Welcome aboard Ron.
The L has about 150-180 ma idle current in SSB and substantially less in the
CW position.
Your tubes sound just fine.
Do a search in the forum archives for discussions on the L and modifications
to help it along a bit.
Carl
KM1H
----- Original Message -----
From: "Ron Hauser" <eichmann@kc.rr.com>
To: <amps@contesting.com>
Sent: Sunday, January 27, 2008 8:45 PM
Subject: [Amps] Dentron Clipperton L Questions
> Greetings QRO afcionados. I got a "good deal" on a Dentron Clipperton L,
> which is my first amp, so I have some questions.
>
> 1) When all tuned up, and keyed in SSB with no mike audio, I believe I
> should see some idle bias plate current. Without even thinking about
> this,
> my old kenwood tube final radio has 60 ma idle bias, so I would expect
> more
> for the amp. I have very little, like 50ma, barely bumping the needle.
> Does a grounded grid amplifier use plate idle bias current? How much
> should
> there be, and how would I adjust?
>
> 2) One of the reasons that this amp appeared to be a "good deal" is
> because
> it was sold with the presumption of soft tubes, thought to be a good amp
> needing tubes. I understand from reading the manual that this amp is
> designed for 1 kw DC input, and in the CW position I get right at 1 kw in,
> and 600 w out. Switching to SSB position and keying down very briefly, I
> get 1000w. I feel pretty good about this, would you call these soft
> tubes?
>
>
> Background: I got licensed about three years ago and have really fallen
> in
> love with the old Kenwood tube final radios. My main radio is a TS830
> that
> I have babied and modified. During the course of learning how to work on
> these old kenwoods, I have learned _a_few_ things about tubes, keep your
> fingers out of the HV and keep one hand in your pocket, etc. I'm not an
> electrical engineer (though I am a chemical engineer) so I haven't worked
> on
> electronics before getting into ham radio. So I know enough to be
> dangerous.
>
> The amp has been hooked up since christmas, it is on a dedicated 220v
> circuit that has about 240-245V. I get 1850V in CW position, 2600V in SSB
> with pretty small sagging during key down. The antenna is a 140 ft
> doublet
> fed with window line from a tentec 2kw tuner. Nearly all the operating
> has
> been on 80m, with a handful of contacts on 20m. No attempts at other
> bands
> yet. I have seen the web pages about improving the performance on 160m,
> but
> for now I don't have an antenna for that band.
>
> I've gotten good reports, including getting on the air locally with a
> friend
> who knows me and my voice, and we went back and forth to compare. So I
> have
> no complaints, if it ain't broke I don't want to fix it, but since I am
> new
> to amps I just wanted to confirm.
>
> Thanks!
> --Ron
> K0EIA
>
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