A Low-Cost 700-Watt Linear Amplifier 572Bs in Grounded Grid BY LEWIS G. McCOY,* WIICP The enclosure around the completed omplifer is made Tram perforated aluminum stock and reinforced at the top wiih aluminum angle material. Across the bottom from the left cre the a.e, and standby switches, plote tuning, bond switeh, and loading control. The knob at the upper abt corner isthe sersltvity contol for the output meter. 1 this day of low-priced kits it gets to be a I veal challenge to design 1 piece of gear for the home builder that will be attractive from a cost standpoint, ‘This article describes « linear ‘amplifier that meets this requirement. In fact, itdoes so by quite an appreciable marin when compared to any wired or kit amplifier with ‘comparable power, The ainplifier shown in the photographs and Fig. 1 is eapable of sbout 700 watts p.e.p. input on sideband or a Tike amount of power on ew. What will probably come 2s 4 shock to the rearier ix the power supply (figuratively speaking!). Whenever high power is contemplated the ususl stumbling block in cost is the power supply, particularly the power transformer, This power Tapply gets wmotiad that problem by using a power trausformer that usually ean be obtained for nothing. We sy “nothing” because, after writing earlier articles describing equipment ising this type of transformer, we know this is the general rule. In the 1 ‘to 1959 era millions of 'TV sets were produced, and most of them used extremely Imsky power transformers. ‘These seis have been reuching the chwolete stage, and they usually ran be fud for the asking from TV shops. Most fof the transformers in these seta have high- Vollage windings of ubout 700 volts, venter- iapped, with current ratings of 300 to 400 ma, "Those transformers are built for continuous duty wo they wre_real husky units, and in amateur “Techinies February 1966 sorvies, which can be considered intermittent ‘use, they will furnish high power. Such w trans former is used in this amplifier and provides au eusy 700 watts input! (Rather than get into a ong discussion about how inuch power ean be taken from a qiven transformer, it is recom mended that you read an article by WIDE that first introduced the “ Keonomy Power Supply. In addition to keeping the power-transtormer cost: down, a carcful check of the surplus market, turned up several other items of standard values that were or could be used in the amplifier. ‘More about this in a moment. The Circuit ‘The amplifier uses a pair of 572Bs in grounded- rid operation. Drive is coupled to the lilamente via C; and the filaments aro isolated from ground, by RFC}, 4 homemade choke. One problem in using u TV transformer is that the 6.3-volt, winding rarely is center-tappou. An artificial center tap is created by using #y and Ry weross the filament winding. Sy, between the junction of Rute and ground, can then be used as standby switeb, A pair of terminals, 1 and 2: ure connected in parallel with S;, and if desire the standby function cau be controlled by extemal relay such as is provided in the VOX, cireuite of most exciters, ‘The grids of V1 and Vy are bypassed to ground for rf, und the grid onrront is moanired hy Mie ‘The tank circuit is a pi network designed to cuver 0 through 10 meters and designed to work into SO-ohm loads, Av very necessary item in a sounded-erid amplifier is un output indicator. Mz is connected into un rf, voltmeter circuit, ‘nd seryes aa -an ontput indicator. The plate current is measured by Mf, which is connected in the negative side of the hixh-voltago line. ‘The power supply is a voltage doubler that provides uu-load voltage of about 2100 volta, ‘This drops to sbout, 1900 volts under a load of 400 ma, Powersupply filtering is taken cure of \ Grama "More Escstive Use uf Ball Power Fran former QST, Nov. 1952. If you're good at smoking out useful parts in the surplus outlets, you can build this 700-watt grounded-grid amplifier for well under $100 — and that's hard to beat in the present market! 18by a series string of high-eapacitance clee- trolyties. Six 825-pf. 400-volt capacitors provide approximately 50 uf, at “400 volls. ‘This large aniount of output capacitance provides excellent dynamic regulation. Getting the Parts ‘The power transformer used in this amplifier came from a 1951 17-inch ROA sot. In searching through replacement catalogs it was found that neariy all makes of early sets had power trans formers similar to this one. What yon want to Iook for is one that will give 700 to 750 a.c. volts from the high-voltage rocmdary. Most Inch or larger ‘TV sete used transiormere having 800-ma-plus ratings. Mternatively, if you ure in an area where surplus stores ‘are handy it is possible to pick up suitable power transformers quite reasonably (see Fig, 1, 1). Look for transformers