.5)) while dissipating 29,5 W. Also, there is a temperavure rise Aactoss the mca insulator between the tan- sistor ease and heat sink of 0.5°C/W. That makes the maximum allowable heatsink temperature limited to 46.8 ~ (0.5 x 29.5) 12°C. In other words, the heat sink must issipate $9 W (29.5 from each transistor with only a 7°C rise above room tempers: ture (25°C). Even if the junction tempera tures were allowed (o reach the absolute ‘maximum of 175°C, the heat sink tempers ture must not exceed 57°C. Accomplish ing this requires a heat sink witha theemal resistance of (57 — 25) / 59 = 0.54°CW. ‘This is far Tess than the 1.9°C/W rating of the AAVID 244609B02 heat sink I used. ‘The situation may seem bleak, but all isnot lost. These calculations make itelear that the amplifier should not be used for AM, FM orany other continuous-carrier opera” tiga, The amplifier should be used only for CW and SSB operation where the duty cycle is significantly reduced. ‘Thermal performance of the amplifier is illustrated in Figuee 8, Data was taken under de operating conditions with power- Uissipation levels set equal to conditions tunder RF operation. A RadioShack brush- less 12 V de fan (RS 273-243A) blows across the heat sink. Key down, the maxi- ‘mum rated junction temperature is reached in s little as five seconds as illustated in Figure 8. Prolonged key-down transmis- sions should be avoided for this reason Under intermittent CW conditions, the Situation is very differeat, Transistor-case temperatures reached 66°C after operating four minutes under simulated CW condi- tions at 20 WPM (60 ms on, 60 ms off). ‘The corresponding junction temperature is 141°C (based on an equivalent RMS power dissipation of 21.7 W per transis tor). This keeps the junction temperature under the 150°C target (see Figure 9). One ‘imple way to reduce power dissipation is 17to reduce the power-supply voltage to 24 .V. RF output power will decrease about 10 W from the maximum levels achieved with a 28 V supply From a thermal standpoint, the IRFS10 power MOSFET is a poor choice for this, RF amplifier application. Although I must say Lam impressed with the robustness of these devices considering che times T spent testing thers key down, five minutes at a time, without failure. QL and/or Q2 may reed to be replaced alter a year or so of ‘operation because of the compromise in feliability. Considering their low cost, that is not a ad trade-off Stability High gain, broad bandwidth and close inpuvfoutput Signal routing (within the TR relay) all work against stability, With & ‘00d load (< 2:1 SWR) the amplifier is Stable from 18 MHz through 39 MHz. Oscillation was observed when the trans- miter frequency was increased 10 40 MB ‘The outpat load match also affects stabil ity. Oscillation was observed on 27.5 MHz when the load SWR was 3:1. This should rot be a problem since the frequency Is, ‘outside the ham bands. I spent a great deal of time trying to make this design uncondi- tionally stable even with Toads exceeding 3:1 SWR without sacrificing output power (gain) at 28 MHz without success. T did identify some reasonable compromises One of the easiest ways to improve sta bility and the input SWR seen by the RF sourte is add an RF attenuator (pad) at the amplifier input. An attenuator is absolutely required ifthe transmitter (driver) provides ‘more than 1 W (o the amplifier. RB, R9 and R10 form an RF attenuator that actenuates 1-18 Chapter 1 the transmitter deive level, but does not at tenuate received signals because it is only inthecircuit when KI isenergized. To drive this amplifier with a 2-W-outpur transmit: ter requires use of a 3-dB pad. The pad improves the amplifier input SWR and the isolation between the amplifir’s input and ‘output. The drawback is that 1 W is wasted in the pad. Likewise, a 5-W driver requires use of a 7-4B pad, but 4 W are wasted in the pad, (Values for R8, R9 and R10 to make a 3-4B pad and a 7-dB pad are given in the parts list.) Installing a pad requires cutting the PC-bourd trace under R9, otherwise RO ‘would be shorted out by the trace. Make a small cut (0.1 inch wide) in the race under 9 before soldering R9 in position. R8 and RIO have the same values, but may have different power ratings. Connect R10 be tween the RF input side of R9 and grounc. Install RB between the amplitier side oF 89 and ground. ‘An impedance mismatch between the output of a 1-W-output driver and the am= plifier input can be a source of instability (Obviously, if the driving transmitter's out- put power is only 1 W, you can’t use a pad 8s described earlier.) If you encounter sta bility problems, try these remedies: Place a resistor in parallel with LI and L2 to de- crease the Q of the amplifier matching net- work ‘try values between 50 and 220 0). Try reducing the value of L3 or eliminating L3 emtirely. Both of these modifications improve stability but reduce the amplifier’s ‘output power above 21 MHz, ‘Summary ‘This project demonstrates how inexpen- sive power MOSFETs can be used to build an all-band linear HE power amplifier. Fre quency of operation is extended beyond the limits of previous designs using the 1RF510 and improved inpet-impedance matching. Long-term reliability istecognized asa com: promise because of the poor thermal perfor- mance of the low-cost TO-220 package. TF you have been thinking about adding an aimplifier to your QRP station, this project is a good way t0 experiment with amplifier design and is an excellent way to become familiar with surface-mount “chip” components, | made arrangements with Mouser Electronics and Amidon Ine to provide parts kits for this project at a discounted price (see the parts list in Part 1). These parts kits make it very easy to get started and more economical to “homebrew” this project. Acknowledgments T want to thank the following individu: als associated with this. project: Harry Randel, WD2AID, for his untiring support in capturing the schematic diagram and parts layout of this project; AT Roehm, W20BI, for his continued support and en ccouragement in developing, testing, edit. ‘ing and publishing this project; “Larry Gauadore, WB2SPF, for building, testing and photographing. the project, Dick Jansson, WDIEAB, for thermal-design suggestions; Adam O'Donnell, N3RCS, for his assistance building prototypes; and my wile, Laura, N2TDL, for her encourage ment and support throughout this project Notes "ike Kossor, °A Broadband HF Ampito Using Low-Cost Power MOSFETe Part. (pOST Mar 1800, pp 40.83, "A. Dean Straw, NOBV, The 1999 AARL Hand- book “for Haaio Arratours, (Newington: ARAL), Toth ed, pp 25-2317econ Geka ee A 1.8 to 54 MHz 5-Watt Amplifier feed a rugged and stable amplifier for your multiband QRP rig? Not only has ihedesign been optimized ona pricey com per program called Touchstone (by esol) for unconditional stability, it has eually survived a variety of poor fouds wat sed to sweep filters with 5 Wot RF The gain of the two stage smmplifier was tpeasred to be between 28 snd 30 dB in Aheamatcor bands though there is another Ah of gain around 37 MH For ruggedness and ease of design, Motorola MIF 137 was selectea asthe fi= tultransistor. While the MRF 138 may be not linear, insufficient design informa: tion was. available to ensure 2. stable design. While some amateurs will balk at the bigh cost of these devices (S24 in November 1991), such savings are easily fest ifthe cheaper device has 8 habit of owing up. Also, one picks up areal clean $8 sgnal—the high-order IMD products Seay dom compre ye par ers, For instance, the worst IMD on Rap. ¢ and 28 Mz was ~39 dB on 28 Mie, with the Sth order products 61 dB own (relative to PEP). The device was puting out 5-W PEP while being biased at D528 supply) Pethaps the biggest flaw is the power seguisment—these FETs really ike see Uipbroitages forbest performance, and the MBF137isco exception. biased the MRF 131 for 0.55 4 and 28.2 V. It drew 0.6 A Shen putting out 4.6 W at 28 MHz. The Aber runs off your normal 12-V supply. The input amplifier shown in Fig 1a is ety straightforward —a bipolar 2NS109, Wil the feedback neworks adjusted 10 ‘ompeasae the gain of the MRF 137. A Aries network of a 470-a resistor and a TBPF capacitor was tacked between the sallestor and ground to ensure stability at all feguencies. The MRF 137 rolls otf a few db at 54 MHz, but the bipolar ampli Ber adequately compensates for this gain eficiency. The input cetura loss is Setter than 18 dB between 1.4 and 29.9 MHz, but egeades to 12 dB at 50 MHz. The input 'SWR was not tested with poor loads By isel, the MRF 137 amplifier stoge shown in Fig Ib (see next page) makes an excellent 16-dB gain block between | and 32 MHz, having less than 0.5 dB of gain variation, The transmission line tas former on the input seems to help the input return loss/SWR, keeping these numbers above I8/below I.3 to | between I and 50 MHz, I suppose that putting another trans mission line transformer on the output could be used to get a more powerful am. plifier with less gain over a similar fre- quency range, but this variation has aot been investigated. ‘The simplest circuit board [ could think ‘of was used— Tut two i ‘double-sided circuit board for the gate and drain leads, Then I wrapped the edges of the board with copper tape and soldered it down for good grounding. After making holes for the MRE 137 transistor and the ‘mounting screws inthe board and a spacer, made of 0.050-inch aluminum, [attached the spacer, the circuit board, and the MRF 137 to a heat sink tapped with 4-40 screw holes. Standard ground-plane consteuc- tion was used to attach the other parts. The 2NS109 amplifier was built on its own ‘ground plane—RF amplifiers work better if there isn’t to0 much gain in one place: ‘Three additional amplifiers were built by Mike Gruber, WAISVE, for use in the lab. He noted that R& had to be changed from 4.7 k@to 1 KO to bias the amplifiers at 0.5, amps. Apparently, the MRF 137s he used havea higher gate threshold voltage. Oth- cerwise, performance was as expected. “ 7 anv ouwur Fig 1a--Low-lovel ampifior designed to compensate for the gain vollolf from the power amplifier Q1—2N5109, 2.5-W heat-sinked AF transistor, fis 1200 MHz T115 turns bifilar #28 on FT-37-48 toroid core. HF/MF/VHF Amplifiers (1 to 54 MHz) 1419Fig 1—5.W TMOS power amples LiL 26 turns no. 26 enameled wire on T-44-2 toroid. 