Class E at 3496 Hz

[John K5PRO]

This is class E stuff, but for a completely different application. A bunch of us explore caves and also combine electronics pursuits with that hobby. We have a small group in the National Speleological Society called the Communications and Electronics Section. The newsletters (Speleonics) are online, and can be found here.

http://www.caves.org/section/commelect/spelonic.html

We need to have the lightest most power efficient equipment, so naturally the higher classes (D, E, F, H) of RF power amplification are of interest. Download the latest issue, #25, as a PDF, as the article on page 7-14 is on Optimizing Circuits Using Computer Simulation, by Brian Pease. He has used a free simulator available from Linear Technology for their switching power supplies, to model and design new class E circuits.

I built a class E radiolocation beacon transmitter last week, on 3.496 KHz, using a divider off a colorburst Xtal, and a Fairchild MOSFET running at 13 VDC. It is very efficient, the FET is cold and the magnetic field in my ferrite loop antenna is strong. As soon as i can get it all documented, I will upload schematic, photos. Right now am waiting for some polypropylene capacitors from Mouser, as Mylars didn't hold up long in series resonant output circuit for my conventional Class E circuit.