[hpsdr] Thor Project

[Phil Harman]

Hi Stijn,

Thanks for your comments on the Thor/Class E linear project.

You are correct in that a version of PowerSDR is available that will
provide an envelope signal from one of the PWM outputs of Penny(Lane)
together with phase modulation of  the carrier.

I did some simple, low power (40w pep), experiments on 160m some time ago
using this technique. It worked extremely well, had high efficiency and
produced  a very docile PA.

The IRS2092 Class D PWM modulator you suggested does look like a very good
candidate for a high power envelope modulator for a Class E PA stage.   It
may also be usable as a Class D Tx on the LOFER  bands.

One of the more challenging aspects of a Class E PA is that the output
matching components have values that are outside what we would normally
expect to use in a solid state PA.  In which case band switching is going
to be a bit challenging.  This may be the reason that the SGC ‘Mini-Lini
™’ chose to use a plug in module per band.

However, Joseph, DJ7AW, did incorporate band-switched matching in his 2001
design (see the Wiki for a link to his article and an English
translation).

I’m sure that a small, light-weight, high power Class E linear amplifier
would be a very popular HPSDR project.

We just need someone to run with it....

73 Phil...VK6APH