3.9 uh G2 MRF 137 transistor. 9 10-ka tum potentiometer for bias setting EC1—21 tums of no. 26 enameled wire on FR-37-67 toriod ‘T2—4 tums 25-21 coax on FT-50-43 toroid core. ‘The 25-2 coax is actually two 50-M.coax run side-byside. The prototype used AG-"96/U, UIA 7ALOS 5-V regulator. 1-20 Chapter 1Sia cia eu eum An Experimental Solid- State Kilowatt Linear Amplifier for 2 to 54 MHz Many kilowatt amplifiers could anchor a small boat, and don’t cover 6 meters. Combined with its power supply, this kilowatt weighs less than 36 pounds. Poi ate seers progres toward achieving a well-defined goal: building the smallest possible“ MF/HF/VHE tanplfer capable ofa least 1000 watts out- Put Nicknamed the Solid State Kilowatt ISSKW), the project has its roots in an aticle by Helge Granberg of Metorola in Ociober 1986 RF Design.! Two water ‘ooled amplifiers of that design, built by Mite Staal (K6MYC) of M2, hed many prob- lems. Some of them were device-related: ‘ers, power-supply related. (More about Aheteissues later.) In February 1990 I rebuilt, ‘92 of the water-cooled units using the old esign and two new transistors, Optimized for 50 MI, this amplifier could just reach the LOO-watt level. After using it for three ‘weeks of South Pacific DXpeditioning, 1 ecided to construct an air-cooled unit. 1 spent the spring, summer and fall of 1990 Building the SSKW and getting it ready for ‘nother DXpedition inthe fall, Grouit Description Motorola's article reprint AR-347 de- soribes the basic amplifier design. July 1990 QEX also carried an article about it? Fig I shows the amplifier schematic. Bretly, the circuit consists of wo MRFIS4 RF power MOSFETs in push-pull. Exch of fhete transistors is capable of 600 watts ‘itputup 0 100 MHz, The input and outpot transformers, 9:1 and 1:9, respectively, use cures of #67 ferrite material. The output {nansformer's 1:9 ratios a compromise that is optimum at about 800 wats Incorporating the Motorola building biock into 2 DXpedition-ready package re ited experimentation and problem-solv- fng.as described at the 1991 Central States VHP Conference.’ Here's where the sys- tem stands today. TR Switching ‘The SSKW includes TR relays that by- ppass the Fig | circuitry in receive mode. 1 designed their control circuitry toeliminate the possibility of the high RF tields in the amplifier compartment causing. relay falsing problems, and to simplifies field repair by keeping parts count low. The re lays are sequenced 10 allow the output relay to close before the amplifier puts out power. Because rolays take a few millisec= fonds to operate, sequencing is necessary to keep the felay from hot-switehing the am= plifier output. (Hot-switehing | IW will destroy a relay rapidly") This design has two small problems. For ‘the short time it takes the amplifies input relay to close on switching from receive to HF/MF/VHF Amplifiers (1 to 54 MHz) transmit, the exciter operates without a load, This can be remedied by delaying the exciter keying. The other problem is the relay’s closure time changes as the relay heats. This can be solved two ways: Use external electronics todo the delay, or tem- perature-compensate for the resistance change, 'SWR Protection haven't yet built SWR protection into the amplifier. In January 1983 QST, Helge Granberg described an SWR-protection cir- cuit fora 2- to 30-MHz anplifie.* A phone conversation with Helge indicated that this circuit will work to 54 MHz, so it should suffice, How much mismatch the MRFS4s can olerate is unknown, however, 80 don"t 4246-Meters: DXpeditioning with a Difference Making the most of 6 meter DXpeditioning depends on knowing where and when to go If you want to work Europe from the Canary Islands suramertime is best because spo- radie E propagation is best then If you want to work the US. ‘rom EAB go when fll shifts ino winter to take advantage of ‘east west F2 layet propagation Its always more exciting to go toa rare place Out not necessarly more fun’ ‘Once you ye decided on a DXpedition site plan your travel fon the assumption that you ll want to stay on site for atleast {wo weeks This gives you about a 60%. better chance of hav: ing good openings within a given month ay particular attention to the AF prospects of your accom ‘modations Ideally you d be able to see ocean in all directions Ithat § not possible als not lost A direct oceanic path isn t always the best propagation may be better ever the backscat ter path You Il want to get your antenna up ashigh as possible to minimize radiation angle and AFI And consider EMI and NI Possibilities carefully Some areas of the world use NTSC channel 2; others, PAL on channel 1—right in the middle of the band! If your RF gets into @ resort's CATV system you Il drive 60 televisions crazy rather than one ot two Chapter 6 of The ARAL Operating Manuel covers DXpedition power, health, licensing and logistical concerns, in detail s0 see that book for more about those topics il add fone thing though It helps to find a local ham with FAX capa~ bility as well as HF who can help you with questions on licens- ing and living accommodations "This can take 80% of the surprises out of the expedition! a ‘The author's setup at CN2IP, counts more than neainess whi ‘contacts on 6 and 80 on @-meter abet, Morocco. Efficiency otis busy making 900 IME! (OXpedition photos Equipment ‘What | bring and use on 6-meter DXpeditions is based largely on the experiences of Jim Treybig, WEJKV, inhis many years of 6 meter DXpeditioning, The core of the approach is pretty much this: Run as much power as permitted and bring fs big an antenna as possible. There are practical limits to this, Dut et your ingenuity direct your thoughts. | consider 100 ‘Was aminimum, 800 watts good and 1009 waits as optimum, High power lets you take advantage of scatter paths that sim= ply won't work at 100 wats. I's very frustraing to hear a well ‘equipped station that you cannot work! Which Antenna? ‘A DXpedition antenna must be compact, ight and repro- ducible The Yagi use has six elements on a 30 foot boom, Optimized by Brian (K6STI) Beezley's Yagi optimization pro- ‘gram YOi's fed with a T match and a half wave balun. Its Boom folds down to two 40 inch sections, each 2 inches in diameter. Most ofthe element pieces fit inside the two 40-inch, sections. The antenna is light enough to lft with one hand, ‘Arotatable antenna is mandatory. You'll need to turn your antenna to find the best direction of propagation. The antenna, mast, 20 feet long overall, consists of 40 inch sections of 2uinch aluminum tubing joined with internal steeves. The ro- tatoris at the mast bottom and there's a sli ring at the mast top just below the Yagi (Having the rotator atthe bottom makes putting the antenna up easier by minimizing weight at the Upper end of the mast) T'use Dacron rape for guying. How much rope should you ‘courtesy of the author) OXpediioning would be no fun at all without antenna work! want to use the SSKW to calibrate its own, SWR-protection cirwitry! The amplifier’s output can be reduced two ways: by turning down the exciter power via amplifier-gererated ALC, or by reducing the amplifier bias. (These are e hancement-mode FETs, se positive bias is necessary toturn them on.) The ALC option is better because it does not atfect the mpliier’s linearity. A no-output-load con- ition must shut down the amplifier as quickly as possible. Overdrive Protection Overdrive can destroy power MOSFETs instantly, so a drive limit control is esse tial, A threshold detector should be inc porated. The SSKW’s input includes a 5-dB attenuator so 100-watt exciters can drive the amplifier without damaging it. If 1-22 Chapter 1 the S-dB. pad fails to attenuate, or if the exciter puts out too much power, the ampli- fier must be shut dowa rapidly. ‘The amplifier must also be shut down if the transistors’ flange temperature exceeds 40°C, Shutdown can be done two ways, depending on how the amplifieris used. The first way isto just turn down the bias, which changes the amplifier’ linearity. The sec fond way isto totally urn off the amplifier. ‘This must be done gracefully so the ampli fier does aot shut down while producing full power. The following shutdown se- {quence is essential: (1) Turn down the bias; {Q) open the input relay; and (3) open the ‘output relay. Bias ‘The SSKW's bias circuitry is straight- Forward, 8's value must be tailored to the particular MREIS4s used, If the bias de- creaces too fast with rising temperature, increase the value of R8. The LM723's in put voage must never exceed 40 volts Output Fitering Filtering must be added to make the amplifier comply with FCC signal-purity regulations. The reactance of these filters away from their intended passbands must be taken into account. Absorptive low-pass filters should be considered. Such filters dissipate harmonic energy as heat rather than reflecting it back tothe amplifier tran- sistors Packaging | intended to make this amplifier as small and light a8 possible. Most of the amplifier's weight isits aluminum heatsinklate what you need, multiply by 2.5 and T usually bring two diameters, ‘ie and Bting at least two radios: one for HF liaison (usually at 10, (@) and another for 6 meters. | recommend maximizing lundancy by taking two radios that both cover 10 and 6. At tone ofthe 6-meter rigs should include an excellent noise lor power-ine problems and motorbikes, it must also abe to drive a kilowatt ampitier