A 160- to 10-Meter Amplifier Using the 3CX1200A7 Billed as a replacement forthe gas SME, he BURCCLaA Ca eauucmset as warer cin eee eee nee aai oes Fray S00 oot area aaa cae re Dick Stevens, W1QW5J, designed and built THeSCin egies ie ia Bree enone masons a ees Le wi lead tertanatet nah coe Fe pene et Sete Aeon oy seen aor tmteend a ae ee Sat pate ee el ee oe sani daiah sates inte poe see ec ee ee eee se igueotaae sn wat aes Scapa ee eetermeet ree anne ond beara isk oatlow loge curing tie for eee alee areng tine Exes ager sation 10'S CRA GREE RO Sac TST supply sian appears in Chapter n.”” oral uy us ee cna ong rg act, Pere ‘A large volume of air is required to jeter etch tz above the oxo and PLATE dal Grves) The bottom meta’ is Jodicated to plate ase ae th eae ar a oa dace) aon y eh ai Fig 70—Schematic diagram of the SCX1200A7 amplifier RF deck. Detals of the input and plate-tank circuits hown in Figs 71 and 72 C1, Co—Se0 Fig 71 Jt, J2—UHF female chassis-mount connector. RFO2—Bifilar wound 30-A flament choke, 28 3) C4—0.01-4F, 600:V mica capacitor. ‘J8—High-votlage connector (Milen $7001 or bifilar tums no. 10 enam wire on a Yas. 5, C8—0.0-aF, 600-V disoceramic ‘equi. diam x. 7¥sin. long frit core (Peter W. Capacitor. KS, Ke—S0e Fig 73, 60) C7 0.01-9F, 6KV disc-coramic capacitor. Li-input prnetwork tunable coll. See Fig 71 RFC3_2.5 mH RF choke (Millen 4537 or 68, CO~0.00t-sF, 10KV RFype doorknob for deta. ‘equi. ‘capacitor. 12—Plate-tank col, See Fig 72 for details. _21~Parasitic suppressor, four 220.0, 2.W C1055 10 750.pF, SkV vacuumvariable FECI—90.H, 1-A RF choke (Hammond 1521” metal-fim resistors in parallel, mounted on capacitor. ‘or equiv) 2 Bunch long, Veinch wide copper strap (C1 2200pF, 1.5:4V airvariable capacitor. bent ina U shape, 30-58 Chapter 30° cr cz ut Band (oF) (pF) (ah) 160 3300 3100 353 80 1700 1670 190 40 900 ‘B40 096 20 © 40417047 fe 00275 O32 10 220 205 023, a. cr cz ut Band (PF) (oF) (ah) 160 1608 1608 49 80782 ‘782 24 40 © 402 402 12 20 © 208208 O62 15135 135. O41 30 101101 0.30 Fig 71—Detalls of the 3CX1200A7 amplifier input circuit. Component values are shown for Q = values for Q = 4 (s00 text. 61, C2—500V siner {or values L1=The cols for each band are wound on JW Miller 424000081 tunabla ceramic coll forms, {(@Binch clam with red core), The number of {ums required for each band “(0 motors—4 turns no. 22 wire spaced to ‘oo2Upy 378 I ica capactors. See table 15 meters—6 turns no. 22 wire spaced to ‘occupy Yin 20 motere—7 turns no. 22 wire spaced to ‘occupy ¥ In 5 40 motore9 turns no. 22 wire spaced to ‘occupy ¥ In and Q = 2. Th impliior was built using the 180 metore—11 tums no. 22 wire close ‘wound 160 motere—20 turns no, 24 wire close ‘wound ‘S1—Double water, 6-positon ceramic rotary ‘witch with 60° indexing to math piato-tank bandswitch 82 (Gentralab 2551 oF equi). are almost enough to resonate the plate circuit at 10 meters. The minimum capacitance of an air variable suitable for tuning on 160 meters is too great to allow a reasonable Q on 10 meters. So, the vacuum variable, with its low minimum capacitance, is ideal for this application. An air-variable capacitor (Cl1) is used for loading. As shown in Fig 72, an additional 1000-pF fixed capacitor (C12) may be ‘switched in if more loading range is needed for 160 meters. ‘The location of RFCI differs from many other designs. Normally, the plate RF choke is connected to the junction of the Fig 72—Detalis of the plato-tank circuit for the SOX1200A7 amplifier. See Fig 70 forthe rest of te clout 610, C11—See Fig 70. [2A tums of Vcinch diam copper tubing, ‘2h Inches ID, 2¥4 Inches tong. See tox. ‘Tap at 4 turns for 10 meters. Tap at junc- tion of L2A and L2B for 15 meters. L2B—6%4 tums of BEW 2406T coll stock. Tap ‘at 3 turns for 20 meters, Tap at junetion of lap and L26 for 40 motors. the proper EIMAC air system socket (part no. SK410) and chimney (part no. SK436) is essential, The blower is a