Power circuit null for traveling-wave-tube amplifier

摘要

PURPOSE:To prevent the deterioration of a transmitted signal due to the discharge by applying periodically the overcurrent with a command signal except for a signal transmission period and performing the artificial discharge to prevent the easy discharge for a fixed period. CONSTITUTION:A high voltage power supply 4 contains the high voltage transformers 5, 6 and 7 to generate the cathode voltage, the collector voltage and the anode voltage respectively. The switches 1A-1C are provided at the primary sides of transformers 5-7 and then driven by the command control signals received from a command terminal 9. Thus the transformers 5-7 are dropped by 1 tap and the overvoltage higher than the operating voltage is applied to each electrode. A power circuit is set in an overload state by the overvoltage and therefore the stress is also increased to a traveling wave amplifier. When a fixed level of energy is supplied for a short time, a control signal is sent to a low voltage circuit 3 from a protection circuit 8 via a control terminal 10 so that the overvoltage is set again at its original level. As a result, the impurities attached to each electrode are blown away and the breakdown strength is improved.