to full oulput on &, (Cuse Kenwood TS-6808 and one ICOM iC-575.) Receive cov- ‘between 10 and 6 meters ig another plus, Where It's 1. istaning to nonamateur services between 45 and Hz can be vary important in determining the direction of ‘attional Gear Bring 12-volt supplies capable of operating at the line ‘and frequency at your DXpedition destination. The 8 should also be able to handle wide line-voltage varia~ {ons around nominal. Carry two of them—one for each radio. Amodty ming by adding line itering and fusing. Parallel a ‘andard receptacle of some kind with your supplies’ rig plug Of eable. Two-prong, polarized Jones plugs work well. You tute tnem on everything for quick setup and breakdown, ‘Bring a memory keyer for use as a beacon and in normal japeration. Also consider taking a laptop computer. } now we & computer for logging, taking notes, caiculating beam headings, and determining the footprint of the sun. Several operating subjects are of prime impartance. Ten- ‘naa aison comes firs, You must use 10 meters fo get UD- ae pronagalion information and find out who's being Pent van Youre fang your way tough apo a ‘an sometimes miss very tara proDagetion SPOT plot you dont check 10 meters often Sheeler contac! provedures come nex: I's very ficult inalirg everyone happy on meters when yourethe DX. You fats rls and stick to them, Picea requency ard. your testo Koop i when the band gets busy Try to not work the stations over and over again, especialy dung plleups ygs's oan ray pone pou coun ‘ach station as quick possible. Dont discuss id gtd squares—the me i takes est gives fewer fr chance 0 work you: Leave that info f0 the OSU 3 Whion should you gperate—phone or CW? The ane Seis "Probably both" GW penetrates weak conditions Beterthan phone, and it gives more people atthe edge of y. Xpedition is also about meeting people. Here's Tarik Skireg), CNE , and fends, propagation a chance at working you, Then, when you go to phone, everyone who can will work you again. | favor CW Dxpedition operation because of my experiences on the non DX end. ‘Should you operate on a single frequency or spit? Go to split when there's a massive opening and you're being QAMed by people calling you. This usualy happens during Intense backscatter openings. Hams on the 10-meter liaison frequency can tell you when QAM gets too heavy. Conclusion ‘Six-mater DXpeditioning is a blast. And the SSKW makes it even more fun: | can devote more weight to antennas!— NéAMG opper heat spreader. How much heat ing s needed depends on the duty cycle Tecided thata duty cycle of 30% s wasaceeptable. The resulting weight the package, 14 pounds. is very accept- ‘TheSSKW is inches wide, 12snches and S inches big ‘Thekeytomakingthe package Hiskewas use the sallest possible heat spread. fouse enough M-inch-thick copper around ech MRIS with a est | of spreader. | machined the spreader and attached it to the heat sink, also chined flat. After attaching the copper to aluminum, {resurfaced the copperagain transistor contact points toinsuceHat- spread thi layer of heatsink com- between the copper and aluminum, another layer between the copper and transistors With wo high-pressure, 24-volt fans blowing on the sink, the resultant duty cycle limit is a litle less than 50%, These fans are in series across the amplifier's '50-volt supply. The small fan in the com- partment is a 12-volt unit tha just barely Fits. he compartment needs to be alittle deeper.) A fan is necessary here, however, because compartment airflow dramatically keeps the output transformer’s ferrite from setting hot, ‘Ahheat sink with more fins anda thicker base, but the same fin depth, would raise the duty-eyele limit, (The copper spreader should be made larger as well.) These changes would also make the amplifier heavier. Construction Techniques A milling machine is required for HFIMF/VHF Amplifiers (1 to 54 MHz) surfacing all of the amplifier’s heat-con- uctive interfaces. Physical flatness is essential for maximum heat conductivity and to avoid warping the transistor cases. The Motorola bulletin specifies the torque of the screws on the MRFI54s" flanges. ‘Tightening these screws uniformly assures ‘hatte flanges won"t warp during tempera ture eyeling. R14 and R1S, the feedback resistors, are flange-mounted. Their beryllium copper leads cannot be flexed very many times be- fore they break. (According to their manu- {acturer, that may be only once!) These to resistors just barely fit, So, make suee the ‘two MRFIS&s are separated property. Power Supply ‘To keep the amplifier smal and light, 1 use a switehing power supply. A Lambda 1-23cy Reguiater wn5387 hy Ay Fig 1—The basic SSKW circuit can produce at least 1 KW from 2 to 54 MHz. Duplicating this circult requires additional information not ‘given here. Output Titering is also necessary to eneure compliance with FOG emission purty rules. See the text, Motorola Application Note AN'287, July 1990 GEX and the 1897 Central States VHF Conference Proceedings for detalls. The Central States write-up ineludes SSKW performance graphs and spectrograms in addivon to a diagram of the ampiiier's relay-control eicultry LES-50-48 (net weight, 20 pounds) does the job, with good results. Sized at 15 inches long, 7.5 inches wide and 5 inches high, it cean source $0 amperes at 50 volts. This power supply produces significant radio noise up to 30 MHz, most of it radiating froin the supply’s ae-line leads. I EM: tered the supply’s leads with good success (We need better, RF-quieter switching sup: plies!) Because linear supplics generate little or no RE EMI, they are superior to switching supplies for fixed-station use Overshoot is a regulated power supply characteristic that's particularly troubl some in switching supplies. Overshoot oc ‘urs when a regulator responds (00 slowly to Keep its output voltage dowa in cesponse to short-duriton high-eurren loading. Ina S0-voltswitching supply, and depending on the Toad, overshot Wansdeats of more than 100 volts may result. 've seen overshoot destroy expensive transistors! The SSKW supply must be able to safely hanalle the ‘atiable power-supply demand that oscurs during SSB and CW transmission, Power-supply RF sensitivity is another consideration. Some power supplies are sen sitive to RE. Their output voltages may vary with the presence and amptitude of RF on their input and output leads. The SSKW'S supply must be free of such effects Hints and Kinks Be careful when applying de to the amplifier for the first time. Do not use a high-current supply for initial tests. Use a Two Motorola MRF154 RF power MOSFETS in push-pull make the SSKW perk. A 20-watt wrciter drives the amplifier to full ‘output. (amplifier photos by Kirk Kleinschmit, NTO2) 4-24 Chapter 1 |without its two 24-volt fans, the SSKW's heat sink and spreader would have fo be much larger.Tabie 1 SSKW Performance Versus Frequency Drive Power ww 245 luggage weight the SSKW amplifier conserves can be put to ysee~2-meter moonbource g 3, for instance. Operating 3 the author Completed 20 EME contacts -Morocea's tat over trip, the SSKW performed like & ‘with 56 countries on'8 meters mratlimited, 3- or 4ampere supply to ck he regulator and set the bias. The fier should have a reverse polarity on diode rated ata voltage appro- 0 the supply. “Make sure that you have a 50-ohm load amplifie output. Te bias cicuitey ot act correctly if there is no load. ingrease drive. Watch the output and the current drain to make sure arinline with efficiency. If the input chisbod, check C7 and C8. the ame does not achieve its efficiency caps iy RF that doesn’t make it tothe load ey tbleave via the de input line. This C12 to explode of ofthe under af the board. Also, under normal op- the single unit Motorola species ean bacely handle the RF current pases through it.I cecommend paral 10-0050. uF chipeia iad of using a single O.I-aF chip. problemi dificult toanalyze because son the underside ofthe board entioned earlier, the SSKW's ay have to be tailored to the slr MRFIS4s used. One thing not on the schematics is the adi fan Arco 365 variable capacitor (C15 A) across C14 to cancel some of the inductive reactance in the output trans- former at 6 meters, Performance With 250-volt power supply. the SSKW ‘can produce over I.1 kW from 2t054 Mit At this power level, the MOSFETs" drain currentrun at around 40 araperes, depend- ing on the operating frequency. Table 1 shows amplifier performance data taken at six different frequencies. The SSRW can produce up 0 1.3 KW below 30 MHz. Especially below 30 Mlle, the SSKW’s harmonic output rises with output power, It may be possible to use only four low-pass filters to cover the 2 to 54 MMz range if second harmonic of ~40dB van be tolerate. Since the transistors operate in push-pull. the second harmonic is usually not a problem. Without its 5-dB input pad and operat- {ng with $0-volt supply, the ampli hibits an input SWR of less than 2:1 (e- ferred to 50 hms) throughoutits frequency range. Only below 5 MHz does its input SWR exceed I.6:1. Inserting the 5-4B pad adds 10 dB of return loss and Keeps the ingot SWR below 1.3:1 through the amplifiers operating range. Ihave not yet measured the smplifie’s two-tone, thirdorder IMD performance HFIMF/VHE Amplifiers (1 to 54 MHz) Power Output Ip my A y000 39.1 ma a2 32.3 a5 307 Gain Eliciency Input Vax (2B) (%») SWAY) 161 512 1.41 50 168 5891.39 ws 599 1.39 7718136 171482487 154 504 151 1000 1000 1000 1000 Final Notes: For now, can say that my goal of ‘compact, lightweight amplifier capable of atleast I KW output isa reality. The SSKW has served me well in ils intended DXpeditionary application. Nonetheless, ‘the amplifier in its present Form is still ex: perimental. Before the SSKW could be acceptable for general use, output filtering and failureproof protection circuitry would have to be added. The next generation ison its way. The next project? Use the same 50- volt supply with power FETs capable of ‘covering 144 to 432 MHz, and build it into ‘a similar package! ‘Acknowledgment 1 thank Helge Granberg for spending considerable time answering, questions bout this project. Notes Mu Granberg, New MOSFETs Simolly High ower RE Xp Basin” RE Design Ot 1988, pp 43-48, 50,52. 