I've just done the W8JI test on the repaired choke.
I made a quick Youtube video showing the results. You can see it at :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AilAblhxXSw
Certainly out on the bench I would not expect a problem at 10.1MHz
Martin, HS0ZED
On 15/04/2018 12:30, Martin Sole wrote:
Thanks for all the very useful replies guys, lots of stuff to mull
over and check out before making the next (mis)step :)
@ VE7RF. Jim you mention the L4B as working FB 80-10 and no problem on
17+12. CAn you confirm that? I have an L4B minus the supply. If that's
a workimg solution for 12m it would probably be good enough as is and
I'll just keep it for that but adding 12m to one of the more complete
coverage Alphas's or the big Henry 2k Classic X without upsetting
anything else might still be a worthwhile option.
The Ameritron choke seems to be exactly the RF parts RFC3, 3 windings,
approx 86, 54 and 44 turns, looks like 30 awg, 25.5mm diameter former.
N4UQ mentions the RFC 3 in his FAQ in the Alpha 77 section, quote
"RF Parts" sells the RFC-3 but it is resonant on 30 meters. While it
is sold as a high powered choke, the wire is awfully small.
Hmm, I also found a big resonance around 10MHz.
W8JI says:
Starting with a continuous winding core, the fully wound choke had
resonances at 10 MHz and 20 MHz. Looking at voltage hot spots,
sections of windings were removed. The lower gap near the choke middle
moved the 10 MHz resonance up to 12.5 MHz or so. This shifted the
upper resonance from 20 MHz to near the 24.8 MHz band. The upper gap
moved the resulting second-order series-resonance from 25 MHz up to 27
MHz. Without the upper gap, the second overtone resonance is too close
to 24.8 MHz. The gaps park unwanted series-resonances between 30 and
20 meters, and at the lower end of 11 meters. This results in the
highest possible inductance for 160 meters, while keeping harmful
resonances away from normal operating frequencies.
I'm going to set up a test using his method and see what I get. I will
rewind the the choke just replacing the burnt section plus a couple of
turns either side. Hopefully that will give me some useful numbers.
There seems to be a lot of variation in numbers so I'm hoping I can
fnd something a bit more consistent.
I like the trick to add some unconnected turns, presumably the phantom
coil is shorted end to end?
Martin, HS0ZED
*
*
On 11/04/2018 14:35, Martin Sole wrote:
Hi,
An interesting point about the band switch. The "interesting moment"
occurred with the band switch in the 40m position. I'd read elsewhere
that that was a preferred setting but that was a different choke so...?
I do see with everything hooked up and the band switch on 7MHz a
nasty dip around 9.5MHz. Think I had been doing this wrong before. If
I then move the band switch to 14MHz the choke resonance moves down
to around 6.5MHz. I guess I need to see if the tank has enough range
to cover 30m in the 20m position.
But I think my "repair" was not really to the task as it let go
again, this time on 20m when probably slightly off resonance. It may
just be this choke is not well suited to this design of amp. I'll
restore the original to see if it plays as it should then think about
what to do next. I do have a couple of other candidates for a 12m
mod, Henry 2k Classic X, SB220, L4B, A77D, 30S-1.
Martin, HS0ZED
On 11/04/2018 12:28, Vic Rosenthal wrote:
For what it’s worth, I’ve found with several amps that did not have
a 30 meter position on the bandswitch, 30 worked best with the
bandswitch set to 20 meters.
I have used this choke successfully on 30 in a SB1000 and a homebrew
4CX1000A amp.
Vic 4X6GP
On 11 Apr 2018, at 5:53, Martin Sole <hs0zed@gmail.com
<mailto:hs0zed@gmail.com>> wrote:
Thanks Vic,
Here's a bit of an update.
I had a change of thinking and decided the use of 12m might be more
beneficial in my Alpha 78. This has a broadband input circuit
that's pretty flat from 1.8 to 30 MHz without any switching. The 78
is a tight work space and the Ameritron choke is larger than the
stock Alpha choke both in diameter and length. Still I felt it
would fit with reasonable clearance.
Out of circuit and on the bench I used my Heathkit GD1 GDO with a
counter to test the shorted Ameritron choke. I found it to resonate
around 9.1MHz. I was concerned that's quite close to 30m but
knowing it would likely change in place I continued to fit it. In
place and again shorted I found the dip to have moved to around
8.5MHz. Okay this is halfway between 40m and 30m pretty much. The
choke is close to the tank coil which is perpendicular and right at
one end. It's also close to the blower housing and the lower part
of the choke is close to the tube plenum.
Operation on 40, 20, 15 and 10m seems much as before. If anything
it might be down fractionally and desiring a bit more drive for
similar outputs. It tested fine on 12m with slightly less output
than on 10 or 15 presumably due to the less than optimum tank
values. On 30m things got "inneresting". With the amp on 7MHz I
found a dip and proceed to adjust though with not much output. At
around 200 watts output a somewhat stentorian retort signaled the
demise of the plate choke. Clearly this is either not a good choke
for 30m in this application or I need to make other "adjustments".
The rest of the amp is stock and I left the small choke with
capacitors at the point where the HT is connected to the base of
the main RFC .
Is this choke known to be limiting at 30m or are there other things
I can do to over come the problem.
Martin, HS)ZED
On 10/04/2018 23:09, Vic Rosenthal wrote:
It SHOULD work without issues. But it wouldn’t hurt to check for series
resonances with the choke in place (check with GDO, power off, choke temporarily
shorted).
Vic 4X6GP
On 10 Apr 2018, at 12:03, Martin Sole<hs0zed@gmail.com> wrote:
Hi,
About to swap the anode choke in my Alpha 77D for the Ameritron RFC in the hope
it will work on 12m without issue. Any gotchas or is it pretty much plug n play?
Thanks
Martin, HS0ZED
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