[Amps] [Boatanchors] Tetroded as Triodes

[Fuqua, Bill L]

Check out the following article by Bill Orr.
http://ahars.com.au/documents/eimac01.pdf
73
bill wa4lav

________________________________________
From: amps-bounces at contesting.com [amps-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of Fuqua, Bill L [wlfuqu00 at uky.edu]
Sent: Monday, February 20, 2012 10:14 PM
To: Wilson Lamb; amps at contesting.com
Subject: Re: [Amps] [Boatanchors] Tetroded as Triodes

Both grids grounded.

Data for grounded grid operation of 4-125A is in Bill Orr's article on grounded grid
tetrodes which also includes the 4-250A, 4-400A, 4-1000A. The 4-65A was not included since
it has similar issues as the 4CX series tubes.
73
Bill wa4lav

________________________________________
From: Wilson Lamb [infomet at embarqmail.com]
Sent: Monday, February 20, 2012 9:26 PM
To: Fuqua, Bill L
Subject: Re: [Boatanchors] Tetroded as Triodes

Was this in grounded grid, grounded screen??
WL
----- Original Message -----
From: "Fuqua, Bill L" <wlfuqu00 at uky.edu>
To: "Robert Groh" <rgroh at swbell.net>; "Wilson Lamb"
<infomet at embarqmail.com>; "Boatanchors List" <boatanchors at puck.nether.net>
Sent: Monday, February 20, 2012 3:06 PM
Subject: RE: [Boatanchors] Tetroded as Triodes


I have run 4-125A and 6155 tubes. A pair should produce 500 to 600 watts
with glowing plates.
The 6155s are much more durable and don't glow as brightly as the 4-125As
  I agree that the plate current or cathode current at almost 3kV does not
match up with results of
low output power and no glow of the plates.
  Something is amiss perhaps the cathode current meter.
Or possibly the power meter.
  The gain seems a  bit greater than I recall but I was not limited in drive
so did not pay much attention to it.
73
Bill wa4lav


________________________________________
From: boatanchors-bounces at puck.nether.net
[boatanchors-bounces at puck.nether.net] On Behalf Of Robert Groh
[rgroh at swbell.net]
Sent: Sunday, February 19, 2012 7:12 PM
To: Wilson Lamb; Boatanchors List
Subject: Re: [Boatanchors] Tetroded as Triodes

A few no-practical-experience-but-just-educated-guesses:
1.   You have 250W of available plate dissipation.  Allowing 60% efficiency,
300W watts out, 500W in, 200w for plates.  Not far off the mark.

2.   Grid current should be pretty much zip so the cathode current pretty
much
equals plate current so plate current is approximately 300 mA (the data
sheet
lists the grid at 5W maximum).

3.   Assuming no sag in plate voltage: Pin = 2700 * 0.3A = 810 watts.  That
would imply 500W plate dissipation (with 300 W output). That is NOT
consistent
with no plate color so I suspect a large drop in plate voltage under load.
OR a
lot of grid current.  But even if you allow 50 mA of grid current (quite a
bit),
that would put the dc input at 600+ watts and that should have a ton of
plate
color.  So my suspicion is lots of plate voltage drop.

What load impedance are you shooting for and what band are you on?  All
sounds
interesting and I (for one) would certainly like to hear more!

73
Bob, WA2CKY






________________________________
From: Wilson Lamb <infomet at embarqmail.com>
To: BOATANCHORS <BOATANCHORS at puck.nether.net>
Sent: Sun, February 19, 2012 12:26:38 PM
Subject: [Boatanchors] Tetroded as Triodes

I acquired an amp with a pair of 4-125As in grounded grid.  It was a mess,
never
finished, and took a LOT of work, but is now on the air.

Does anyone have experience with this setup?  There's plenty of plate
voltage,
2700 and off resonance the tubes will go bright red.  Max output is 300W,
however, which I think is low.  There's no plate current meter yet, but
cathode
current at max output is about 300mA, much of which is grid current, I
think.
Key down CW at 300W out shows almost no color in the plates and increasing
loading with the pi net output produces less output.

It sounds great on SSB and has a lot of gain (15W drive for 300W out).

So what's happening that keeps it from producing more output when the drive
is
raised?

I've seen some articles on 4-400s in GG, but never the little 4-125A.

Thanks,
Wilson
W4BOH
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