{"id":16026,"date":"2021-01-11T16:05:00","date_gmt":"2021-01-11T15:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nolle.engineering\/2021\/01\/11\/iceconefeed-thermal-test-120w-cw\/"},"modified":"2026-07-13T09:16:47","modified_gmt":"2026-07-13T07:16:47","slug":"iceconefeed-thermal-test-120w-cw","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nolle.engineering\/en\/2021\/01\/11\/iceconefeed-thermal-test-120w-cw\/","title":{"rendered":"IceConeFeed Thermal Test \u2014 120 W CW"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One question comes up again and again from DATV operators and anyone running a serious PA on QO-100: how much power can the IceConeFeed really take before the printed structure or the feedpoint starts to suffer?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Back in January 2021 one of our customers answered that the direct way &mdash; with a thermal-imaging camera and a deliberately harsh test.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The test<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Drive: 120&nbsp;W CW<\/strong> &mdash; a continuous, unmodulated carrier. This is the worst-case thermal load a feed can see: 100&nbsp;% duty cycle, full power, no let-up.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Duration: ~5&nbsp;minutes<\/strong> keyed continuously.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Setup: feed driven directly, no dish.<\/strong> A reflector plays no role in how the feed itself heats, so it was left out to isolate the feed&#8217;s own thermal behaviour.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Band: 2.4&nbsp;GHz QO-100 uplink.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The thermal image<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"320\" height=\"240\" src=\"https:\/\/nolle.engineering\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/IR_0419.jpg\" alt=\"FLIR thermal image of an IceConeFeed driven at 120 W CW: a single hot spot of 31.6 degrees C at the feedpoint against a cold, roughly 8 to 10 degrees C ambient.\" class=\"wp-image-14603\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nolle.engineering\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/IR_0419.jpg 320w, https:\/\/nolle.engineering\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/IR_0419-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/nolle.engineering\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/IR_0419-16x12.jpg 16w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 320px) 100vw, 320px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The scene is cold &mdash; most of the structure sits at ambient, around 8&ndash;10&nbsp;&deg;C on a winter day (the crosshair on the feed body reads 10.7&nbsp;&deg;C). There is exactly one hot spot: the driven feedpoint \/ matching region, glowing at the top of the palette.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table><thead><tr><th>Reading<\/th><th>Value<\/th><\/tr><\/thead><tbody><tr><td>Hottest point on the feed<\/td><td><strong>31.6&nbsp;&deg;C<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Feed body (spot marker)<\/td><td>10.7&nbsp;&deg;C<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Ambient \/ coldest structure<\/td><td>~8&nbsp;&deg;C<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Temperature rise at hot spot<\/td><td><strong>&asymp; 20&ndash;22&nbsp;K<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What it means<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Under 120&nbsp;W of continuous carrier &mdash; a load far harsher than any real on-air mode &mdash; the hottest point on the feed reached only about <strong>31.6&nbsp;&deg;C<\/strong>, barely above body temperature, a rise of roughly 20&nbsp;K above the cold ambient. The rest of the assembly hardly warmed at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Put that against the material: PETG softens (glass transition) around 75&ndash;80&nbsp;&deg;C, and the PTFE, coax and SMA hardware are rated far higher still. At the worst-case drive level the feed reaches <strong>well under half<\/strong> the temperature where the printed PETG even begins to soften.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And because CW is the harshest case, everything gentler is covered. DATV &mdash; even at high duty cycle &mdash; delivers a lower <em>average<\/em> power than a full continuous carrier, so a DATV station running 100&nbsp;W sits comfortably inside this envelope.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Applies to the v2.1 as well<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Although this test was run on the IceConeFeed v2, the result carries straight over to the <strong>v2.1<\/strong>. The v2.1 uses the <em>identical connector and the same matching elements<\/em> &mdash; only the radiating element is thinner. The feedpoint and matching section, which is exactly where the heat appears, are unchanged, so the thermal behaviour is the same.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Want one? The <a href=\"https:\/\/nolle.engineering\/en\/product\/icfv2\/\">IceConeFeed v2<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/nolle.engineering\/en\/product\/iceconefeed-v2-1\/\">v2.1<\/a> are in the shop, assembled and tuned for QO-100.<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A customer put the IceConeFeed under 120 W CW with a thermal camera. Peak temperature at the feedpoint: 31.6 \u00b0C \u2014 a ~20 K rise at the worst-case duty cycle.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":3277,"featured_media":14603,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16026","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","fallback-thumbnail"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>IceConeFeed Thermal Test \u2014 120 W CW - nolle.engineering<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nolle.engineering\/en\/2021\/01\/11\/iceconefeed-thermal-test-120w-cw\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"IceConeFeed Thermal Test \u2014 120 W CW - nolle.engineering\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A customer put the IceConeFeed under 120 W CW with a thermal camera. 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