72mHz Transmitter Range Extender.

-DISCLAIMER* The legal limit for Transmitter power for model aircraft on 72mHz in the U.S. is 750mW.
* You can buy a linear amplifier off of ebay for about the same price (under $40.00).
* This is not a beginners electronics project.
* An RF probe, field strength or SWR meter are required for this project. Optionally an O scope.
* I would not consider using DIY equipment at a local flying club.

This project was purely academic, just because I wanted the satisfaction of building my own RF amp.
I own a pair of old Futabla Skysport 4s (T4VF) and for many years, this is all I have ever used.
Within the last year, I have gotten into FPV flying and started using the same old radios.
Now that I have been pressing the limits of these old sets I have been looking into low cost alternatives
to investing in new and expensive radio gear.

The first upgrade I made was an investment in a couple of Corona receivers. I noticed a marked
improvement over the stock receivers that came with these sets. They are rated to a sensitivity of -101
dB but best performance is highly dependent on Transmitter power. So far, I have pressed this
combination to no farther than 2000 Ft.

Next, checking into the FCC ID for these radios, I found that they are only rated to 280mW, but some
quick measurement suggest that the actual output from these radios is actually closer to 142mW. That
means that I could legally use another 600 mw, right? So, for about $40.00 in parts, here is one possible
solution.

This circuit should give a 1W output with a 9 15db gain. It was designed for 88- 108 mHz
but still tunes up well to 72mHz. It operates as a Class C amplifier and includes input and output
50 OHM impedance matching networks and a low pass RF filter to suppress harmonics.

I built this circuit as is with a few minor modifications.

Substitute an NTE295 for the 2N4437. Its essentially the same as the driver transistor in the Skysport
radios anyway and is rated for 5x the power dissipation of the 2N4437.
I built a double sided PCB and etched the top only. Drill 4 holes, one in each corner and solder
jumpers between the top and bottom layers. I built several versions of this, including Manhattan
Style mounting but could not get good results until I build my PCB this way. I did say that this project
was academic, right?? Proper grounding and short leads are the key to getting this to work correctly.

L2 and L7 are not critical. I used a 2 turn ferrite bead from Digi-Key for both.

Most other parts can be purchased from DigiKey:

www.digikey.com

Digi-Key Part Number

535-12444-ND

I used a short piece of RG316 cable to connect the Transmitter output to the amplifier input and just
re-purposed the old antenna. It was a simple matter to find the ground plane and antenna output on
the transmitter. I am also using the same battery to power both the transmitter and RF amplifier.
Additionally, you can add a small 12V DC fan and a heat sink on the NE295 but I dont think the fan is
really needed as the NE295 will run slightly warm to the touch if things are tuned right. Tuning up to a
50 OHM dummy load will cause the resistors to get fairly hot though.
Results:
On first power up, everything tuned up easily with a dummy load . First measurements with my RF
probe and a 50 OHM load indicate an output of 1.66 Watts! (Gain of 11dB).
The dummy resistors are then replaced with the antenna and final tune-up was done with a field
strength meter.

Don Bowers.
dobybowers@gmail.com

References:
http: RF probe based on the 1N34a Ge diode.
http://www.n5ese.com/rfprobe1.htm//homepage.eircom.net/~yellowbeard/2n4427.htm