in the 700 to Si-volt range, with current ratings of #00 ma, or more ‘The masimum safe voltage with the rectifier- filter cireuit given ia Fig. 1 would be 8i0) volta In a voltagedoubler cireuit, you can figure your ‘his view shows the component arrangement toward the front ofthe cha tnd the coax output lead, are the components forthe F tubing tankecoll section is supported by Its own leat no-load de, output voltage at 2.8 times the total a,c, secondary voltage, und SiN) volis a.c. would, give you about 2400 volts no-load de. output, ‘This approahes the maximum rating on the electrolytic eapacitor string. While » particular type of plate tuning eaps- citor, €s, was specitiod in Fig, 1, it is possible to substitute any similar expacitor as long as the ‘maximum espacitance ig 150 pf, and the plate spacing is at least (1.075 inch, Likewise, Cs, the output loading expacitor, is approximately 1200 pi. maximum, made up by connocting the three ktators of a’ tavt-type capacitor in parallel. Some surplus stores oceasionally have his e variables on mule, und any value cover 1200 pf. is suitable. "The chassis und enclosure in our unit are home- built from angle, ehect und perforated aluminum stock. Heavy-duty shoot material ean be found in shect-metal shops and the perforated and. nunele stock in almost any Inrge hardware store. ‘The layout of the amplifier is not particularly critical, so any cabinet large enough to house the unit could be used, Good buys in cabinets At the far loft, between the loading capacitor The large copper- Not shown inthis photograph i on sluminum baffle plete that i normally mounted between the front ampli tube end the grid meter, to prevent heat from the tube from distorting ‘the Lucite meter ease, The cluminum plate 5 inches wide and fits between the top ond bottom of the eabinet. 16 QST forupsaere Ly Fig. 1—Greuit diagram of tho 5728 omell Resistances are in ohms; 1000, ‘AI1O.01 af. capasitors nol Iited below are disk coramic. Cr, CeCu—0.01-uf. disk coro Co, Ci—500-pF. 20-iv, TV-type high-voltage, Ce-150-pf. variable, minimum - 0,070-inch (EF. Johnson 154-8, Millen 12515). Ci=1200:pf. variable, tr-f-type, 3-gang, 400-pF-per- section, stators comected in porclll CurChe, ine 325-4f, 400-volt electrh cGs250T40001). CRL—1N34A germenium diode, CRi-CRo, Ine —-600-v0lt ply, 750-na. ‘warry Electronies 600/750). Fr, Fr—10-amp, fso, fuse-Inplug assembly. F-LNE-2 penel mount neon lamp. Ing da—Coox fitting, S0-239. 1:6 turns Vnch diam. copper tubing, S-inch di spaced ‘inch opart, 20-meter tap, junc Th and lay 15-meter top, 3¥%4 turne fro fof Land Lay TO-meter top 4Y%4 turn from jontion of i and See text; 40-meter top 7 tures from Cx end of coll. Mz, Ms—0-50 ma, (Barry Electronics Mode! 350P), spacing (Mallory an occasionally be found in surplus and radio stows, In other words, it pays to shop around. to keep the construction cosis down, Also, $LLAe could be usod in place uf the Bs, SLIAs are cheaper, but you cannot run, vt auch input as with 572Bs, Masimum input for a pair of SILAS is approximately 400 watte, Both types of tubes take the same socket con- nections but other changes are needed to run SILAs, Maximum piste voltage should not, fexeced 1500 volte with the tubes fully loaded to about 800 ma. When SI1As wre run ut their maximum plate voltage, 4.5 volts of negative grid bias is required. February 1966 ‘Ma—0-5 nilliammoter (Barry Electronics Mode! 350P rnodifed as per text), Ri, Rr—33 ohms, 1 watt. Ri, Reo—Meter shunts, soe text. RiL-1:88 megohms (four 0.47-megohm T-watt resistors in Rs —25,000-ohm control. Re-Ris ine -0.22 megohin, A wal. RuscB ne— 25,000 ohms, 10 watts, RFC.—28 bifilar turns No. 12 Formvar or Nylelad close-wound on a-inch diam, 7 Ya-nch long ferrite rod (Lafayette Radio 32R6103, formerly MS-333), RECL—90 uh, 500-ma. rf choke (BB W800). RFCs 2.5-mh. ef. choke. Si, So—Singlo pole, single-throw toggle, Si—-Single-pole, 6spor. ceramic rotary (Cantratab 2501). T—Power transformer; see. text (Barry Electronics 970960-1-1). Zi, Te—Parasite suppressor; 3 turns No. 16,Y%5-inch diam, Yarinch long, wound over three 150-ohm 1-watt resistors in parallel. ‘Phis could easily be obtained from three 1.5-volt; flashlight cells connected in series. ‘The plate voltage supply would require a different trans former. In a voltage doubler, the maximum, secondary voltage of the transformer should not, exceed 600 volts, which will provide about 1750 volts d.c. unloaded, dropping to about 1500 volts with the SITAs fully loaded. ‘The capacitor rectifier string would be cheaper beeuuse not ‘53 many componenta would be needed for the lower voltage. Only four of the high-capacitance units would be required. Mullory lists a 1S0-nf, 450-volt capacitor (CGISITAS0K1) for $2.50. Four of these would provide 45 af. at 1800 volts, 17