2H, Granberg, “A Compact 1-RW 2.60 MHz ‘Solidstate Ampitier” ex, Ju 1990, pp 3 rent Prototype iver for S10 991" Central ‘Naw. ington: ARRL” 801), pp 61-70. Avaliable fram the ARR Boose #614. “Hi Granberg, ‘MOSFET AF Power —An Up- Titer Pat's QS, da 1983, pp 50-8, aso Scoeedbacs 7 Mar 1268 pt, Pant ‘peared in OST, Dae 1062, pp 19-18: aso be Feedoack, O87, ian 1988; 9 48), sAmertan Technica! Ceramics (ATC) has ‘ome new chip caps (the 800 sere) that Rave higher voltage ane current ratings shan the ‘capacitor Materia. speciien, T have amps but have not ted them yet.Boia neon oun An All-Band, 1500-Watt- Output 8877 Linear Amplifier full-legal-limit output, can be built at home. It is, however, a major project requiring dedication his article is the cesult of a 10-month ‘project to build a lega-mit linear am plifier. The amplifier uses the popular EIMAC_ 8877 3CX1S00A7)_ high-ma power triode that can provide a continuoss RF output of 1500 W to the antenna, In recent years, I have built several dif- ferent linear amplifiers, and | must admit that this previous experience was neces: sary to obtain the results achieved with this project." I hope that by shiting this expe- rience, others will benefit from it. Any amplifier design depends on the various components used and individual prefer ences. Therefore, you may not want—or be able—to duplicate this amplifier exactly The comment I receive most often from the amateur fraternity is bout the high cost tobuild an azuplitier like this. The criticism is valid. This amplifier is not inexpensive tobuild, Plan to spend from $1000«0 $1200 for the RF deck, and another $500 to $600, fon the power supply. If you really think about it, though, these costs are a bargain when you consider the performance and quality of the final product and the cost of an equivalent commercial unit, This article is presented in two parts, In this part, will describe the RF deck and power supply in general terms. Schematic diagrams and parts considers cluded. Part 2 gives detail for constructing the two unit erations for the final testing and operation. Preliminary Thoughts Finding Parts Finding parts ean be a big task. Even the st difficult parts to find, such as the uum variable capacitors, vacuum relays 1-26 Chapter 1 and commitment. Table 7 Recommended Tools + Dri press or drill fixture (with set of highspeed bits) + Band saw capable of cutting Ysrinch- thick metal + Chassis puriches (e inch to 1 inch) + Fly cutter, 2-inch radius vise Set of taps + Common handtools (screwdrivers, pliers, soldering iron and gun) + Voltohmmeter * Variable power supply (5-26 V, 1A) + Dip osciiator and door-knob capacitors are available, hhowever, and appear for sale in the ads (ST Ham-ads and the Yellow Sheets) oF athamfests and flea markets? Probably the best source of pars is other hams who ate actively building equipment. Go talk to these people and let them know what you are looking for. t's amazing how others will help, and even let you into their per sonal stores. There are people, like myself Who like to build amplifiers. Once you learn who these individuals are, keep in touch with them. They can help find the Key parts Parts that are not available in the sur. plus market can be purchased new. This Will be necessary for some parts, such asines et. Just remember that when you [anew commercial amplifier, you pay price for every component. ood astortment of hand tools, as well mepover tools, are necessary to com- his project. Table | shows the tools I sominend. In particular, recommend that llpressand band saw be available. You the jod without al of the tools listed, job will be much more difficult. Mine is probably the most valuable re- geformmos of us. and the one that may hardest find. Thisprojectwook well BDbours ro complete. The key isto stepright, and not hurry. Build tke et ina place where you ean leave jon the table and walk away. Plan sep and build in dserete modules. kan hur oF so whenever possible, and but Surely, the modules will take Iu is amazing how much you can pish using these small time seg As, great strides can be made on Gra Sunday, Commitment and ey are the virtues required to fin 5. Deck Circuit Description RF deck s designed to be a table- yywhere. The amplifier design is don proven circuitry, Included are all ts required to provide a clean signal ell as adequate protection devices for metal-ceramic 8877 tube. ireuity Fig? shows the schematic diagram for the amplitiercontrol cieuitry and low-volt- ‘age power supply. The 117-V ac input from the high-voltage power supply enters the RF deck through a S-conduetor intercon- necting control cable. Each control line is sminated in a pi-section filter as it enters the RF deek, to prevent RF from getting into the control cable and power supply. The pisection filters are constructed as an independent module. The amplifier is powered up by the FIL. ON/OFF switch, Si. Engaging SI turns on the blower, filament power and 26-V de power supply. The current inrush to the tube is limited by Ri, in series withthe fila- ‘ment transformer primary. After approxi- mately I second, KI energizes and KIA shorts Ri thus providing Tull filament volt. ‘age tothe tube, The KI delay is controlled bby R2 and CI across the relay coil. R3, in series with the other leg of the filament transformer primary, is adjusted to provide the proper filament voltage (4.85 V ac) t0 the tube under load. The 8877 requires a 3-minute warmup period to reach proper operating tempers ture. A solid-state timing circuit, formed by QI and Q2, locks the amplifier out of ‘operation until the warmup period has elapsed. When the 26 V de comes on, charges through the S00-kilohm time- lay adjust and |.2-megohm resistors, QL and Q2 form a high-impedance Darlington circuit, and the emitter of Q2 follows the voltage rise on C2. The high-impedance Darlington circuits required to prevent the capacitor charge from draining through the transistors, Afler approximately three les, the potential at the emitter of Q2 reaches 18 V at which point the 4PDT re: lay, K2, engages. K2A applies 26 V de to the K2 felay coil, removing the relay cur rent load from Q2. The voltage also turns HE/ME/VHF Ampii ‘on the TIME pitot light located on the am- plifier front panel to indicate that the ‘warmup period is over. The same line also pplies 26 V de to S2B of the HV-ON push- button switch, which, when engaged, sends 26 V de to the RF inpuvoutput relay cit- cuits. K2B connects # 100-kilohm resistor ‘across C2 o drain the charge from C2. This resets the 3-minute timer should the ampli- fier be turned off and immediately back on. K2C and K2D are wired in paallel and apply 117 V ac to HV-ON switch S2A to energize the high-voltage power supply. ‘The high-voltage power supply can't be turned on even if the HV-ON switch is ‘engaged until after the 3-minute warmup period has ended, IN/OUT switch $3 al- lows the amplifier to be put in the standby mode with the amplifier turned on. Both HV-ON and IN/OUT front-panel push: but ton switches must be engaged to key the amplifier, thereby making it impossible to ‘operate the amplifier without high voltage fon the tube. ‘The amplifiers keyedby grounding the base of Q3 through ihe exciter TR-relay contact. A transistor is used to limit the current switched by the exciter VOX relay ‘This avoids 2 potential problom if the ex- citer VOX relay sparks on closure, which could damage the relay contacts. The "grid trip” break in the relay line causes the re {ays to drop out ifthe grid trip circuit actu- ates from too much grid current (approxi- mately 120 mA). During normal operation, the grid trip break is shorted by a normally closed set of contacts on K3 (see Fig 3). ‘When the amplifier is Keyed, the output RF relay must be closed before drive is applied to the tube—otherwise the tube will transmit for a brief period without a 50- ‘ohm antenna load. This would not only be harmful tothe tube, but also cause the grid trip circuit to actuate. Therefore, a timing circuit, comprised of a 50-ohm resistor and 100-~iF capacitor, is included across the RF input relay KA to allow vacuum relay KS time to close. The capacitor value depends fon the relay used. Do not make the delay too long, since during the delay time, the cexciter does not have a proper 50-lhm load. ‘Cheek the time delay by placing a low volt. age across the relay contacts and monitor- ing the contact closure on a dual-trace scope. I used a delay of about 20 ms. RF Amplifier Circuit Design “The RF amplifier circuit is shown in Fig 3. The amplifier uses @ tuned input network to minimize distortion products and provide 1 proper impedance match between the ex citer and the tube. The input network is re motely switched, using small DPDT relays, to connect the correct pi-section for the se- lected band. A homemade switch deck is mounted on the band-switch shaft, in front ‘of the subpanel, to ground the 12-V de line forthe proper input relay as selected by the main band switch. On 160 meters, the switch also controls a solenoid relay to add a 160- DF capacitance in parallel with the TUNE vacuum variable eapacitor. 