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[AMPS] Impedance of amplifiers

To: <amps@contesting.com>
Subject: [AMPS] Impedance of amplifiers
From: G3SEK@ifwtech.demon.co.uk (Ian White, G3SEK)
Date: Sat, 17 Jul 1999 23:39:52 +0100
Tom Rauch wrote:

>Rich Measures wrote:
>> ?  For c. five years, the ARRL Handbook had the wrong Pi-L tank values - 
>> -  despite being repeatedly told about the problem.  .
>
>Is it easy to explain what is wrong about the values? 
>
If we're talking about the same formulae, they were approximations that
assumed a high loaded Q. They were probably good enough for designing
output tank circuits, but gave major errors in Q values for cathode
circuits with deliberately low loaded Qs.

Accurate design formulae have been given in the Amplifiers chapter since
1995. If you analyse a network designed using the post-1995 formulae, the
actual loaded Q is exactly correct. The reference is not given (a long-
term failing in the ARRL Handbook's editorial policy, IMO) but I believe
it was to a QST article in the early 1990s.

>> since 1995, the Handbook has had an inaccurate method of calculating RF
>> current in a DC blocking cap.  My guess is that it will remain there until
>> sometime around 2040.  .  
>
>What is the correct method?

The formula given is described as a "conservative and very rough rule of
thumb" - the implication being that it's an over-estimate, which should be
adequate for the purposes of choosing a suitable capacitor. If there's any
evidence that the formula can ever under-estimate the current, I'm sure
we'd all like to know.

73 from Ian G3SEK          Editor, 'The VHF/UHF DX Book'
                          'In Practice' columnist for RadCom (RSGB)
                           http://www.ifwtech.demon.co.uk/g3sek

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