Development and deployment of 50 kW high efficiency IOTs for industrial and scientific services

Abstract

The Eimac division has developed and produced IOT amplifiers for more than 15 years. Although the major services area has been UHF television broadcasting, Eimac IOT systems are designed and built to be capable of operating at conditions other than TV to deliver up to 130 kW peak RF power at the desired efficiency and gain levels. Since most of the industrial and scientific applications require hundreds to over thousands of kilowatts of RF power, the electrical power requirement and the operating cost are tremendous. Therefore, based on the TV IOT K2D150 a new product, K2H50, is developed and put in production. The objectives of this program are as follows: 1) stable operation at 50 kW CW or higher for frequencies ranging from 470 to 800 MHz. 2) 70% electrical efficiency with more than 20 dB gain. 3) preservation of the broadcast IOTs quick-tube-change features. The IOT amplifier has been tested in the factory at different conditions. The variation from tube to tube is minimal and the results are repeatable without difficulty.