3 (1 to 54 MHz) 127Be, nd 2° Tio ol saemere $i "@ ¢ pry Bs An effective ALC circuit, adjustable from a front-panel control, is included to avoid overdriving the tube. This Feature is essertial in this amplifier because the drive requirement is only about 80 W for 1500. ‘W output, The ALC circuit samples the RF drive level through s 27-pF mica capacitor 4-28 Chapter 1 to generate a de voltage that is fed back to the exciter for déive-power contro} ‘The grid-trip-protection circuit shuts down the amplifier if grid eurrent exceeds 120 mA, This protects the tube from tuning errors of other problems such as losing the tntenna, or a tube Flashover during opera Fig 2—Ampiiier conti circuit and low- voltage power-supply schematic diagram. Part numbers shown in parontheses are Radio Shack B—Blower, Dayton 400044 DI-DE~Diode, 1 KV, 25 A, F5_Forrte bead. Ki-Ka—4PDT 24-V do rola, Potter & Brumfield KHUI7O4 1 K5~—SPDT vacuum relay, 26-V de coll (Q1,02-~2N3053 NPN transistor (Q3°—TiP31 NPN transistor (276-2017), Ri—25 0, 20 W. R2—150 0, 2 W. F9—25 0. 25 W variable RPG—10 iums no. 14 enam wire on M-in- ‘Gam ferrite rod $3,88—Alco 16TL5-11, SPST. S2™Alco 167L5-22 DPDT. S4—-Aleo 1672 pila ight Ti-Filament transformer, 6.0 V ac, 10 A, Peter Dahl Co. 7225.2 V ac, 1,0 A, Stancor P6469, i= 80-V, 4-8 bridge rectiien tion. Although grid current flows through all paths from ground to the B — line, most of the grid current goes through RI. The current passing through R | develops a vot age drop. For example, if 100 mA of grid ‘current is drawn through RI, | volts devel- ‘oped (E = IR = 0,100 x 10). This voltage is used to turn on the transistor switch, Qi When Qi turns on, the grid-trip relay. KS. energizes and opens the grid trip break i the RF relay control line to shut the ampli fierdowa, R2 seisthe current level at which Qi turns on, The frome lamp goes out ifthe trip ci The switeh is reset by pressing S3. The plate tank circuit uses a pi-l-con- figuration because this design provides approximately 20-dB better harmonic sup- pression than the conventional pi design. The TUNE and LOAD capacitors are vacuum variable types to minimize space requirements and also optimize. perfor mance on 12 and 10 meters where small capacitance values are needed 10 achieve ancceptable tank-circuit Q, The 10-t040- meter tank coil is homemade from 'é-inch ‘eapper tubing that is silver plated to mini- mize skin resistance, The 80-meter, 160- meter ant L-coils are toroid designs to minimize space. Using a toroid for the L. coil also helps isolate the E network from the rest of the tank eirsuit because of the toroid's self-shielding characteristts Metering cireuits monitor plate and grid ‘current, as well a filament voltage. Plate ‘current is monitored by placing a meter i series with the B ~ line. Therefore, only @ small de voltage is across the meter. An additional position can be included on the FILIGRID meter for plate voltage, but one is not shown in this design because a sepa- rate high-voltage meter is included in the power supply. It would be a good idea to include a high-voltage scale on the melee in case the RF deck is ever used with adif- ferent highvoltage supply. Grid current is monitored by measuring the voltage drop across RI. R3 is adjusted t0 give the ovr. | | | |Be re }3-AF umplifier schematic diagram (s Part B on next page). REC3—Choke, 1 mH, 600 mA, RECA—110 tuins no. 20 enam wire on “icin diam fiber rod EC5—Fiament choke, 18 bifilar tums no, 14 enam wire on -diam ferrite rod, 6 inches long. PC—Three 150-ohm. 2.W carbon rotistors in paralle! with 2-inch hhorsashoe loop af /ainch silver-plated strap. LIU5—Se0 Table 2. M1,M2—Simpson Wide-Vue panel motor, 01253 bozol and 01165, lighting kt (See tex!) S1_gpositon, 2-pole switch, Reso Sich model 88, 18-4, $2 Sciooid contd vith S3—SPST normaly Gosed momentary switch, Aleo 16TL-11 with (67-2 red lens. imwound coil, 5 turns, Yin diam. HF/MF/VHF Amplifiers (1 to 54 MHz) 1-29ir oo ~oP ae fJ« | aE oh t,t ky FS || | ae _ * 4 60-MeTER rect gridcusrent meter reading. Filament pacitors come in many different shapes and voltage is measured by converting the ac voltage to de and displaying the de voltage ‘on M2, The 3.1-V Zener diode expands the meter scale by not allowing conduction until the voltage reaches 3.1 V. ‘A vacuum relay is used for the amplifier ‘output, The relay is sinll in size, quiet and ‘capable of handling large RF currents. RF Deck Parts Selection Finding all the parts for the RF deck is a major task. If you are planning to build anamplifier, begin collecting parts as soon as possible. Iv is the first step because the physical layout of the amplifier will de- pend on the components available. Don’t try to exactly duplicate the components I used. For example, vacuum variable ca- 1-30. Chapter 1 sizes, with different mounting provisions ‘Actually, the parts you find may be better than the parts used in my RF deck, AS an example, a 1500-pF vacuum variable LOAD capacitor would be much better than the 1000-pF unit I used. Therefore, use whatever resources you have available acquire the parts— but a word of caution! De not compromise too much when gath- ering components. 1 you cannat. find what you need on the surplus market, buy the parts new. It may costa litle more, but if the project is not done right, you will never be happy with the final result. Vacuum Variable Capacitors Vacuum variable capacitors are often difficult to locate at reasnable prices. Plan to spend about $50 for the TUNE capacitor and $75 to $100 for the LOAD capacitor it vacuum capacitors are used. The TUNE capacitor should be atleast 300 pF at 7 KV, and the LOAD capacitor should be at least 1000 pF at 3 kV. ‘An air variable capacitor can be used forthe LOAD control if desired. The mi ‘mum capacitance For the LOAD capacitor is 112 pF for 10 meters, which is not di cult to obtain with an air variable type. A rating of | kV, minimum, is recommended. However, it is a different story for the TUNE capacitor. The minimum required capacitance is 26 pF. The direct inter-elec: trode capacitance of the 8877 tube in ‘grounded-grid service is 10 pF; therefore, the TUNE capacitor must have a minimum value of not more than 16 pF for 10 meters ‘This is nearly impossible with a 300-pF air variable. In addition, the voltage re Quirements for the TUNE capacitor make Any air variable rather large. For these rea sons, a vacuum variable is recommended for the TUNE capacitor Meters Good-quality meters with bezels are e sential for good appearance. The Simpson Wide-Vue® meters T used were purchased at a hamfest, The bezels were ofdered di rectly from Simpson because they seldom ‘appear on the surplus market. Actually, al- ‘most any meter movement can be used, so don’t pass up a good meter ust because it reads 50 V or 100 mA on the scale. Any meter with a movement from 100 WA to 5 mA can be used. This allows use of ap. proximately 90% of the meters available on the surplus market. I will give instructions later for calibrating any meter to read what ever current or voltage is required. RF Band Switch Good RF band switches ate very diffi cat to locate, More problems are experi- enced with arcing band switches than with ‘any other amplifier component. IF the band switch selected has insufficient voltage in- ulation, it will are to the wiper rotor on the high-impedance 10-meter position when operating on the lower-frequency bands. 1 ‘obtained the band switch for my amplifier from Radio Switch Corp.* The mode! $8 switch is 22-pole, 9-postion unit witha 13- KY peak flashovet/30-A contact rating. Thi switch will not are! Is list price is currently S107, and itis well worth the money! Miscellaneous Parts and Materials Many of the smal parts (capacitors, re- lays and resistors) can be purchased at | Radio Shack, Their parts selection is good, and continues to increase. You can usually find a store around ihe corner io almost any city. Pioneer Electronics is also a good. souree for commercial-grade components,” Good-quality PC-board material can be found at almost any hamfest. Don’t com- ‘promise here—use G10 glass-epoxy board {As for coils? Make them, Complete “hows {o” instructions are given later,The key to continuous duty in a high- linear amplifier is the power supply. be able to deliver the required volt ‘and current on a continuous basis ‘supplies are usually the limiting jorin commercial linear amplifiers. AWORD OF CAUTION IS IN ORDER, power supply isa very dangerous piece fequipment! Give it proper respect. One ‘can be fatal. Use proper precau the construction and testing of this and be careful 10 build a safe unit. recommend that the power supply be fis, The construction is not complex ikea serves sning ground for jer building techniques, particularly ihe first-time builder. Supply Design he power supply is shown in Fig 4, ple schematic diagram is shown in Fig, Be hypersil power transformer has a WV a¢ primary, and a 3300-V ae see- that is tapped at 2600 V., This se- eft output voltages allows fora and lowpower capability. An alte to this approach is to include a of Powerstat® autotransformer the wansformer primary Dre plimary circuit ofthe power wans- clades a step-startcteut to pro- the diode bank during the initial of Cl, the S3-iP filter capacitor, nthe power supply is turned on. Two hin, 25.W resistors, one incach cg of imary, are shorted by time-delayed gsappronimately 3 0.4 scvonds after ‘of power, The more current @yathrough the resistors at startup, the woliage drop realized and this, in [roe the diode bank. The delay is by the time constant ofthe S00 Wr tnd TO01F capacitor. The asmust be dc types. Those L used have WV de evils which silows power to be el from one 117-V leg of the pri= mary. 1f90-V relays can'v be obtained, 24- V de relays can be substituted. A 24-V de power source must be provided if this is Bone. The rectifier unit is a full-wave bridge ‘with eight diodes in each leg. A 470- kilohm resistor and a 0.01-1F, I-kV ca ppacitor are wired in parallel with each di ‘ode to equalize the voltage and protect the diodes fram voltage spikes. ‘The power supply is controlled re- rmotely from the RF deck. A test switch has been incorporated to allow the supply to be energized without the RF deck. A shorted Cinch-Fones plug must be inserted into a socket in the rear of the supply for