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Re: [TowerTalk] BALUN revisited again

To: towertalk@contesting.com
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] BALUN revisited again
From: Jim Brown <jim@audiosystemsgroup.com>
Reply-to: jim@audiosystemsgroup.com
Date: Sat, 9 Apr 2016 00:29:21 -0700
List-post: <towertalk@contesting.com">mailto:towertalk@contesting.com>
On Fri,4/8/2016 10:13 PM, Jim Thomson wrote:
##  say what ?   AFIAIK, he uses  FOUR type 31 cores for the CMC-230-5K ,
2 x cores  for each assy.

Could be -- can't tell from the photos. That helps with power handling, and it also adds L, which lowers the resonance.

   8000-11,200 ohms of RS is nothing to sneeze at. Its
rated at 5 kw pep out.   It wont blow up with 1.5 kw cxr.  Its been tested. 
2-30 mhz

##  The BL2006-3k  is a 14-54 mhz balun.  Single core.   5400- 8600 ohms of RS
is again, nothing to sneeze at.   Rated for 3 kw pep out.   It  wont blow up on 
20-6m,
with 1.5 kw cxr.

There's a serious fallacy here about power ratings for chokes that use the resistance at resonance (which is the right way to do it). Dissipation in this kind of choke depends STRONGLY on the common mode voltage, which in turn depends strongly on the antenna system, INCLUDING the feedline and its length.

##  Your  single  core overheated on 80m.   His BL2006-3k  Is rated for 14-54 
mhz.
Its not intended to be used on 80m!

Operating frequency is only one factor. The choke I fried was more turns to move the resonance down so that it would cover 80M, and it provided about 5K ohms resistive. But that antenna SYSTEM needed at least twice that choking Z to run US legal limit.

Dissipation in a choke is the SUM of the differential mode power and the common mode power. N6BV wrote an excellent piece that ran in QST a couple years ago on the issue of differential mode dissipation in chokes with severely mismatched antennas (he predicted disaster), and ran it past me first. I told him that his analysis of differential mode was right on, but that he had failed to consider common mode, which makes matters even worse!

Another thing that bothers me about these chokes is that they are in what appear to be sealed enclosures, which can limit the ability of the assembly to conduct heat away from the choke, reducing its power handling.

The key to power handling is to understand that power is I squared R, and that the choking Z must be high enough to reduce the current so that dissipation is not excessive. Because power is increasing (or decreasing) as the square of the current, you CAN outrun your tail by making the choking Z high enough, because the power is dropping twice as fast as the current. :)

The differential mode dissipation must be modeled using transmission line techniques -- a Smith Chart or N6BV's TLW (free with the ARRL Antenna Book) will get you right answers. We must model the common mode part of the problem by adding the equivalent circuit of the choke(s) to an NEC model, where the choke is added to a single conductor the length of the feedline running between the feedpoint and ground (or wherever the coax is connected). Remember -- the equivalent circuit of a ferrite common mode choke is NOT best described as a series R + jX, but rather as a parallel resonant circuit, where L is the mid-to-low frequency inductance, R is the Z at resonance, and C is the stray C that resonates with L to establish the resonant peak. That simple circuit works for #43 and for #31 above about 7 MHz. For #31, it's more complicated than that, because it has both a circuit resonance and a dimensional resonance that give it a double humped response (like a stagger tuned IF), which is what gives #31 its extended bandwidth.

Much of this is developed in the tutorial stuff on my website.

73, Jim K9YC


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