John Curl's Blowtorch preamplifier part II

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Just series stack the devices ... lowered voltage across each ... lower dissipation.

[You can make a push-pull stack also]

-RNM

Where did this end up at? The 4000v HV electro amp?

suggested -- stacking topology/config.,

Cascode-voltage-ladder.png



THx-RNMarsh
 
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Just throwing out an idea --- to be modified or ??? to suit the situation.

Surely there are such circuits in existence???? Stacking, rather than using one single device?

yes, i am tired. Travel is getting harder after 70 yrs. Wonder what it will be like after 80?


THx-Richard
 
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If the modulation is 250 volts with a bias of 3750 then the active driver need not have the full voltage across it. In simplified form a grounded driver with a 3750 volt Zener would work.

Now as a Zener or even a stack would be a bit outside practical it could be done with a transistor stack and voltage divider. The active transistor would modulate the bottom resistor in the voltage divider stack.

The down side is the increased current draw.

But for fun you could also do it with a string of neon lamps. Would require a striker circuit though. Way more interesting to look at.
 
That would put 100 watts 8 ohms to under 1500 volts. So I suspect you don't need to modulate the full voltage.

I did used to have a pair of electrostatic loudspeakers. (Lost them in a flood 2004) To play at a decent volume they could have used several thousand watts. Unfortunately their power handling was about 500 watts maximum. (I got them for really cheap. The owner traded them in after his dog used one for a fire hydrant. That killed it. I had to change a diode in the power supply. Fortunately I had a bunch of 10KV diode stacks from some prior work.)
 
I don't think these MOSFET cascades are useful. It always looks so obvious, at first glance. Until you start to figure out the details, the power dissipated in the bias strings, the dynamic behaviour of such a string which basically is a bunch of R-C's with source followers, and cost, just to name a few.

With MOSFETs and IGBTs available with breakdown limits of 4.5kV, you don't need those cascades either. With those devices you can build a class B output stage that swings 4.2kV pk-pk at 20kHz across 1200pF from just 12mA bias current. Way to go.

Jan
 
Using the 4 Ohm tap, 500V p-p is ~180 rms or not even a Watt at 1:50. Transformer coupling also goes both ways above and below the bias so with a center tap even 10kV p-p is no problem.

180 RMS / 50 = 3.6

3.6 x 3.6 / 4 = 3.24 watts

Or for a 10 KV bias and full modulation

7071 RMS / 50 = 141.42

141.42 x 141.42 / 4 = 5000 watts.

So if the 50:1 tap is 8 ohms it drops to 1250 watts required from the amplifier.

Of course the calculations are nonsense where the impedance of the panel is more than 8 x 50 x 50 = 20,000 ohms.

As maximum power is usually required below 300 hertz the capacitance needs to be below .027 uF.
 
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