James, KF6RFX asked:
We are looking for a UHF amplifier (430-440MHz) for a transceiver to go from
10 mW to ~ 75W. Most of the amps were are funding require a much stronger
input power than we can do. Note, it's a transceiver, so we want to be able
to receive through the system as well. This is for half duplex satellite
communication using a USRP radio.
Do you have any suggested amps?
You might want to check with some of the "custom" amateur shops like
Pure RF (http://www.purepowerrf.com/), Downeast Microwave (DEMI,
http://www.downeastmicrowave.com/) or DB6NT
(http://www.kuhne-electronic.de/en/home.html). In particular, DB6NT has
50mw in, ~50w out amplifier
(http://www.kuhne-electronic.de/en/products/power-amplifiers/mku-pa-4047-60-hy.html)
that is close to what you ask for.
You didn't mention price constraints. Any of the "conventional" amateur
"bricks" are will probably set you back $500-$750. There are some
commercial alternatives you might look at. In particular check out
MiniCircuits; at the $2000 level, the LZY1+
(http://www.minicircuits.com/pdfs/LZY-1+.pdf) has 39+ db gain and will
produce 50 w of RF on either 2M or 70cm. Their older ZHL-50W $1400 brick
(http://www.minicircuits.com/pdfs/ZHL-50W-52.pdf) is also a good unit.
On the MiniCircuits units, I'd strongly advise that you get it with
their BIG heatsink/fan.
You say you need fast half-duplex. I presume that the downlink will be
on a different band (like 2M). If not, the selection of T/R transfer
relays will not be easy, especially if you want to avoid zapping your LNA.
Good luck & 73,
Tom Clark, K3IO
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