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[AMPS] Properly setting inductance

To: <amps@contesting.com>
Subject: [AMPS] Properly setting inductance
From: w8jitom@postoffice.worldnet.att.net (w8jitom@postoffice.worldnet.att.net)
Date: Wed, 20 Aug 1997 22:13:54 +0000
> From:          km1h@juno.com (km1h @ juno.com)
> Subject:       Re: [AMPS] Q Swing
To: <amps@contesting.com>
> Date:          Wed, 20 Aug 97 23:09:45 +0000

Karl wrote:
> >> diameter and TPI and look it up in a B&W sheet. Since the inductance 
> >is
> >> linear all you need to do is look up the total L for a  full 10" 
> >length
> >> and then measure your lengths.

I said:
> >Not a good method in the real world.

 KM1H:
> Maybe in your version of reality but not in the world the rest of us
> inhabit.

I had no idea most people didn't know such a simple fact!!

The reality of the world is this. Air coils are greatly affected 
by the surroundings, since the field... unlike a capacitor... extends 
outside the coil. 

You can find this published in virtually any text dealing with RF 
components, or observe the results if you own an amplifier (an 
excellent example would be a Dentron) and watch the tuning change as 
the cover is removed and installed.

In any book, from the ARRL Handbook to top notch 
engineering books (like Termin or Giacoletto's books), they 
universally indicate:

1.) Inductance does not change linearly with turns

2.) Air coils are greatly affected both in Q and inductance by 
surroundings.

The proper way to get an inductance correct is to mount the 
inductor in its end location with all nearby components and 
sheet metal in place. Install a small high quality capacitor that 
resonates near the working frequency with the desired value of 
inductance. You can then measure the resonant frequency and adjust 
the inductor accordingly.

By the way, even the shorted turns (most tanks short unused turns) 
will change the inductance of the section you are using, rendering 
"chart estimates" one step above a wild guess.

73 Tom

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