Projects A600WatthomebrewSolidStateAmplifierandPowerSupply

VariableVoltage
7ampPowerSupply Amplifiersareafavouritehomebrewproject.YearsbackIhadhelpedbuildacouple
Gateway40 ofvalve(tubeintheUS)amplifiersusingasingle4CX250Bon2meters.This
ssb/cw5w
transceiver producesa250Wattamplifierandhasastriplineinductortomatchtheoutput.They
SimpleCheap50 neverworkedthatwell,buttheywerealotoffuntobuild.
WattPA
The"First
Transmitter" IwantedmorepoweronHFsothatIcouldmakefasterprogresstowardsmy
SimpleSuperhetfor
40MCW homebrewDXCC.IwantedtotrysomethingdifferentandmodernsoIsetoutto
A600WFETHF buildasolidstatelinearbasedonthepopularEB104MotorolaEngineeringBulletin
amplifier
3DPrinting byHelgeGranberg.Ituses4MRF150FETsinpushpullparalleltoacheive600
Visualastronomy Wattsfromabout6Wattsdrive.Thatwasaperfectdesigngivenmyhomebrew
frommyQTH
(placeholder) radioproducesabout5Wattsbarefoot.
UnderwaterROV
formineexploration IorderedtheRFboardandpartsfromCommunicationConceptsbutitrapidlybecameclearthatbuildingtheRFboardwasthe
FoxTelemGround
StationSoftware easiestpartoftheamplifier.ItturnedoutthatIhavetobuildthefollowingcomponentstocreateaworkinglinear:

Workbench A1200WattPowerSupply
Notes Adequatecoolingtoremove600Wattsofheat
2016
SwitchableLowPassFiltersthatcansurvivehunderedsofRFvoltsandhighcurrent
AnalysisofFox1A ControlcircuitstopreventmedestroyingmoreFETs(thatcost$25each)
Telemetry
TamingtheMFJ
4125PSUFan The1200WattPowerSupply
FoxTelemBitsand
Bytes Whiletimeconsumingtobuild,thepowersupplywastheeasiestcomponentto
2015 constructandtest.Idesignedittoproduce50Voltsat25Ampstosupplythedrains
3G0ZCRobinson
CrusoeIsland ontheFETsandtosupplythegatebias.Ialsoincluded13.8Voltsforcontrolcircuits
My30yearstruggle and12Voltsforthefan.
withCW
2014
OscarSatellitesand Thereisnothingcomplicatedinthecircuit.The50Vsupplyisnotregulatedother
AO73
2013 thanbyabankofcapacitorsandbyableederresistor.Ipurchased10000uF80V
2013Mar23Fan capacitorsfromMouser.comatareasonableprice.Youcanfindcapacitorsonebay
Dipolefor20m/40m
Mar5100worked! tooatgoodpricessometimes.Thebleederresistorsrunquitehotbecausethey
NowChasingthe drawaboutathirdofanamp,whichis17Wattsat50Volts.Iused25wattpower
paper
2012 resistorsandtheyseemtobefine.Keepthemawayfromtheelectrolyticcapacitors,
Nov20Amplifier whichdon'tliketogethot.
fixedandARRL
Sweepstakes
Oct30CQWW Theonlydifficultcomponenttoobtainforthepowersupplyisthetransformer.Like
DXandamplifier
failure otherswhohavebuilttheEB104amplifier,Ipurchasedthetransformerfrom
Sep22Moreaudio Ameritron,partnumber4061246.Thecolorcodesshowninthecircuitdiagramare
woes
Jun22FieldDay forthistransformer,butanyhighcurrent50volttransformerwillwork.
2012
Jan29Working Thecapacitorbankiscapableofsourcingalotofcurrentatstartup,soIusearelay
Split
Jan23FixingPoor toholdbacktheinitialcurrent.Whentheamplifierstarts,thereisa10ohmresistor
Audio thatlimitscurrentintothetransformer.Oncesufficientvoltageisestablishedonthe
Jan5PoorAudio
2011 12voltcircuit,ittripstherelaywhichshortsoutthe10ohmresistor.Thisallhappens
Oct31CQWW inafractionofasecond.
DXContest
Sept9ElusiveDX
Aug17Dealing Thepanelmeterscamefromwww.allelectronics.com,asdidthe25Ampshuntfor
withBlogSpam
May17Starting ammeter.TheshunthasnotyetbeenmountedinthepicturethatshowsthePowerSupplyopen.Itwasmountedontheback
theGinko panelatthetopright.Thecaseforthepowersupplyandtheamplifierareidentical,a8x12x9inchHammondsteelenclosure
Transeiver
May1Logging withalumminimfrontandrearpanels.Theyarepartnumber5461401MfromMouser.com.Itwouldprobabllyhavebeen
andQSLs possibletofitallofthecomponentsintooneenclosure,butIwantedtohavethepowersupplyseperateandunderthedesk.My
April16Funwith
homebrewedDXCC receiverisadirectconversiondesignbyKK7B.Ithascrystalclearaudio,butissensitivetotransformerhum.
April10Struggles
withtheAmplifier
butworthit
March21Control
circuitsforEB104
Amplifier
March15FirstRF
fromtheEB104
Amplifier
March11ARRL
DXContest
February16
EveningDX
February14
CasualvsSerious
DXDXCC
February11
HomebrewDXCC
February10
Success,Disaster
January4Heat
Spreaderwoes
2010
December28
EB104Progress
December01High
Powerandneeded
sideband
suppression
Nov25Simple
RigsandTxOffset
Nov01Simple ThePowerSupplyCircuit
Superhet