Dayton 40440, rated at 60 CFM. This project makes extensive use of parts ‘purchased at flea markets and from surplus dealers. Although most components could be purchased new (at considerable ex- pense), there are many good parts avs able surplus. The builder is encouraged to modify the design shown here when possible to make use of whatever surplus parts are available, RF Circuits Fig 70/s a schematic of the amplifier RF circuitry. For clarity, some details of the input and output circuits are omitted— ‘these details are shown in Figs 71 and 72. Details of the tuned input circuit are shown in Fig 71. Individual pi networks are used for each band. A tunable coil and two fixed capacitors are used for each band. L2C—6¥4 turns of BAW 2406T coll stock. Tap al junction of L2C and L2D for 80 motors. L2D10 turns of BAW 2406T ‘coll stock. For 160 motors, use L2A, 128, L2C and L2D. FCS—"See Fig 70. 'S2—Six positon, one section, high-power ‘coramie RF rotary switch with nonshorting ‘contacte and 60° indexing (Radio Switch ‘Corp Model 86 or equi). ‘These circuits are designed for a Q of 4, based on EIMAC’s recommendation. Tubes requiring high values of grid drive require a higher Q than the usual 2 to pre- vent flattopping. Tuning of the input cit- cits is sharp, but if they are adjusted for ‘an SWR of 1:1 at the center of each band, the SWR at the band edges is less than 1s. Unfortunately, you won't be able to “fudge” the 10-meter input circuit to reach 12 meters—the Q is too high. Component values are given Tor input networks with a Qof 2 for those builders wishing to reach 12 meters. ‘The amplifier plate tank circuits stan- dard pi network with a calculated Q of 10. Details are shown in Fig 72. Use of a ‘vacuum variable (C10) for the tuning capa- citor makes it easy to get a reasonable Q at 160 and 10 meters. The 3CX1200A7 has a high internal ‘capacitance: tube capacitance and stray circuit capacitance parasitic suppressor (Z1) and plate blocking capacitor (C8 and C9). In this case, a low- frequency parasitic was noticed during testing, and moving RFCI to the position shown corrected this problem. ‘Switches for the input (S1) and output (82) circuits are connected by'a chain drive so only one front-panel bandswitch control is needed. S1 and S2 must have the same indexing. All of the parts necessary for making the chain drive arrangement are available from Small Parts, Inc (see Chapter 35). Metering and Control Circuits Control and metering circuits are shown in Figs 73 through 75. Circuitry is included to prevent amplifier operation without plate voltage, and filament inrush protec tion is also provided. No ALC arrangement is used because modern transceivers will not overdrive the amplifier. Metering includes grid current, plate current, plate voltage and forward and reverse power. Refer to Fig 73. Closing SI starts the ‘blower and lights DSI. Closing S2 applies 120 V to T? through R3, the inrush-current- limiting resistor. Simultaneously, C1 ‘charges through R2, and after a second or so K1 operates and contacts KIA short out 3, applying full primary voltage to T2. KIB contacts cause DS2 to light, showing ‘that the filament inrush protection has functioned. Closing $2 also applies 120 V HF Radio Equipment 30-59Fig 73—Detalis of the control circuitry for the SOX12007 amp polarity are electrolytic, 1B1—€0 CFM blowor (Dayton 40440 or equiv). (C1—8600-4F, 36-V electrolytic made trom two ‘3800-aF, 35V capacitors in paral Di, D8~600-PIV, 1-A diode (1N4005), D2'D6—50-PIV, %-A lode (184001), B7—10-V, 50-W Zener diode (1N2808 or equiy, 081-084—LED, ‘JI—Phone jack ki—oror to TI. TI and related components supply 24 V de for other control circuits Closing $3 sends 24 V de to the high- voltage power supply. The high-voltage supply is activated by a 24-V de relay in the primary. DS3 lights when $3 is closed. You may choose a different method of act vating the high-voltage supply, depending ‘on your individual needs. Q1 is the amplifier keying transistor. Many modern transceivers have amplifier keying circuits with insufficient current 30-60 Chapter 30 4c coll H@4PDT rlay with 3A contacts and 24:V c-call KS—AR input relay (96 Fig 70). SPST relay with @-A.contacts and 26 66 col ‘kéAntonna relay (800 Fig 70), SPST relay ‘with 10-A contacts and 24-V de col, Dow- Koy atonal protrod; must be adie to handle 1.5 KW of BF R8—Grid-current motor shunt. Value depends and/or voltage ratings to close a relay coil. They can, however, key QI which in turn keys the relays in the amplifier. When QI conducts, K2 operates and completes several functions. K2A. shorts out R7, which changes the tube bias from cutoff to ‘operating bias. DS3 lights to show that the tube is ready to operate. K2C activates K3 and K4, the antenna relays. K4, the out- put relay, closes immediately. There is a slight delay in the closure of K3, caused by R12 and C3, to prevent hot switching K4, Capacitors are discceramic, 50-V types unlass noted. Capacitors marked with ‘on meter movement used. See $1, S2—SPST switch. 83DPDT switch iControl eveuit transformer. Primary, 420'V; secondary, 18 V at 2 A. ‘T2—Filamentransformer. Primary, 120 V: ‘secondary, 7.5 V at 21 A (Peter W. Dahi Co) UI—100-PIV, 1.5.8 bridge roctiter. 21130 metal-oxide varstor ‘When the amplifier is unkeyed to return to receive, K2D discharges C3 so that there is no additional delay as K3 returns to the receive position, Operating bias is provided by D7. F2 protects the grid from excessive current. RB is a grid milliammeter shunt. Its exact value depends on the meter used. ‘This amplifier includes metering for plate current, grid current, plate voltage, for- ward power and reverse power. See Fig 74. M2is a dedicated plate-current meter. Miwo 10 ww “5 Wea Fig 74—Schomatic of the metering circuitry for the 3CX1200A7 ampli. Note that S18 may be left out and the negative load from Mi may be returned directly to ground. M1—0 to tA motor movement with scales 1 read 0.2 and 08. See text. M20 to 1 A moter. RI-R5—HV motor multiplior, § MO at 10 W. Made from five 1-Ma, 2.W (296 tolerance) rosistore In sores. S1—2>pole, 4-postion rotary ewitch, ot SRY or Fig 75—Schematic of the wattmetercitcultry for the 9OX1200A7 amie. C1, Co—150-0F siver-mica capacitor. 63_Miniature ceramic or alr trimmer, approx 24 11, 3280-299 chassis-mount connector. ‘T1—Secondary: 20 tums no. 22 enam on ‘Amidon T-50-2 core, center tapped. Primary: Section of FG-8 through center of secondary core; connect the RG-8 center Conductor between the center pins of J ‘and J Ground the shield is a0-1 mA movement with scales that read (02 and 0-5. S1 is used to switch in the appropriate shunt or meter multiplier resis- tor. Depending on switch position, ML reads 0-500 mA grid current, 0-5 kV plate voltage, 0-2000 W forward power and 0-200 W reflected power. R6 prevents the voltage at the end of multiplier string RI-RS from going to supply voltage when SI is set to positions other than plate voltage. Note that St can bea single-wafer switch, SIB is not needed—the negative end. of MI may be grounded and S1B elimi- nated. Fig 75 shows the wattmeter. This cir cuit is similar to many others that have appeared over the years. ‘Construction Figs 76 and 77 show the amplifier with the covers removed. Detailed dimensions fare not given because many of the parts used are surplus. It would be difficult to duplicate this amplifier exactly, so you ‘should consider the information presented here as guidelines, rather than as “‘cook- book” directions ‘The input circuit is built ona 3 x 17 x 4-inch (HWD) chassis (Bud AC-432) that runs along the back of the amplifier chas- sis assembly. The 3CX1200A7 socket is mounted to this chassis, and underneath are the filament choke, input bandswitch, individual pi-network’ input circuits for cach band, coupling and bypass capacitors, and the input relay and