[Elecraft] OT: K3 and TT QSK amps: credit where credit is due

[Paul Christensen]

> Well, maybe Al was a cw guy, but the Titan was designed by Dick, K4XU,
> which for me, is a lot more meaningful!

I didn't realize that Dick had designed some of the Alpha and Ten Tec amps. 
I do know that he is a solid RF engineer with the wherewithal to solve 
difficult RF problems when some of the best fail.

Back in my pre-law life, I was Assistant Chief Engineer for RKO Radio's 
WFYR-FM in Chicago.  In the mid '80s, a bandpass filter was added to the 
output of our Harris FM-25K transmitters at Sears Tower to minimize Tx-to-Tx 
IMD interaction between close-spaced stations.  However, the addition of the 
filter was causing PA instability under conditions that would otherwise 
optimize PA tuning by establishing minimum AM noise content.  Under optimum 
PA tuning, the transmitter would become unstable and go into a VSWR fault 
condition.

To make a very long story short, while Dick was with Harris, he ended up 
adding a line stretcher between the output of the Harris Tx and the BPF. 
That solved the instability problem.  The issue was long-standing until Dick 
rationalized the effect of the BPF on the wide-Q quarter-wave cavity of the 
Harris FM transmitter.

I would take one of his designs any day.

Paul, W9AC