Grid Control of Radio Rectifiers

This paper discusses grid control for voltage regulation and protection of mercury-vapor or arcing type rectifiers for radio transmitting service. The principles of two basic types of voltage control circuits are described, and illustrated by means of diagrams. Various advantages of grid control are brought out, such as automatic starting at reduced voltage, automatic voltage regulation, and high speed electronic protection of the rectifier and the transmitter. A number of oscillograms are reproduced, illustrating several factors coming into consideration when using the automatic grid protection circuit, and showing the comparative duration of the interrupting time with and without automatic inversion of the energy stored in the filter reactor.