High Power Density Electronic Power Conditioner for Airborne Transmitter

Abstract

The modern airborne transmitters for RF imaging, demand compact size and high RF output power. Miniature Klystrons offer higher efficiency, low voltage operation and compact size as compared to Traveling Wave Tubes (TWT) delivering similar output power within narrow bandwidth. Development of a high power density Electronic Power Conditioner (EPC) described in this paper complements a miniature klystron for delivering low phase-noise in the RF output, achieved with stringent control over the regulation, stability and ripple in the high voltage output for the anode voltage. High efficiency of the EPC allows operation of the transmitter for limited time without cooling.