[Amps] Stripline design

[Paul Decker]

Thanks to everyone for the really good discussion on this, I've learned a few things.  If there is no visible moon this weekend, I'll likely tear into my amp and take some internal dimensions.  It won't hurt to document it a bit anyway, maybe posting the writeup somewhere for anyone who wants it.  If I feel brave, maybe drop the 3cx800 in and see what happens.   There was a suggestion about using copper foil as a prototype testbed to get the strip impedance correct, that seems like a good idea.

Once that is determined, I wonder if the strip material has a large effect on the system.  The current strip is 0.125" brass.  I note that electrically brass is not that conductive, copper is much better, K1FO states to silver plate the stripline.  It would seem to me if the brass strip is working, that an aluminum strip should be about 3x better than brass in conductivity, and of course a copper or silver plated strip would be even be more conductive.  

Would it generally acceptable to go from brass to aluminum for the strip?  

One of the downsides is making the fingerstock connection to the aluminum.   It is possible to solder aluminum and copper so this might not be a big issue.

Paul
kg7hf