Using a Plate Transformer for High-Level Modulation

By Mike Cowart WA5CMI

Have you ever wanted to build a high-powered homebrew transmitter but stopped when
you started looking for the mod iron? Lets face it; finding a modulation transformer
capable of modulating a one-kilowatt amplifier is becoming very difficult. What if you
could use that old 4 KV plate transformer you have out in the garage that has been taking
up space for the past 10 years?

A Little Theory
As a rule, to plate-modulate a class C amplifier, the modulator must furnish a peak-topeak voltage that is twice the plate voltage (B+). When impressed onto the plate
voltage, the positive swing adds to the plate voltage to generate a peak voltage up to two
times B+, and the negative swing subtracts from the plate voltage to reduce B+ to zero.
The final B+ on my Globe King 500 is approximately 1,500 volts. I would need a
transformer capable of 3,000 volts peak-to-peak at a little better than 250 watts. I found a
transformer rated at 5,000 volts center tapped at 500 mA: a big honker! The primary can
be set for either 110 or 220 Vac.
Because I needed only 3,000 volts p-p to fully modulate the Globe King, I knew I would
not have to supply the full 110 volts to the primary. Remember power transformers are
rated in RMS volts; 5,000 volts RMS is equal to a little over 14,000 volts p-p, and 110
volts RMS is equal to a little over 300 volts p-p. The transformer has a turns ratio of
110:5,000 or approximately 1:45. To obtain 3,000 volts p-p, I needed 66 volts p-p on the
primary. An audio amplifier capable of delivering at least 66 volts p-p (23 volts RMS) at
250 watts (the equivalent of a 2-ohm load) should do the trick. An amplifier of that
capability, however, can be expensive, and this was, after all, an experiment.
Fortunately, I have a Peavey solid-state amp that I bought last March at the Midland
Hamfest that has two channels, both capable of 130 watts RMS into a four-ohm load. By
reconfiguring the amplifier to use both channels to drive the transformer primary, I was
able to obtain the voltage and power levels needed.

Mono-Bridged
Using both channels of a stereo amp to drive a single transformer winding (or speaker,
for that matter) requires that they be driven 180o out of phase. This means that one
channel is driven directly by the audio signal and the other by the inverse, making a
modification to the amplifier necessary, unless it has the capability to be configured this
way. Many stereo amps today have this feature.
By using the both amplifiers to drive the load with 180o phase shift, the effective output
voltage doubles, yielding four times the power that a single channel can provide. This is
theoretical, of course, and assumes that the power supply and output transistors can
handle the increase. Be careful; assumption is a fools game! The reason for the increase
of four is because of the square law:
Power = E2 / R.

Figure 1 Mono-Bridged Amplifier

The Experiment
I built a simple operational-amplifier circuit with its own voltage regulation, powering it
from the internal power supply rails in the Peavey. I mounted the phase inverter board on
a printed circuit board in the amplifier on which the volume controls are mounted. This
allowed me to wire the phase inverter output directly to the potentiometers, keeping the
wires short.

Testing the Modulator

After installing the phase inverter, I connected an audio generator to the input of the
modified Peavey. I then connected the two power amplifier outputs to either side of the
plate transformer primary as shown in Figure 1. I then connected the secondary of the
plate transformer to a 2700-ohm, 225-watt resistor. This value is very close to the
calculated load impedance of the Globe King final amplifier. Finally, I connected my
oscilloscope across the load resistor.
Upon powering up the amplifier, I set the audio generator output to 1,000 kHz and
adjusted the gain until the waveform on the load resistor began to flatten out. The peakto-peak voltage across the load was in excess of 3,500 volts, more than the 3,000 volts
required to fully modulate the Globe king. I let the amplifier work for a long period of
time, and after approximately 30 minutes, the thermal protection circuit shut the amplifier
off. This was certainly understandable, as the amplifier had delivered over 500 watts of
audio for that period of time! Needless to say, the resistor was rather warm.
When the amplifier and the load resistor cooled down. I ran a frequency response test by
finding the frequency that yielded the maximum output (approximately 300 Hz), then
adjusting the frequency of the audio generator while measuring the output voltage. The
results are given in the following table. The data are plotted in the graph after the table. I
used 400 volts p-p as a starting point (0 dB).

Figure 2 Peavey Amplifier with Phase Inverter Installed

Figure 3. Frequency Response Data

From the above curve, you can see the frequency response of the plate transformer rolls
off rapidly above 2,000 Hz, but this can be easily compensated for using a graphic
equalizer or some other form of equalization built into the amplifier.

The Smoke Test

After I was convinced the amplifier would hold up and produce enough audio power for
the Globe King, I simply connected the secondary between the high-voltage deck and the
RF deck. I left the audio generator connected so I could look at the modulated output
using a sine wave modulating voltage. Running the Globe King (using a 4-400 as a final)
into a dummy load at full power, there was plenty of audio power to over modulate the
rig.

The Proof Is In The Pudding

I connected the audio rack to the Peavey amplifier and tried it out on the troops in the
AM window. One of the things in the audio chain is a parametric equalizer, so
compensating for the roll off is easy. Having had this modulation system on the air for
almost two weeks has given me time to solicit opinions. Many have said that the audio
produced with this system sounds as good as the stock modulator in the Globe King 500.
After one of my old-buzzard transmissions, the amplifier heat sinks are warm, but not
hot, to the touch. I could not be happier with his system. It surpassed all my expectations,
and I may use this system, with a more powerful audio amplifier, in my upcoming
homebrew 4-1000 transmitter project.
Figure 4. Globe King 500 With Outboard Modulation Setup