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Re: [Amps] Parasitics & Filament Sag

To: <g3rzp@g3rzp.wanadoo.co.uk>
Subject: Re: [Amps] Parasitics & Filament Sag
From: "Tom W8JI" <w8ji@w8ji.com>
Date: Wed, 30 Aug 2006 05:57:25 -0400
List-post: <mailto:amps@contesting.com>
> Rich said:
>>But the suppressor isn't a series X and R.<

Peter G3RZP said:
> Made of resistance wire, it is. If it isn't, then the 
> measurements Wes did, which show an impedance that 
> increases with frequency, are wrong.

It's easy to see the series resistance added by the nichrome 
primarily affects low frequency performance, and has a 
decreasing effect as frequency is increased. The correct 
term for a nichrome suppressor would be a "low HF Q 
suppressor", not a "low Q VHF suppressor".

This is why anything we might want to do at VHF can be 
accomplished by simply changing resistance and inductance in 
a conventional suppressor.

As you say Peter, the resistive loss of the nichrome is in 
series with the inductance and only increases the impedance 
of the suppressor. It increases the impedance of the 
suppressor at all frequencies, even those where we normally 
don't want to increase it.

It isn't any magic bullet. If I took a regular suppressor 
and added a small series resistor at one end, I'd have the 
same electrical characteristics.

If you take a stock AG6K hairpin suppressor kit for 3CX800's 
and measure the anode load Q looking into the tank from the 
tube and compare it to a stock suppressor in the AL800 
amplifier, the nichrome hairpin INCREASES VHF Q of the 
system. This is because the inductance is much lower than 
the multi-turn stock suppressor coil that is shunted by a 
100 ohm resistance, and the added resistance of the nichrome 
doesn't make up the difference.

The only time a nichrome suppressor and conventional 
suppressor are equal at upper VHF is when the nichrome is 
wound in a multi-turn coil about the same size and turns as 
the stock suppressor. The two are very much the same. The 
only place there is a major difference is at HF and lower, 
where the nichrome adds series resistance.

This is all pretty basic stuff. It's easy to see how it 
works. If I had an amplifier oscillating at VHF, I'd most 
likely use a regular suppressor to fix it. If I had an HF 
amplifier oscillating at the operating frequency or near ten 
meters, nichrome could be an option. It isn't anything magic 
or special at all, and it certainly isn't a universal cure. 
It is just something that is lossier at lower frequencies, 
and about the same at VHF.

73 Tom 


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