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Kapton - Armstrong TX

K

KT

Guest
Has anyone working with Armstrong Transmitters come up with a better way to deal with the Kapton plate blocker.

I have 4 Armstrong transmitters in service right now and the only problem I have with them is arcing across the Kapton. It doesn't happen often, but when it does, I'm off the air for at least a couple of hours. Just wondering if anyone has come up with a better way of dealing with the occasional arcing.

Thanks
 
> Has anyone working with Armstrong Transmitters come up with
> a better way to deal with the Kapton plate blocker.
>
> I have 4 Armstrong transmitters in service right now and the
> only problem I have with them is arcing across the Kapton.
> It doesn't happen often, but when it does, I'm off the air
> for at least a couple of hours. Just wondering if anyone
> has come up with a better way of dealing with the occasional
> arcing.

I have found that doubling the thickness helps. And reducing plate voltage if possible (re-tap the plate transformer). I am assuming this is the 25 or 30KW you have? And your transmitters are operating at a high elevation above sea level? The design is different for the newer 15 kw, more like a traditional grounded grid, and much more stable. Less kapton too. Jeff down at Bext is an expert at solving this kind of problem, he used to work for Armstrong, and his specialty is the high power RVR boxes, which of course, these are.
 
> > Has anyone working with Armstrong Transmitters come up
> with
> > a better way to deal with the Kapton plate blocker.
> >
> > I have 4 Armstrong transmitters in service right now and
> the
> > only problem I have with them is arcing across the Kapton.
>
> > It doesn't happen often, but when it does, I'm off the air
>
> > for at least a couple of hours. Just wondering if anyone
> > has come up with a better way of dealing with the
> occasional
> > arcing.
>
> I have found that doubling the thickness helps. And reducing
> plate voltage if possible (re-tap the plate transformer). I
> am assuming this is the 25 or 30KW you have? And your
> transmitters are operating at a high elevation above sea
> level? The design is different for the newer 15 kw, more
> like a traditional grounded grid, and much more stable. Less
> kapton too. Jeff down at Bext is an expert at solving this
> kind of problem, he used to work for Armstrong, and his
> specialty is the high power RVR boxes, which of course,
> these are.
>

I have 2 10KW, a 15KW and a 3500W, so nothing too big. After the first year I have not really had many problems with the kaptan, but every now and then, out of the blue it just goes. I was just curious if anyone had found a better way of dealing with it. I will try doubling up on it the next time. Thanks, and thanks for the info about Jeff, I didn't know where he ended up.

KT
 
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