The Ulimate High End Transverter TR 144 H +40

Over 25 years of experience in development of new transverter technologies led to this masterpiece of VHF technology. Implementing technological innovations and expertise in a timely manner and combining them into a state-of-the-art product is a thing we have succeeded in doing in a very impressive way. It's a challenge for us to extend the limits of what is technically feasible and to put this into our products. Ranking first worldwide and improving our products continously are a matter of course for us.

Several decades of engineering and production of Transverters result in this new designed TR144 H +40 high performance Transverter. His outstanding technical data make it usable for many applications. The transverter was originally designed for VHF amateur radio applications, for example high performance contest stations. The receive path of the transverter provides very good large-signal performance.

The new design of our transverter for 144 MHz features better performance and many new functions.

Now, an external 10 MHz reference frequency can be connected to achieve highest frequency accuracy. This is necessary for EME and WSJT. The frequency of 10 MHz can be supplied by a highly stable OCXO, a reference oscillator of a frequency counter, a rubidium frequency standard or a GPS controlled frequency source.

The new design includes the “old” options 02 (TX IF input power 60...1000 µW / 0...-12 dBm) and 06 (common IF-connector for RX/TX). So, the Transverter is compatible to most of the used HF transceivers with transverter output. The TX IF input ranges and the IF connector configuration can be done with the internal switches of the transverter. The “old” option 04 (drive gain control on the front panel) is standard now.  

Oscillator
A temperature-compensated low noise butler oscillator generates the 116 MHz LO signal. A thermostat crystal with a 40 °C precision crystal heater is used. Phase noise of the output signal is -156 dBc/Hz @ 10 kHz. This value is better than that of the HF transceivers. The oscillator output power is 100 mW.

Receiver
In the receiver frontend there is only one balanced super low noise stage with two Power GaAs-FETs. A noise figure (NF) of 0.9 dB and an output IP3 of >40 dBm are achieved. To prevent interference in case of multi-band operation, there is a notch filter for the 70cm band at the input. The prestage is followed by a high-Q helical filter and a matching network. A high-level triple-balanced GaAs-FET ring mixer with an IP3 of >35 dBm converts the signal to the intermediate frequency (IF) at 28…30 MHz. The total gain of the receiver path is limited to 25 dB to avoid overdriving of the HF transceiver. An internal preamplifier of the HF transceiver has to be switched off. The transverter provides excellent large-signal performance. Gain and sensitivity are ideal for contesting and DXing. For EME operation the use of the preamplifier LNA 144 A is recommended. This drops the total noise figure to 0.35 dB. A second N-connector permits the use of a separate cable for the preamplifier.

Transmitter
In the transmit path of the transverter a second 17 dBm ring mixer is used. The TX IF input power ranges (0.06 … 1 mW and 1 … 50 mW) can be set with an internal switch.
The TX gain of the transverter can be adjusted with the potentiometer on the front panel. For further power adjustments the HF transceiver can be used. At the mixer output there is a matching network and a helical band pass filter. It is followed by an MMIC amplifier stage, another helical band pass filter, driver amplifier and power amplifier. LD-MOSFETs are used in driver amplifier and power amplifier. The available output power is 60 W. To achieve optimum intermodulation performance, the output power is limited to 25 W. Overdriving is prevented by an ALC circuit. The transmit unit of the transverter has a protection circuit. If the antenna SWR is bad, the power amplifier switches off for 3 seconds. This is indicated by a LED. A final low pass filter guarantees spurious and harmonic rejection of more than 60 dB. The output power is indicated on a calibrated meter.

Sequence Controller
The built-in sequence controller allows time-controlled operation of a high-quality power amplifier and a coaxial relay with a preamplifier, which is placed directly at the antenna. The required connectors are on the rear panel of the transverter.

Features

• Additional input for 10 MHz reference frequency
  
• Automatic activation of PLL if external 10 MHz signal is supplied
  
• Switchable IF input power range
  
• There are two separate IF connectors. They can be switched to one common IF connector.
  
• Aluminium case with a big heat sink
  
• Inside wiring with silver plated Teflon coaxial cable
  
• Antenna relay with 60dB cross-talk attenuation
  
• Converter can process large signals
  
• Extension with additional filters and other components
  
• Built-in directional coupler for calibrated power output control
  
• 5-pole low-pass filter for harmonic wave suppression
  
• Spurious and harmonic wave suppression better 60dBc
  
• Phase noise of the oscillator better -156dBc/Hz@10kHz
  
• Built-in sequence control
  
• Including dc-power and control cable
  
• Handbook

Block diagram

• 05: IF frequency 14...16 MHz
  

Accessories

• RX cable
• TX cable
• IF cable
• As a 10 MHz frequency source we recommend the GPS-stabilized oscillator by James Miller, G3RUH or the 10 MHz - GPS - Frequency Standard by ID Elekronik, DK2DB.
  -  GPS-stabilized 10 MHz oscillator (James Miller, G3RUH)
  -  10 MHz - GPS - Frequency Standard (ID Elekronik, DK2DB)

• References - Transverters

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