Hello everyone,
Just fixed a shortwave transceiver and when running final testing I found that on 12m and 10m the unit only outputs about 50-60W. Looking at the schematics it was clear that the LPF (or a relay) has a problem because one common LPF is being used for both bands. Telling by the audible switching relay(s) I can tell that this filter is in use from 21.5 to 30 MHz. When taking off the cover of the PA / LPF section I immediately saw the burned torroid coil (L11, see schematics attached).
Here the guesswork starts. The schematic states no values for the coils anywhere, and when looking up the part number in Google nothing useful was returned. All cores have a painted dot of a certain color on them. There is no other coil having the same part number I could use as a reference.
So what I did now was running a simulation on the PREVIOUS filter (used 14.5-21.5MHz) to get a better understanding on this (working one, so I would be able to take measurements later by unsoldering the 2 coils). As all capacitor values are known I managed to find a rather good combination for both coils by trial and error, being 380nH (L9) and 500nH (L10), giving me a cutoff frequency of around 25MHz (-3dB) while being flat until ~22MHz. This filter topology has 2 notches equal to the resonance frequencies of the 2 L/C resonance circuits. I have attached the simulated schematic along with the attenuation plot.
I would appreciate of someone could help me to find a replacement. I know I could also unsolder the other coil L12, meassure that, then run the simulation again and then trying different values for L11. But the points in question remain.
Question #1) Where exactly should I place the cutoff frequency and the 2 notches if I could choose freely? What I did now was placing one at 43MHz (21.5MHz x 2) and the other one at 64.5MHz (21.5MHz x 3) for maximum suppression of the highest frequency (21.5MHz) harmonics. At the same time this seem to give me the lowest VSWR of ~1.4 at 21.5MHz (getting better on lower frequencies) as well as ~50 Ohm on the input.
For 14.5MHz (lowest for this LPF):
14.5MHz -0.1dB (hypothetical frequency)
29.0MHz -13dB (x2) (only -13dB!!)
43.5MHz -66dB (x3)
For 18.1MHz
18.1MHz -0.1dB (17m band)
36.2MHz -32dB (x2) (only -32dB!)
54.3MHz -53dB (x3)
For 21.5MHz (highest for this LPF, I optimized for this frequency, -3dB is at ~25MHz):
21.5MHz -0.3dB
43.0MHz -82dB (x2)
64.5MHz -81dB (x3)
So which would be the best -3dB cutoff frequency and 2 notch frequencies? First harmonic on 17m is only 32dB down, but these inductances of 380nH and 500nH seem to give me the steepest shape overall while being flat up to 21.5MHz. Which would be the best approach?
Question #2) Which core material should I choose for 100W on 21.5-30MHz? What aspects should be considered when choosing a core for high power? This is by far my biggest concern.
Thanks a lot!