associated circuitry. Originally, the filament transformer was ‘mounted on this chassis as well, but it was ‘moved to cure an instability problem. (The ‘metal case of the filament transformer did not provide a good shield). BI blows air into the sealed input-circuit compartment, and air is exhausted into the output-circuit ‘compartment. ‘The filament transformer, control cir- cuits and bias components are built in a 3 x 9.25 x 7-inch (HWD) chassis that bolted to the input chassis. (This is a stan- dard Bud AC-408 chassis shortened to 9.25 inches.) ‘Output-circuit components, including the tuning and loading capacitors, tank coil and bandswitch, are mounted on a piece of 1/8-inch aluminum sheet. A heavy cop- per strap is used for grounding the tuning and loading capacitors. Use of this strap is necessary to prevent ground-loop ‘currents. Four separate pieces make up the plate- tank coil. See Figs 72 and 76 for details. A length of Y4-inch diameter soft-drawn ‘copper tubing is the basis for the 10-meter ‘coil. Clean the tubing well and wind 6 turns on a 1%-inch diameter form. (This is one more turn than needed, but gives some extra material to work with.) Flatten one end of the tubing and drill it to clear ano. 6-32 screw. Remove the excess turn, flat- ten the other end and drill it to pass ano. 6-32 screw. Spread or compress the coil s0 that there are 2% inches between the centers of the holes drilled in the ends of HF Radio Equipment 30-61Fig 76—Top vow of he 3CX1200A7 amir wih the cover removed. The bower, athe ‘an ear boted othe nt chal tet Tune slong the rere te amliierassomb ‘ne flment ranstormer's mounted inet EF he Bower, onto chassis thal hole tho Control oreta KY and RE are mounted i socket eg the flamer rane. icrmer the watineer aduetmortpotero- Imotors (RS and Ai, Fig 79) a mdcnted on & Bracket on these of he pae-creut enclosure rear amet transformer ‘he plate-carrent metr and multimeter are Imounted onthe font pana (ower hight corner GF photo) and the mulmeter ary sc murda te front pane n ont othe Pitot encour The 9OK 200A? fmounied onthe npueut chaste the Tight oar tthe pate ort enclose. High ‘eltge wiing ard bypas capoctors, ad the Fr eho, sr fo te fet ofthe be, Tre Minboe i helt rea comer ofthe pate- feu compart hoses Khe ca talay To vacuum-anable tuning capac tmeuried athe nite ofthe pate a armen, andthe loading capactor she fet ron: the plat-col sasombly and plate heat Dando (andor the pate co are ‘mounted betwoon the to capactor Fig 77—Bottom view of the 3CX1200A7 amp. ‘ior wit the covers removed. The amplifier ‘chassis assembly consists of three parts: (1) the input chassis (lt side of photo) runs the ‘entre width of the amplifier, 2) the control cr ‘uit chassis (lower right; and (2) the plate ‘compartment (upper righ) Bult on an alumi. ‘hum sheet. The tuned input cicults are visible in the input chassis, above the tube socket. “The pi networks are bull on an unetched piace of circut board material, with the coll ‘adjustment shafts protruding through the rear ‘Panel, The input bandswitch is mounted t0 the ‘opposite chassis wall, with its shaft protruding into the plate-ircutt compartment. Below the {Ube socket fs the Mamont choke, A small ct. ‘cult board bolted to the rear wall to the lot of termina strips. Kt and K2 are mounted in ‘Sockets in the lower center of the chassis. Qt ‘and associated parts are mountod on a small ‘eult Board In the lower right cornerthe coll. The finished coil is S turns, spaced 2% inches. A.2-7/8 x 8%-inch piece of Y-inch- thick Plexiglas® serves as the main plate- tank coil support. Drill a mounting hole in ‘each corner of the Plexiglas sheet, “4 inch in from the ends. Drill two holes for the 10-meter coil 1-5/8 inch in from one end. ‘Mount the 10-meter coil above the Plexi- las sheet on 3/8-inch spacers. Next, cut three pieves of B&W coil stock. ‘You'll need 6% turns of 24047, 614 turns of 2406T and 10 turns of 2408T.. Slide