[time-nuts] locking oscillators - an increase in power and/or stability ?

[Dr. David Kirkby (Kirkby Microwave Ltd)]

There's a discussion on the "ukmicrowave" list about combining the
power from two 10 GHz Gunn oscillators with a magic T.  One might
expect to get nearly double the power if the two oscillators are
combined. What people are observing is getting more than double the
power. To quote from

http://www.bobatkins.com/radio/10GHz_gunn_power_combiner.html

"Individually, the two oscillators produced 64 and 70 mW,
respectively, but produced a combined power output of 235 mW. "

Another one

"The stability of the combined oscillators was found to be higher than
that of the individual oscillators. "

It is hardly surprising the two lock together in frequency.

I wonder if people see similar things with pendulums in clocks? I
can't think of any logical explanation for this, but it seems to be
more than an April fools joke.

What is interesting is someone who just tried it says the current in
the diodes goes down about a mA when combined, so the input power to
the devices go down very slightly. Typically these things run at a few
hundred mA, so 1 mA is likely to be less than 1 %.



Dr. David Kirkby Ph.D CEng MIET
Kirkby Microwave Ltd
Registered office: Stokes Hall Lodge, Burnham Rd, Althorne, Essex, CM3 6DT, UK.
Registered in England and Wales, company number 08914892.
http://www.kirkbymicrowave.co.uk/
Tel: 07910 441670 / +44 7910 441670 (0900 to 2100 GMT only please)