[Elecraft] ALC overshoot

[Paul Christensen]

> Most amplifiers have very crummy ALC detection. All they do
> is same RF level at the cathode of the tube, and that
> doesn't indicate excessive drive or nonlinearity at all!

The only ALC systems I've ever taken seriously are those that are designed 
together between the transmitter and external amplifier as a system so that 
the ALC "meet me point" is optimized.   But even among one common 
manufacturer, that still does not guarantee good ALC performance.

Today, a commercial amplifier should be designed to be smart enough to know 
when it's going into a fault condition from the exciter without requiring an 
ALC "feedback" cable -- and some newer amps finally have this capability in 
their feed-forward designs.

Paul, W9AC