test switch $1 to operate Two pilot lights are mounted on the front panel, One pilot light is on whenever ‘734 Vac is present in the supply. The other lights whes the power supply is activated, ‘A high-voltage meter is included on the front panel, The metering is done across 3 25-ohim, 5-W resistor in series with the bleeder’resistor- This voltage divider ‘keeps the total high voltage off the meter ‘A 50-ohm, 50-W resistor in series withthe high-voltage B+ circuit protects the tube and power supply from any current surge resulting from a tube flashover or other cause, In addition, a 0.6-ohm, 1-W resis tor in series with the B+ line acts as a fuse resistor. A large current surge will cause the resistor to explode—an inexpensive protection device should a problem occur. High-Voltage Power Supply Parts Selection Transformer I is important to find a good power transformer that can provide the proper operating voltages for the tube. Remember that some voltage drop will occur when ‘curtent is drawn irom the tanetormer. The voltage drop depends largely on the quality of the transformer (core and wire size), and ‘ean range from 200 V to over | KV. The twansformer should have a 234-V ac pri HF/ME/VHE Amplifiers (1 to 54 MHz) mary. Transformers with L17-V primaries are usable only if two identical units car be “wiced in series to provide a 234-V primary. ‘The secondaries can by wired in series or parallel, depending on the voltage require- ‘ments, Remember that the wansformers ‘must be identical ‘The requited transformer secondary voltage depends on the fmal voltage re- Quirement of the tube and the power-sup- ply circuitry. If a bridge rectifier is used, the power-supply high voltage will be about 1-4 times the secondary voltage. Ifa voltage doubler is used, the high voltage will be about 2.8 times the secondary volt- age. A voltage doubler requires two filter capacitors, oF more, so ifa single oil-filled filter capacitor is to be used, the design can't be a voltage doubler. The ARRL Handbook contains circuits for both types ‘of power supplies." The power-handling capability of a transformer can usually be estimated by its weight. As a rule, the heavier the trans- former, the greater the power capability. ‘The transformer fora 1500-W, continuous- duty amplifier will weigh 60-80 Ib. The transformer used in this power supply was obtained from Peter Dah Co." The hypersil design provides a good ratio of power ca- ppability to size and weight. I have used several Peter Dahl transformer designs in the past and found them to be of excellent quality and reasonably priced, Filter Capacitor Enough filter capacitance is required to obtain good voltage regulation, What is ‘enough? Thave used a litle as 18 F andas much as 100 jUF in power supplies. The re- 4uired capacitance can be oblained with 3 Single oil-filled capacitor or with a series string of computer-grade electrolytics, Ei- ther way, T recommend at least 25 F be used, with atleast a 10% voltage safety fac tor. The filter capacitor used in this power supply is a single oil-filled unit rated at $3, MF at SkV de, The capacitor was obtained 131“Ds Denouns @ se Fron nF coe @ac tor vee @ sz counon 70 ar occ @e- 1 wr coe Fig §—High-voltage power supply schematic diagram, Part numbers in parentheses are RadioShack C1—Oi-filed capacitor, 53 pF, 5 KV, Peter Dahl Co. 151—Diode bridge reciier assembly, Peter Dahl Co, see text 02,D3~Diode, kV, 2.5 A FI,F2—Fuse, 15 A. KI" 2PDT mercury plunger relay, Dayton 6X598-3. K2K3-—SPOT relay, Potter Brumiield PROT DYO/SOVOC. Mi—High-voltage meter, '/sInch Simpson Wide-Vue, 01253 bezel and 01165 lighting ki 21,22—MOV transient suppressor, 117 V ao (276-568) si—si P2—Eight-pin Cinch-Jones, connector. BST ewiten (275-680) §2-Modilied GPST switch, Fair Radio Sales. Ti—Power translower, 2600/3300-V ac see, Peter Dahl Co. Miscellaneous T2,T3—Translormer, 26 V ac, 300 mA (273-1386) Pilot lamp—Alco 1672, 61-4 (yollow) and 6T-2 (red) lonses. Cabinet CTS model MCLS 10-17-14 black and whe, SPP 1 —two-pin Cinen-Jones soexet and plug (274-201 and 274-202) from Peter Dahl Co, and is physically very small forthe voltage and capacitance rating. Diade Bridge Rectitior The Gull-wave, diode-bridge rectifier is ‘made up with 1000-PIV diodes rated at 3A, The unit is # commercial module sold by Peter Dahl Co, Each diode string is built on 1 separate glass-epoxy board. The module is supplied with Linch angle briskets on each end, but because of space restraints, the angle was removed and the module was ‘mounted in a vertical position using two Nylon bolts. Should you decide to build the rectifier assembly, use good-quality diodes, such as HEP-170s or INS4OBs. Be sure to parallel each diode with a 470-kilohm resistor and 8 OOLHR, 1-kV capacitor. High- Voltage Switch “The transformer as two taps on the sec= 1-32 Chapter 1 ondary 10 provide a high- and low-voltage capability. The froatpanel VOLTAGE 3600-4600 switch is fabricated from a 6-position, heavy-duty ceramic switch (Ra: io Switch Corp pin 65), The switch detent and all but the second and fifth contacts are removed. New stops are fabricated from slass-epoxy board, Fullhigh voltage appears across this switch, and therefore, it must be ‘well insulated, The switchs mounted on two pieces of inch Plexiglas® 10 provide 2-inch spacing from any chassis or panel {ground, A fiber shaft protrudes from the Switch thsough the front panel. To protect the contacts, this switch must never be actu- tated when the power supply is on. Next month, I will describe the unique construction details for building this high- power linear amplifier and power supply. Inthe meantime, should you beso inclined, 40c44 black side panels gt out there and find the parts! Remember that you should build the power supply first, so concentrate on those components, Notes '.L Pitongor, Modular Linear amir for tha Hgh-Frequehcy Amatour Bands," Ham Rado, sin 1984 24, Pianger, °A26X80087 Linear Amp” “im Fad, Aug 1908 24.1 Pitongor, "SEX1200A7 10080 Meter Am plier Ham Radio, Aug 1965, “NN; Orr, ed, dio Handbook (Incianapoli: HW. Same, 1978), 20% edtion, Sact 22:4, A Modern 310002’ Linear Ampifier Tor 60-10 Meters” Siam Tracer Yellow Sheets, PO Box 2057, Gen Ey, it 60196-2087. Radi Sviten Cora, Fe 78, Maribor, NJO7746, tel 201-862.5100. Pioneer Standard Ingustral Eletrones, 1900 ‘Tray &, Dayfon, ON 45404, $19-256-9000, Mt! Wilson, ed, The. 1986" ARAL Handbook (Nowinglon ARAL. 1985) ‘Polar Dat Transformer Co, 4007 Fort Bt, E| avo, TX 79600, tel 315-466-5365,Ue u) Bnudaeeu acu All-Band, 1500-Watt- Output 8877 Linear Amplifier fst month I described the circuitry and Lipurs required for the 8877 linear am- rand high-voltage power supply. This Iwill cover the construction of both The power supply construction i are given firs. Assuming that we ail the required parts in hand, we can lve the physical design of the power To avoid costly mistakes, it is im. to do adequate upfront planning fore the first hole is dritied ‘Supply Construction ‘Selection and Labeling “Any meter with » movement fom 100 95 mA.can be used forthe high-volt Reber. This meter measures the volt eros the 25-ohm resistor at the gmn{B-) ond of the bleeder string (see Pact 1). The more sensitive the Bs the high the resistance selting of yeabo -Kilohi calibration resistor. siting of the resistor is a simple m's law problem. ‘The maximum upaly voliage on the meter seale esa Cute equal othe meter-move- alingo flow through the meter, and give fullacate reading. For ex the maximum scale on the meter in apply kV de. The meter has TovEMEn! therefore, i the supply fASEV, SimA must flow through the Bitraion resistor and the meter for a sede reading. Looking atthe complete deg ating, the total resistance isthe af the wo 103-K2 bleeder resistors he 28-ohm resistor, oF 206,025 obs. SAY, approximately 24 mA (5000) 025) flows through the string, ‘The ef the caliraton resistor, therefore, felted to allow 5 mA theouh the And 19 AHA through the 25-ohm Part 2—Here’s what you've been waiting for: detailed instructions for building a 1500-W RF deck and power supply. sistor. Using Ohm's law, the value of the = 0,005 x 0.005 x 95), and a 1-k@, 2-W resistor should be approximately 95 ohms potentiometer was used. The meter used (19 mA x 25 ohms/S mA). The required originally had a 0-50 scale. The scale was wattage rating of the resistoris0.23W(PR changed to read 0 t0 5 KV. 818° 7 CO wvAl G N STEPPER] RELAY MERCURY RELAY STEPPER RELAY [ ee | = : U Oo 08 gS ° ° SEL BE Sq BS) [gs S ove ee) feel ie MODULE Feet Pd lin 5, Be] /88 eq Oo an] a” + Fig 6-Typical computer-prepared layout drawing, Some component abel have Been erlarged for logibilty HF/MF/VHF Amp! rs (1 to 54 MHz) 1-33Panel/Chassis Layout I do all my layouts with an Apple® Macintosh computer. An example of this layout is shown in Fig 6. A manual method may be used, instead, Cut out a piece of poster board the size of the front panel of Chassis, as well as all the major compo- nents. Shuffle the pieces until you get an acceptable layout. This may seem like a lot of extra work, but “one picture's worth 1000 words,” You will save time in the long. sun by going through this procedure, and rat have 0 correct errors that otherwise are certain to occur. The panel layout should bbe symmetrical, Align switches and center meters, Make sure that components are properly spaced to accommodate the physi- cal size ofthe parts behind the panel ‘The computer-generated or manval lay outs serve at a guide during construction, but are by no means sacred. Once you start ppting the partsin place, you probably will ‘make minor changes. Go ahead and make the changes, but always update the docu- ‘mentation, Front-Panel Assembly You probably will not be ready t0 cut metal until you are 3 10 4 moaths into the project, Do the front panel first, since the parts locations are fixed for symmetry Parts behind the front