Johnson Valiant

[WA5VGO]

I've been spending some time with a friend working on a couple of Valiants and we've noticed that some Valiants use a 500 pf plate blocking capacitor and some use a 2000 pf. Why the change? Which came first? Also, the 2000 pf capacitor is only rated at 1.5 KV. That seems pretty low. I always thought the rule of thumb was four times the plate voltage.

Darrell, WA5VGO

[k3zrf]

I believe the original is 500 pf but would use at least 10-15kv if available.

Changing that cap to 1000pf at 10-15kv gives you a better 'dip' on 160 meters.

Four times plate voltage works for me.