References
Books
Experimental
MethodsinRF
Design,W7ZOIet
al
ARRLHandbook
ARRLAntenna
Book
Websites
W7ZOI
SoldersmokeBlog
byN2CQR
HansSummers
AshharFarhan
VU2ESE
CrystalSetsto
Sidebandebook
ToroidTurns
Calculator
PeterParker
VK3YE
SuppliersIuse
General
Components
Mouser
ForToroids
Amidon
Forpanelmeters
AllElectronics

BythetimeIpurchasedthetransformer,thepanelmeters,thecapacitorsandacasefromMouser.com,itwouldhavebeen
muchcheapertobyasecondhand48VswitchingPSUonebay.Thatseemstobetheroutethatothershavetaken,butthenit
wouldnotbehomemade...SoIpurchasedthepartsandbuiltitmyself.

Adequatecoolingtoremove600Wattsofheat
Drillingthecopperspreaderwasthehardestpartoftheprojectforme,butitneednothavebeen.IfIhadknownhowtodrilland
tapcopperinadvance,thenIwouldhavehadalotlesstrouble.IfIbuiltthisprojectagain,thenthiswouldnotbeadifficultstep.

Ipurchasedthecopperspreaderfromonlinemetals.com.Theysellcopperplateinsmallquantities.It'snotcheap.Ipaidabout
$90atthetimeforan8"x6"x0.375"piece.

IpurchasedtheheatsinkthatCommunicationConceptssells.TheycallittheModel99anditsjustabitlargerthanthecopper
spreader.

I'musuallyverygoodatthemechanicalaspectsofmyprojects.Icancutholesinpanels,mountswitchesetc.ButIhadnot
workedwithcopperbefore,andtobehonest,IhadnottappedaholesinceIwasinschoolabout25yearsago.AtfirstIbroke
twodrillbits.Theysnappedoff,lodgedinthepieceofcopperforposterity.Adviceontheinternetsuggestedweldingsomething
tothebrokenpiecetoremovethem.Well,thatseemstoohard.Imarkedoutnewholes5mmtothesideandstarteddrillingthe
holesagain.ThistimeIusedacanofbicyclelubricant(websitessuggestedWD40)andtheholescutmucheasier.Ialsodrilled
forasecond,thenremovedthebitfromtheholetocleardebris,thendrilledsomemore.After5orsoonesecondcuts,Iadded
anothersquirtoflubricant.Withdrillingsolved(orsoIthought),Imovedontotapping,againusinglubricant.Well,asyouwould
expect,Ibroketapinoneoftheholesneededtomountatransistor.ItshardtodescribehowfrustratedIwas.Iwasverycareful.
Ihadputthetapinandoutmanytimestocleardebris.Iusedthelubricant.ButitcaughtandsnappedasIwasremovingit.I
couldnotremovethetap.Ithoughtaboutmovingtheholesagain,butwiththreepiecesofdebrisstuckinthecopperIordered
anotherpiece.A$90error.Ithoughtaboutboltingthetransistorsinplace,ratherthantappingtheholes,butthatwouldbe
awkwardandneedcountersunkholes.Somethingthatistrickytodoaccurately.Thereisaneasysolutiontodrillingandtapping
copperthough.AdvicefromtheEMRFDYahooGrouppointedmetotherightlubricantstouse.W4ZCBsuggestedHarveys
threadcuttingoil,andan8OzbottlefromAcehardwarewasonly$4.49.Iorderedthatandtheholesweretheneasilydrilled
andrelativelyeasilytapped.Itturnsoutthatcopperisverystickyandotherlubricants,whiletheyworkforamoment,canthen
bindandcausethetaptosnapoff.