panel can be moved to accommodate the feont-panel design. ‘Cover the front panel with 3-inch-wide masking tape, The tape not only protects the panel from scratches, but also prevides away to lay out the panel with a pencl or pen. Before any holes are drilled, place all the major parts in their proper place inthe ‘eabinet 1 be sure that nothing obsicuets the area behind the panel. Remember you have ‘only one chance. Miss and it means a new panel, of cabinet! Remove the front panel from the cabi net and center punch the panel where holes are to be drilled, as marked on the tape Carefully drill «'very small hole at each punch mark to serve us & puide, then eut the holes to final size. Holes up to approxi mately “ie inch can be drilled with either a hand drill ora drill press. Holes larger than “he ineh should be made with chassis punches. The meter hole is rectangular and {scut with anibbler after drilling an access hole, Cut the meter hole about '/z inch smaller than needed and finish with a large file to straighten the edges. Be careful us ing the file—it is very easy to let the file slip out ofthe hole and make # big seratch {nthe panel, The meter hole doesn'thave to be perfect since a meter bezel is used ‘After the front-panel metal work is com- plea, carefully remove the masking tape. ‘The front panel should be labeled before ‘mounting the components. Labeling. is dove with dryctransfer leering available fom art stores oF Radio Shack, Apply the labeling by laying the leter or figure on the panel in tile proper position and rubbing overitwith asott pencil. The character will be transfered to the panel If « mistake is made, the eharacter can be removed with 1-34 Chapter 1 masking or Scotch® tape. There is a rmattefinish spray available to protect the lettering. I do not recommend using this spray. It will peel if bumped and does not work well ‘The parts can now be mounted on the panel, The cabling to the front panel is connected through nylon multipin connec tors (available from Radio Shack) to allow ‘easy panel removal, The same technique is used in the RF deck, Rear-panel Assembly Placement of parts on the rear pane! is ‘ot us critical us Om the front panel. Atten- tion should still be paid to symmetry, how= ever. I ave Found that it i best to mount reat-panel parts after the major pacts have bbeen mounted inside the cabinet, The rear panel is drilled and labeled in a manner Similar to the front panel. The black reat panel requires white lettering, White let- tering kits are available at art supply stores and some electronies suppliers, Fig 7 shows the inside rear panel of the power supply. The control and power cables enter the rear panel and are routed directly to barrier strips. Each terminal is labeled for clarity. The rear panel is acces sible by removing the front panel and the twansformer. It sounds like a big job, but it can be accomplished in about 10 minutes. Itis necessary to provide good strain relic? for the cables. Immediately inside the rear panel, a piece of "/-inch aluminum angle Stock is mounted, to which each cable is clamped. Large rubber grommets are used in the holes for cable protection. Fig 7—Interor view of rear panel. Note the mercury plunger 1 fand 9 are atthe lower right. Major Chassis Assembly Power-supply components are extremely heavy and a good supporting structure is required. The ‘ieinch-thick bottom cover supplied with the eabinet is replaced with a "Yeinch-thick base plate to provide an ad- equate Foundation, The heavy plate is cut to size on a commercial metal shear. After the transformer, relays und filter eupacitor are mounted, rubber-wheeled casters are bolted tothe bottom so thatthe supply canbe rolled rather than earried from place to place. ‘The cabinet sides are formed by two re movable panels. Parts can be mounted tothe Inner panel using countersunk screws and then covered with the ‘M-inch painted cover plate to provide a professional appearance A Veineh-thick sheet of Plexiglas® is ‘mounted above the filter capacitor to sup- port the high/low voltage switch, the diode bankand the bleeder esistors. The Plexiglas is supported by drilled and tapped holes for no. 6-82 countersink screws in the rear and side panel. A post of Ys-inch aluminum bar stock supports the front-left corner of the Plexiglas. The mercury-wetted power relay is ‘mounted on the rear panel and must be posi- tioned vertically. Mereury-wetted relays haveatendency tobuz2 if mounted ona solid surface. Use a rubber grommet to make bushing in each mounting hole, or mount the relay on a rubber pad, The stepstart relays, K2 and K3, are also mounted on '/-inch thick rubber sheet to minimize noise Once the major components are mounted, wire them together, performing as much testing as possible slong the way.fand rear-panel components are and wired before those that are ides and base plate, ly Testing ou are satistiod thatthe power ‘has been comectly wired and care~ ‘Bohavess cup oF coftee and Tater sien your mind is fresh tbe wiring vne more time. Re- thar this power supply can be a 2 One wrone move could be testing ofthe power supply is ac- in three steps. Remove the rom the primary ofthe transformer aiemporary line cord witha small utttansormer dizectly from a Fa fine tthe primary. Turn the 117 slowly run the variable autotrans- up. AUIIT V, the power supply te reading hallscale voltage. This es thatthe diodo bank and filter ae correctly wired. Now is @ Mime 20 ealbeate the front-panc) eUsingthe variable auto ransformer, utp voltage aleve that another fen messi accurately. For ex ‘most VOMs can measure 1 kV Ihe calibration resistor so that the meter reads the same as the econdten checks the primary 244-V ey. With the 234-V lines stil dis- from the primary. plug. the Hine cord into 4 24-V Remember thatthe shorted wo plag must be inserted into the rear- seektl, Turn the power supply on tes yuitc and listen fora 3- to time delay forthe step-stat relays that 284 V appears aeross the two disconnected from the primary finales sto try the ene power with 284 V applied to the primary tbe bigh- and low-voltage indies onthe frane-panel mete. ply Performance design results in a husky supply that about 4.4 kV and 3.8 kV (no load) high: and low-voltage positions, re- y-Aneither position the power sup. Jess than 400 ¥ under full load he performance you need to achieve ‘capability and good linearity, k Construction physical design of the RE deck re- Planning long before construction ‘Again, 1 used the Macintosh com for my ital "paper design but the fan be ene using paper and The important thing i olay out the components so that everything fits before staring to dell holes and |. You musthave all the majoreom- ‘in hand before doing the physical 80 you know what you have to work Fig 8 shows the scaled Macintosh de- forthe front top arid bottom views of Conio TAP BOARD wa ba = "caoe RS] Se [wore tend St r i e+ ree om To To POUT Beay [S| see] wove feel al) a NEA! | | ui a fel T-L* re Woe ru NETWORK 9082190892 ‘ouvos Adan EAM BoTToM Fig 8—Scale layouts of the RF dec front, op and bottom views, as preparer on the Macintosh computer. Some component labels have been eniarged for legibility HFIMF/VHF Amplifiers (1 to 54 MHz) 1-35the amplifier. ti necessary t0 match the {designs so that the front-panel controls end up atthe right place on the panel. Every thing must be drawn to seale to obtain the relative positions of the components. ‘When designing the bottom and top lay- outs, only the major circuit boards und components like the grid trip, input net work, low-voltage power supply, coils, capacitors and filament transformer are considered. The smaller components can be fiued in ater. It is important that the unit be designed with maintainability in ‘mind. Every component, large and small must be accessible after the vail is com. pleted. The amplifier was constructed in the following steps. Each major step is dis- cussed in more detail late, + Fabrieate, build and test all printed circuit boards for the RF deck. * Cut the holes in the front panel + Perform the major metal Work on the subpanel and chassis plat + Mount the vacuum capacitors and ‘band switch to the subpanel. + Mount the PC boards, filament trans former and tube socket to the chassis plate ‘+ Wire and test the under-chassis con twol circuits + Fabricate and install the RF tank cir- cuit * Agbel and calibrate meters + Complete the front panet and mate it to the chassis and eubinet. ‘System test the amplifier with the power supply. Printed-Circuit Board Fabrication ‘Making PC boards can be tedious, but with a litle practice, good results cin be biained. Grouping intereonnested circuits on the same PC board minimizes the cable harness between modules in the anyplifier. In this design, nine PC board modules are required Fig 10—In-process testing of the inpu-network PC board, Each call was tlenmed to produve a 1-1 the power supply required to actuate relays, 4-36 Chapter 1 SW into a 50-ohen load. Note Fig 9—Things don't always work out. The attempta wore made to fabri fe the gricatig ‘and bias PC board. The good board at left was suBseauently damaged, requiring & fourth effort, Board Size L) Input nework xe 2) Low-voltage power supply and timer circuit x6! 3) Grid-twip and bias circuit 4° 6" 4) Switeh bank harness interface to front panel rx 5) Filament step-start cine 290" x 34 6) RF inpuvoutput relay timing circuit Die 7) Line titers for control cable and blower Ti" 516" 8) Filament-voltage-meter circuit Vie x 9) ALC circuit Wi x BA! All boards, except nos. 4, 7,8 and 9, are ‘mounted on '/=ineh channel (6 the chassis plate, Therefore. the PC bod layouts in clude a ground strip on the edges of each board to moun rhe boards to the channel ‘The Macintosh computer, with a sof ware package called “Draw.” was used to lay out the clreuit boards, The design of PC boards with the computer is beyond the scope of this article, PC boards can also be laid out using peneit and paper. Once the design is laid out to scale, the Layout must be transferred to the board. First wash the board with a mild derergent to remove all grease and dirt, Using tape and special dry transters (Radio Shack p/n 276-1577), copy the design onto the board. The transfers are not exact, and the hand drsing aely serves ‘asa puide, Submerge the board into an etch ing solution to remove the exposed copper. 