The Artwork Of DK1IS

Recent discussion on the RSGB LF Group reflector about high-powered LF / MF amplifiers brought an interesting response from Tom, DK1IS, and his unique solution.

It's no secret that a Class D / E amplifier using switching MOSFETs is a popular and reasonably inexpensive method of generating some serious RF on the LF and MF bands. Equally well-known is their propensity to gobble-up FETs should the amplifiers encounter much reactance in their output load. Most builders include some form of protection for sudden over-current or unwanted SWR excursions which will shut down the amplifier before any FETs can self-destruct. Those that don't usually end up replacing FETs.




I would venture to guess that over 90% of the transmitters now being employed on LF or MF are using switching MOSFETs in a Class D / E design but there are some amateurs using vacuum tubes to do their heavy-lifting ... and with good results.

DK1IS's beautiful homebrew amplifier is shown below. Tom provided the following description:

Hi Wolf and group,

nice to hear that someone else is thinking about this approach! I´m
content with my homemade tube PA for LF and MF which has provided
reliable service since nearly 4 years now. Only some thoughts about this
concept - I hope not to bore all those hams who are happy with their
semiconductor PAs:

Years ago I had a MOSFET PA for LF, Class B push-pull with 250 W RF. It
worked well at constant conditions, but when I had to retune the antenna
due to larger QSY or made antenna experiments there always was the
danger of blowing up these nervous semiconductors. After 4 or 5 times
changing the MOSFETS I decided to build a new PA - with tubes! Looking a
little bit anachronistic this PA is absolutely good-natured. Designed for
broadband service on LF and MF it makes no problems when changing the
antenna coarse tuning from one band to the other even when the fine
tuning isn't done yet. With my former MOSFET-PA this would have been
impossible.

I wanted to have a linear PA - this usually means class B. You have to
decide between narrow band and broad band (like an audio-amp) design.
For narrow band you can use a single-ended PA but you have to add a
resonance circuit. For broad band you should use a push-pull PA and have
to build a suitable output transformer. I opted for broad band design
because it is usable for LF and MF without changes at the PA. With this
design and sin-driving I reach a total harmonic distortion of about 5 %
at 700 W RF on a pure resistive dummy load. With the usual narrow,
narrow band antennas on LF and MF you don´t need additional filters!

Concerning the tubes: If you take the common TX tubes with plate
voltages of several kV all output circuits have rather high impedances,
that means large coils for the resonance circuits resp. large
transformer windings and very high voltages - potentially a construction
problem. This led me to the choice of 2x 4x PL519 in push-pull, a rugged
colour TV line output tube with low plate voltage and high plate
current. In this way I came down to a plate-to-plate resistance of about
1 kOhm at 600 V DC plate voltage, where you easily can build a ferrite
broad band output transformer down to 50 Ohms. A disadvantage of this
concept is that you have to give individual bias to each tube, that
means for the first start-up you have to align 8 potentiometers
carefully to nearly equal cathode currents for all the tubes. But
according to my experience this alignment remains stable over a long
time. I have inserted 1-Ohm-resistors in each cathode line and have
brought the voltage drops to 8 cinch connectors, where I can monitor the
DC component (with external filtering) as well as the real time current.
With 4 tubes in parallel per branch of course you have to take care for
self oscillations. The extensive use of bypass capacitors, ferrite beads
and parasitic chokes in the plate lines is mandatory as well as good
grounding concepts are. The tubes don´t pull control grid current (this
would even be true in class C!) but you need 3 or 4 W RF input power due
to all the ohmic loads at the tube´s control grids caused by the
individual bias paths. On the other hand this certainly helps to avoid
oscillations. You can see some pictures of this PA at https://www.qrz.com/db/DK1IS

By the way: why not to try these tubes at class D? With DC plate
voltages of perhaps 1200 V you should get a nice QRO-PA ...

Wolf, you are right: building such a PA from scratch is a time consuming
enterprise. I didn´t count the working hours but according to my lab log
the whole project took about 9 months - an adequate time for a new baby!
It was a great experience anyway.

Good luck and 73,
Tom, DK1IS

2x 4x PL519 Push-Pull

 

 

TX, power supply, RX, exciter

As 'day one' for U.S. amateurs gaining their new LF / MF bands draws closer, many are seriously thinking about building or modifying rigs to get on the air. I'm sure the use of switching MOSFET amplifiers will still reign supreme when it comes to decision-making time but with some feeling more comfortable with tube technology, especially when used for power amplifiers, I suspect we will see some interesting tube transmitters being employed as well. I'm sure that some will even seek to modify older tube rigs, knowing that a pair of 6146's can muster enough power to have plenty of fun on the new band as well.

DK1IS has provided an inspiring example of what can be done using vacuum tubes ... they certainly should not be discounted as a viable method of generating your hard-earned LF / MF ERP.