[Amps] Output Matching Network, Need Advice

[KB0NLY]

Gents,

As some here are aware, i am building a 6M amp using a GI-7B Triode.  I constructed the amp from a combination of info from YU1AW and a few that have actually built his design.

Today i am trying to finish building and adjusting the output network.  I borrowed an MFJ analyer and put it on the output, calculated the value of the resistor i should put from the anode to chassis using all the info and references you guys provided and that should be a 2200 ohm, or 2.2k resistor, tripped the t/r relay and started working on it. I could't get the SWR meter to go below infinity, and the resistance would adjust over range of 20-100 ohms with the load cap.  So i removed some plates from the plate cap, slowly only pair at a time until i started seeing a dip in SWR as i tried it each time.

I got down to the last four plates, four on the stator four on the rotor, and i wanted to stop and ask some questions before i take off any more as its a destructive process with the air variable i have and i can't put them back if i mess up!  I found some references that said i should go up and down in frequency from my target frequency and try adjusting it each time to find out where its resonant.  I found through trial and error that i could get it totally flat, 1:1 and 50 ohms, at 40Mhz.  So i need to go up in frequency.

The questions..

Should i remove more plates from the tuning cap to bring up the resonant frequency?  I think i might still be too high in value, most designs online show around 5-30pf for it and i probably don't have it that low yet.

Or should i make a change to my plate coil?  I have that at 4 1/2 turns of 10awg wire, spaced less than the thickness of the wire apart at roughly 1 1/8" inside diameter.  That was the tightest and closest i could get it to the specs online.  I tried changing the gap on the turns, more and less, and it didn't seem to affect it any.

73,

Scott KBØNLY