A reader of End Fed Half Wave matching transformer – 80-20m asked if a good transformer could be made with with a FT114-43 core.
The original transformer above comprised a 32t of 0.65mm enamelled copper winding on a FT240-43 ferrite core, tapped at 4t to be used as an autotransformer to step down a load impedance of around 3300Ω to around 50Ω. Continue reading End Fed Half Wave matching transformer – 80-20m – LO1238 variant
A reader of End Fed Half Wave matching transformer – 80-20m asked if a better transformer could be made with a stack of 2 x FT240-43 cores and using half the turns.
The original transformer above comprised a 32t of 0.65mm enamelled copper winding on a FT240-43 ferrite core, tapped at 4t to be used as an autotransformer to step down a load impedance of around 3300Ω to around 50Ω. Continue reading End Fed Half Wave matching transformer – 80-20m – 2xFT240-43 variant
The Ferrite permeability interpolations calculator performs interpolations of tables of complex permeability data.
Some of the data is derived from manufacturer’s published complex permeability curves. The plot above shows the Ferroxcube’s published curve for 3C81 material, and points at which it was digitised to extract a table of µ’ and µ”. Continue reading Online calculator of ferrite material permeability interpolations – more detail
Recently I have had difficult reaching the local DMR repeater on 70cm, and needed to check that the antenna system had not deteriorated.
I took a baseline measurement with an AA-600 after some refurbishment work in Jan 2018, and was able to compare a current sweep to that baseline.
Above, a wide Return Loss sweep of the Diamond X-50N with feed line compared to the baseline (the thin blue line). Continue reading Diagnosing a possible antenna problem by comparison with a baseline
A chap seeking details for a matching inductor for his 5/8λ vertical on 20m reported “my AA54 RigExpert analyser gives the following reading (SWR 8,2). (R 81,5). (X -158) ” measured looking into a “length of rg58 about 15-20 cm” and asked “is the inductor coil going to be enough or will I need an L match to bring the real resistance to 50 ohms”. Continue reading Matching a 5/8λ ground plane – a single stub tuner example
Some time ago I wrote some articles on so-called Coax Traps, and an example design of an Inverted V dipole for 80 and 40m.
A coax trap (before cross connection).
The whole subject of trapped antennas elicits a lot of online discussion that is often more about semantics than understanding. Continue reading Trapped dipole
I am asked about my use of the term Distortionless Lines
from time to time, often in the vein of they don’t exist, so why discuss them?
The concept derives from the work of Heaviside and others in seeking a solution to distortion in long telegraph lines.
The problem was that digital telegraph pulses were distorted due to different attenuation and propagation time for different components of the square waves.
Heaviside proposed that transmission lines could be modelled as distributed resistance (R), inductance (L), conductance (G) and capacitance (C) elements.
In each incremental length Δx, there is incremental R, L, G and C. Continue reading Do Distortionless Lines exist?
Several correspondents refer to my article Feasibility study – loop in ground for rx only on low HF – small broadband RF transformer using medium µ ferrite core for receiving use – 50:200Ω and suggest “I got it wrong, #73 is the proven material choice for such a thing, and a 2t primary is optimal”.
In fact, I did explore #73 as an option, this article presents some key comparisons. The two key statistics shown in this article provided the basis for selecting the design.
Note that the scales are different from plot to plot.
Where the magnetising impedance appears in shunt with an ideal transformer with Zin=50+j0Ω, Insertion VSWR can be calculated.
The article On the concept of that P=Pfwd-Prev discussed the question of the validity of the concept of that P=Pfwd-Prev, exploring an example of a common nominally 50Ω coaxial cable at 100kHz. The relatively low frequency was used to accentuate the departure from ideal.
This article digs a little further with analyses at both 100kHz and 10MHz.
A plot was given of the components and sum of terms of the expression for power at a point along the line.
Lets look at the power calculated from voltages and currents for the example at 100kHz where Zo=50.71-j8.35Ω and Zload=5+j50Ω.
Above, the four component terms are plotted along with the sum of the terms. Continue reading Transmission lines: departure from ideal Zo
Ferrite cored inductors and transformers saturate at relatively low magnetising force.
Lets work through an example of a FT50-61 core with 10t primary at 3.5MHz.
Magnetic saturation is one limit on power handling capacity of such a transformer, and likely the most significant one for very low loss cores (#61 material losses are very low at 3.5MHz).
Let’s calculate the expected magnetising impedance @ 3.5MHz.
Zm=0.966+j144Ω, |Zm|=144Ω. Continue reading RF transformer design with ferrite cores – saturation calcs