SwitchableLowPassFiltersthatcansurvivehundredsofRFvoltsandhighcurrent
Thelowpassfiltersneedtocopewithatleast600WattsofRF.JustbasedonthesimpleformulaPower=V^2/Rwecan
calculatethevoltageforvariousloads.ItwillbetheRootMeanSquare(RMS)voltage,whichisthetypicalvaluewerefertowith
alternatingvoltages,soweneedtocalculatethepeakvoltage,whichis1.414timestheRMSVoltage.

PowerWatts LoadOhms Vrms VPk AmpsPk

1500 50 274 386 5.5
600 50 173 244 3.5
600 100 245 345 2.4
600 25 122 173 4.9

Thattellsusthattherecaneasilybe350voltsacrossthecapacitorsinthefilter.IfweuseRFcapacitors,suchasSilverMica,
thenweshouldbefine.NonRFcapacitors,suchasceramics,needtobederatedatRFfrequencies.AlthoughSilverMica
capacitorsseemveryexpensive,theyaremuchcheaperthanthetransistors.Ifthecapacitorsfailthentheycandestroythe
transistorsatthesametime.

IusedELSIEtodesigntheLowPassFilters.ItcomesfreewiththeARRLhandbookandiseasytouse.Ididnotdesign
anythingfancy,just7polefilterswithasmallamountofpassbandripple.

ThefiltersareswitchedwithTyco8amp250voltrelays.Ihaveoneateachendofafilter,withbothpolesconnectedinparallel
toincreasethecurrentthattheycanhandle.Aswitchonthefrontpanelsimplyroutes12voltstotheneededsetofrelays.Each
linegoingtotherelaysisconnectedtoafrontpanelledwhichshowswhichbandhasbeenselected.
Topreventadisasterwhenthewrongbandisselected,anSWRsensecircuitcanbeplacedbetweentheamplifierandthelow
passfilter.Ifthewrongbandisselectedthenthiscircuitwilltaketheamplifieroffline.Seethecontrolcircuitsbelowfordetails.

ControlcircuitstopreventmedestroyingmoreFETs(thatcost$25each)
Itturnsoutthatthemostimportantpartoftheamplifieristhecontrolcircuit.Idestroyedquiteafewexpensivetransistorsbefore
Ibuiltit.Don'tmakethesamemistakesImade.

Thiscircuitisbasedonthecontrolcircuitshowninthe2010ARRLHandbook,althoughImadea
numberofmodificationstofitwiththisdesign.Thecontrolboardconnectstoseveralsensors.

1.AcurrentsenseresistorinserieswiththepowersupplyleadtotheRFAmplifierboard
2.Atemperaturesensingthermistorthatisinthermalcontactwiththecopperheatspreader
3.ReflectedPowerfromtheLowPassFilterpowermeteringcircuit
4.ReflectedPowerfromtheoutputpowermeteringcircuit

AllofthesensorsconnecttoaCMOSlatch,andallofthemtriggerthesameresult.Theamplifier
istakenofflineandanLEDislittoexplainwhy.Theresetswitchisthenclickedonandofftobring
theamplifierbackonlineagain.