1 use ferric-chloride etchant. A flood lamp over the etching tray warms the solution and speeds the etching process. Agitate the solu- ‘von occasionally. The final result should be aa nicely etched board ready for ding the holes for mounting parts. Believe me. how- ever, it doesn’t always go as planned. Fig 9 shows three tries at making the ‘d-trip and bias board. Actually the third board, on the left, was damaged, and a fourth was necessary. However, once you {ger the hung of it, i usually goes wel After etching the bosed, polish it with Fig 11-—Subpanet installation in the cabinet. Nie pasition of Chassis plate. vacuum variable capacitors and band swlich. ‘Aluminum angle stocks used fo mount the subpane! to the chassis plate and cabinet sides.SHeel wool and drill the component ing holes with a small dill. Use dey fers to label the conncetions required the board, before mounting parts, This ll avoid wiring mistakes when the wir- phuress is installed. Finally, mount and the components onto the board. “Test each board as much as possible finalassembly. For example, Fig 10, the input network being tested by ing up coaxial cable and running 100 ‘throwgh each section into a S0-ohm Toad, The coils were adjusted at time to give a Mat 1:1 SWR. A power ix needed to energize the relay for jpisection being tuned nel Fabrication Cover the front panel with masking tape test it from scratches, and mark the 3 Positions of the components. fe your time with this step since itis to recover if an error is made. Mark front panel where the holes are wo be cut carefully drill a small pilot hole fol- by the correct hole size. The holes the band switch, capacitor control [ALC control and multimeter switeh th diameter and can be made with lr drill bt. The holes for the power es are Yheinch diameter and require ispunch, The meter-mounting holes the most dificult to make. The rectan- feutouts are marked about "/s-inch et than required to protect against ing. Use a nibbler to cut the holes fully. thea file them tothe exact size of miele bezels. Be careful that the file ft slip and scratel the panel (disas 2). Using a large File will help avoid this Tresommend doing all the front-pane! ial Work at one time to ensure proper ent layout, When the metal Work is fe leave the masking tape on the for protection a8 it will be used as a plate 9 locate the paris mounted be- the from panel ssis and Subpanel Metal Work This amplifier design has very ite work that requires more than a hack: nd afte. The chassis plate was pur- with the éabinet. The only other except for ont and rear panel, isthe pane that mous perpendicular to the plate, and 3 inches behind the front The suparel yhields the meter com- met fea HF and serves us a mounting portfortheband witch, vacuum capaci and BO-meter toroid coil The chassis is mourned 3% inches from bottom of the cabinet to allow room tthe chassis plite for the filament Hormer. Therefore the subpanel is cut 6.x 16% inches. Referring © Fig II, inch shusinuma angle is attacked with stozach edge of the subpone! to pro- ‘amounting flangeto the chassis plate cabinet side walls. The top piece of ‘Mock provides a mounting surface apiece of gold-plated finger stock that seals the subpane! to the cabinet top plate. Two large holes are required. A 3-inch= diameter hole is cequited inthe chassis plate for the tube socket, A $-inch-diameter hole js cut in the cabinet top plate and aligned directly above the tube socket €0 vent the ai flowing from the tube and chimney. Use a large fly-cutter, available at nhost hard ware stores. For safety, the ly-cutter should be used only on a drill press-—never with a hhand drill, Therefore, if you don"t bavi drill press, find a friend who has one. Be- fore cutting the large holes, use 3-inch ‘masking tape to cover the chassis plate and top panel co mark where the holes are to be Urilled, and to protect the surfaces, For safety, clamp the panels onto a board and the base of the dnl press before drilling. Cut a piece of perforated aluminum stock to be slightly larger than the hole in the cabinet top panel. Clean the perforated metal well, and spray with paint to match the cabinet color. Fasten the perforated piece to the inside top panel with several Small countersunk serews painted to mateh the cabinet. Mounting Vacuum Variable Capacitors and Band Switch The vacuum variable capacitors and ‘band switch are mounted to the subpane!, ‘but their control shafts must be aligned with the front panel design. Allow enough slack in the positioning of these components to perform precise alignment with the front panel holes when the front panel is in- ‘alled. To mark the hole positions on the subpanel, slide the subpanel against the rear of the front pane! while both the front panel and chassis plate are bolted into place fm the cabinet, Cover the subpanel with ‘masking tape and mark the exact centers the holes for the components, Drill the two holes inthe subpanel for the vacuum vari= able capacitors with hole saws. Mount the ‘vacuum variable capacitors and. band switch on the subpanel ‘Mounting Major Components to the Chassis Plate ‘The major components (PC boards ila rent transformer and tube socket) are ‘mounted toihe chassis plate as shown in Fig 12. The PC boards ae Fist mounted 10 "Yeinch aluminum channel using sheet metal serews for easy removal Cover the Bottom of the ehassis plate with masking tape, Position and mark the PC bouts. fla- ment transformer and tube socket accord- ingto the planned physical layout. Dill the ‘mounting oles in the chassis plate, then sedrill the holes from the top with a coun tersink Bit (allow Nlat-head countersuak screws to be used for mounting. Ths re- tains the flat surface on top ofthe chasis plate. Withthe Yineh channels om the PC boars, mark the hole positions onthe bot- tom of cach chonnel with a pencil, using the predrilled chassis-plate mounting holes a6 template. Remove the channels from the PC boards, mount the channels on the chassis plate and remount the PC boards fon the channels, Under-Chassis Wiring Complete the under-chassis wiring, ac- cording to the schematic diagram, using Teflon® insulated wire. The nylon con- rectors near the front of the chassis con- recto the front-panel power switches, the ALC potentiometer and the multimeter switch. This allpwis the front panel to be easily removed for rear-panel access. The Small board inthe front center of the chas- Fig 12—Bottom view of the RF deck showing placement of PC boards, transformer and tube socket. HF/MFIVHE Amplifiers (1 to 54 MHz) 137Fig 13—Rottom view of the RF deck showing harness wiring in place, sis provides an easy way to mate the 12-pin nylon connector going to the power switches with the wiring harnesses under the chassis plate (see Fig 13). When mak: ing the PC boas, try to put all the eonnee tions to the board on one side. This allows recess to the boards for maintenance with ‘out removing the wiring. Just unserew the bourd from the channel and fold the board upward Each wire is labeled at eaeh end with numbered tags, because the Teflon wire used is mostly the same color. A version of the schemasie diagram was maintained ‘with the wire numbers noted for easy wire tracing, The final wiring is cabled into har- nesses with plastic cable ties, Dow's be afraid to use plenty of ties, bu at fitst only put a tie every inch or two, The ties will Undoubtedly be cut several times during ‘wiring vo put in missing wites that are over Fig 14—Pate tank coil set. Above: the various coils of the tank citeut. Right the L torord mounted on the tear of the band switch, 1-98 Chapter 1 looked. When all wiring is complete and tested, put a cable tie every ¥4 inch on the major harnesses. Ampitier Tank Circuit ‘The plate tank-coil set is shown in Fig 14. Betore making the coils, detennine the tankeireuit parameters for the given tube plate impedance. The plate impedan be determined from Eg |. late voltaged (1.57 x (Eq) Plate impedance plate current) Assuming the amplifier runs at 60% efficiency, the input power required For 1500-W output is approximately 2500 W, ‘With 3200 V on the 8877 plate, plate cur rent will be approximately 781 mA, From Eq 1, a tank cireuit designed Tor approxi- mately 2600 ohms is appropriate. A table ‘of pi-L network component values is con- tained in Hoff"s article, and the values used in this amplifier are summarized in Table 2." The 80- and 160-meter coils are wound ‘on an assembly of three T225-2 toroid cores taped tagether with Scotch no, iglass-cloth tape. Use plenty of tape to pro- Vide good voltage insulation trom the cores, The SO-mieter coil is wound with 11 tums of no, 10 wire covered with Teflon sleeving. The 160-meter coil is wound with 9 tutns of no. 12 wire, also covered with Tefloy sleeving. The cores of both coils are mounted {fom 1 10 2 inches from the ‘mounting wall on ceramie insulators, Bach coil is sandvviched between two pieces of fiberghass material held together by a ce: amie standoff running through the middle of each toroid (see Fig. 15), Wind all coils in the same direction (clockwise oF coun: terelockwise), to avoid a “bucking” action betwoen coils The 10: through 40-meter coil is made From Vvineh sot copper relrigerator tub: ing. Clean the wbing using Fine steel woo! (000) until the surface is smooth and bright. Use s piece of pipe with an OD equal to the

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