How big should the amplifier be ? Well, I think  that a power level of about 800W should be more than enough, my 20m inverted V has a balun which can do 800W, they say,..........yes it is a big core, yes it has heat resistance PTFE thick wire, and yes I build it myself and have full confidence in my building skills (HI). And I balanced the inverted V as good as possible to avoid common mode currents, which heats up the core, so basically little power should go through the core (current balun).

But I think that 800W is an awful lot of power, and we have to respect that for three reasons:

• keep yourself alive
• respect your marriage
• and be friendly to your neighbors

So, no more than an 800 Watt

 

Old fashioned tubes ? or Solid state,........

I never worked with tubes, I hate high voltages, and I have practical problems with power supplies the old way, lots of kilo's,......so

Solid state it will be,.....

I never build a solid state amplifier of more than let's say 5-10 Watt (the old 2m days). So, I have a challenge. I realize this very well.

But I like challenges, so let's hit the road,........

 

The images on the right show myself on the roof to connect de two dipole wires to the BALUN. Image two shows the measurements of the ready antenna on my antenna analyser (RigExpert). And the third shows the BALUN with a link to the supplier of this neat device. I use this BALUN now for several months with 500W and it is still not burned,.....also the SWR is not going sky high during long chats.