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QUESTION


Well, two basic possibilites here, concerning how you might run them, "normal" and "insane".

"Normal" would be a 13.8 Volt supply run from a more-or-less stock alternator and so-called "12-Volt" batteries in parallel. Figure about 15 Amps per transistor on the 4-by, since you'll be driving them pretty hard. With only radio drive on the driver amp, more like 10 Amps each. 4X15 plus 2X10 adds up to 80 Amps total, minimum. With that much drive power, you'll be tempted to crank it and draw more.

"Insane" would be more like 18 Volts or so under load. This will tend to boost the current drain by half again. Unless you watch your drive level, you might need 120-plus Amps in a "Volted" setup. And lots of spare 2SC2879s, not to mention 10-ohm resistors. Too bad they don't come with metal Velcro on them. Such a pain, soldering in new ones every fifteen or twenty times you key the mike.

Or you could use a single transistor to drive the four, and get a lot more mileage for 60 or 70 Amps.

Too much drive equals too much current demand from the power supply.

73
 

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