the ‘24087 onto the Plexiglas support, followed bby the 2406T and then the 2408T. Using a thin piece of brass shim stock, connect one ‘end of the 2404T to one of the mounting serews for the 10-meter coil. Using more shim stock to make a good mechanical bond, splice the other end of the 2404T to the 2406T, and the 2406T to the 2408T. Solder all Connections. The free end of the 2408T goes to the loading capacitor. ‘The output-circuit shield is made of sheet aluminum and angle stock. The top has a screened hole for hot air exhaust. K4, the output antenna relay, is in the Minibox mounted to the inside rear wall of the output compartment, directly behind the loading capacitor. The wattmeter RF- sensing circuitry is inside the Minibox ‘mounted on the outside of the back panel, near the tube. Problem Areas During original tests, the amy ated very poorly above 20 meters. It had severe LF and VHF parasitics, and none of the common cures worked. By accident, it was found that the case of the filament transformer was hot with RF energy, and in fact an arc could be drawn from the transformer mounting bolts. An NE2 neon lamp, mounted on an insulated rod and placed near the tube or filament trans- former, glowed bright purple. (Normally, Table 1 Typical Operating Conditions for the 3CX1200A7 Amplifier Plate Voltage 3500 V Plate Current 800 ma Grid Current’ 180 mA Power Output 1500 W Driv Power 100 W Input SWRe <1.5:1 the neon lamp glows orange in the presence of HF energy. If it glows purple, VHF energy is present.) Removing the filament transformer from the shielded plate com- partment cured the VHF parasitic problem, Dut there was still a trace of a low: frequency parasitic. Moving the plate RF choke (RFC1) to the position shown in Fig 70 cured this problem. Tune-Up ‘Check the high-voltage supply for proper operation before connecting it to the RF deck. Check all circuit paths in the power supply and RF deck for possible short cir- ‘cuits. Verify the operation of all control cir- ccuits with the high-voltage off and with the tube removed from the socket. When ‘everything works, place the tube in the cir- ‘cuit and apply power to the blower, fila~ ment transformer and control circuitry. Measure the filament voltage at the tube socket; it should be 7.5 V. If all is well, remove power from the RF deck and install the covers. Connect the high-voltage supply. Connect an exciter capable of delivering about 100 W to the input through a wattmeter and connect the amplifier output to a suitable dummy load through a second wattmeter. Close the the BLOWER and FiLs switches. The blower will start and filament power will be applied. The BLOWER and FILS lamps will light. Close the PLATE switch, Fig 78—Spectral photograph of the ‘3Cx1200A7 ampfier operating through the low-pass fiter. Power output Is 1500 W at ‘4 MHz. Each horizontal division is 10 MHz; ‘each vertical division is 10 dB. All harmonics land sputious emissions are atleast 56 48 below peak output. and the high-voltage will come on. Plate voltage should register with Ml in the Ep position. Press the transceiver PTT switch. ‘M2 should indicate about 150 mA resting plate current. ‘Apply about 10-W drive and adjust the slugs of the coils in the input pi networks for lowest SWR at the center of each band. ‘Adjust the TUNE and LOAD controls for ‘maximum output. Gradually increase drive the power output reaches 1500 W. With 3500 V on the plate, grid current should be about 200 mA, and plate current should be about 800 mA. Recheck the input SWR on each band with the amplifier running at full output. Table I shows the operating parameters for this amplifier. Although it has no problem meeting FCC specifications for spectral purity, a B&W low-pass filter is bolted to the side of the plate-tank com- partment for added harmonic suppression Fig 78 shows the spectral output of the amplifier with the low-pass filter. HF Radio Equipment 30-63