HighCurrent:Thecurrentsensecircuitusesaverysmallresistor,0.001ohms.At20Amps,2mV
isdroppedacrosstheresistor.ThesmallvoltagedropisamplifiedbyanOpAmpandthena
secondOpAmpisconfiguredasacomparator.ThevariableresistorR1isthenusedtosetthe
currenttriplevel.Iused20WwirewoundresistorsfromRadioshackasatestloadtosetupthe
currenttrip.

HighTemperature:Thetemperaturesensorissimpler.The10kthermistorconnectsdirectlytoacomparator.

TheControlCircuits

HighSWR:PerhapsmostimportantlyIwantedtodetectreflectedpowerandtaketheamplifier
offline.Ideallytheamplifiershouldsurvivenoantenna,ashortedantenna,highSWRdueto
snow/iceandanyothercombination.IcouldnotgettheSWRsensorintheARRLdesigntowork,
soIdecidedtobuildaclassicforwardandreflectedpowermetercircuit.ThismeantIcouldhave
forwardandreflectedpowermetersonthefrontoftheamplifier.

Nooneseemstopublishthesecircuitsanymore,soIwenttotheDecember1969QSTArticle"InlineRFpowermetering"by
DougDeMawW1FB(membershipoftheARRLrequiredtoviewthearchives).ThereisalsoanotherusefulDougDeMawarticle
intheDecember1983QST"AbeginnerslookatRFPowerMeasurement".Imodifiedthecircuitslightlyandbuiltitinadiecast
box,usingapieceofprintedcircuitboardastheshieldbetweenthetorroidsensorandthemeasurementcircuit.

LPFReflectedPower:Thelastsensorwillmeasurethereflectedpowerfromthelowpassfilters.Thiswilldetermineifthe
wrongLPFhasbeenselected.IhavenotbuiltthissensorthoughIhavemountedtheLEDandbuiltalloftheassociatedcontrol
circuits.IwillbuildthisoutwhenIconstructtherestofthelowpassfilters.

Andfinallythefan
 Thenoiseofthefanisannoyingifitislefttorunatfullspeedthewholetime.Thatcouldbe
becauseIusedacheap12VfanfromRadioshack.Ibuiltthesmallcircuitbelowtoswitchiton
oncethetemperatureofthecopperspreaderisaboveabove30C.Thatmeansthatitissilentuntil
IengageinalongQSO,thenitcomesonafterawhile.Itwillstayonforafewminutesafterthe
QSOandthengoesoffwhileIamtuningtheband.That'showitworksrightnow,whereitis20C
intheshack.Onahotdayitmaybedifferent!

Thecircuitisprettystraightforward(ignorethecomponentsalongthetopbecausethisiscutfrom
alargercircuitdiagram).Thethermistorisinphysical(butnotelectrical)contactwiththecopper
spreader.Whenitheatsupslightlyanditsresistancelowers,thevoltageontheFETgaterises
above4VandtheFETisswitchedon.Atfirstthefanrunsslowly,asthetemperaturerises.At
roomtemperature,thevariableresistorissetsothatthefanisjustoffandthevoltageontheFET
gateisprobably33.5V.

Conclusions
WhenIwasfirsttestingtheamplifierIwastuningaroundand
workingsomestationsintheGeorgiaQSOParty.Ituned
acrossSV9ANKcallingCQandGreeceisanewcountryfor
me.IcamebacktohiscallandwehadareallyniceQSO.
NicoswasontheIslandofCrete,intheCapitalCity.Hewas
running800WattsfromanFT2000intoaZEPPDipole.Itwas
5.30amandalreadyareallynicedaythere,withtemperatures
headingintothe90s.ThatwaswhyIbuiltanamplifier.With
lowpowerwewouldhavespent5minutesjusttogetmy
callsigndowncorrectly.Thenwewouldhaveexchanged
signalreportsandmovedon.

Icanhighlyrecommendbuildingthisamplifier.Itwasa
struggleattimes,butithasbeenverysatisfyingtouse.

73,Chris

Copyright20012016ChrisThompson
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