A 12-watt traveling-wave tube amplifier for space communications

A traveling-wave tube will be described which is designed specifically for space communication applications where high efficiency, long life, high reliability and low weight are important. The tube operates in the 2.0 to 2.4 Gc telemetry band at a power output in excess of 12 watts and exhibits overall efficiency including heater power of 27 percent at band center. The tube has greater than 30 db saturation gain. The tube is designed to give greater than 30,000 hours life. This is accomplished by low cathode temperature operation, ion blocking, low beam interception and high temperature tube processing.