Performance and implementation of SSB on a high power broadcast transmitter

There is little doubt that if the conversion to SSB could be accomplished overnight then the well known advantages of the system would be realised. The only transmitters capable of efficiently amplifying SSB signals at high enough power are likely to be the latest designs employing a series switching modulator, such as the Marconi Advanced Pulsam system. The technique which has been developed to enable such transmitters to amplify SSB signals is first briefly described, to emphasise the differences between this approach and conventional linear amplification. It is felt that the characteristics of such systems need to be specifically taken into account before the SSB scheme is finalised, to minimise future difficulties. The issue of test procedures, for example, is of particular concern. Results obtained from a Marconi B6126 300 kW Advanced Pulsam transmitter, operating in its SSB mode, are presented to demonstrate the typical performance that can be expected from SSB transmitters of this class.<>