Plate Tank?

[Stumpie]

Hi gang,

Today was a beautiful day in the silicon valley of California.  I
finished breakfast and decided to take my morning walk, trying to keep
the flab down to a minimum.  Four blocks into my morning march, I passed
Chuck's house.  Chuck is a Tech Plus (he constantly reminds me that he's
a plus, as if I could forget).  I saw him out of the corner of my eye, as
I usually do, frantically waving, as he usually does.  As I make a hard
right turn up his walk and into his house snagging the cup of coffee that
is in his outstretched hand, I notice that he has a new rig sitting on
the kitchen table.

Chuck tells me that he just bought a Yaesu FT-1.  It's a completely solid
state rig.  I offer my condolences as he pops the main question.  His HF
antenna is not quite on frequency on every band and what can he do about
it.  I tell him that if he had bought a tube rig like I told him to, that
wouldn't matter, because the plate tank circuit allows for variations in
the load Z.  We discussed an antenna tuner, and I told him that I would
much rather see him build one than buy one, since I felt they were simple
circuits, and every ham worth his license should be able to design and
build one. I now realize that I've set myself up for subsequent frantic
waves and cups of coffee as this project progresses.

And now he asks me a question for which I have no answer.  Why is the
output tuned circuit between the plate and the antenna terminal of a
transmitter called a 'tank' circuit?  I've always called it a 'tank'
circuit since I was a little shaver in the '40s and sitting on ZB's lap
at his big ole homebrew CW transmitter.  My 1947 handbook also calls it a
'tank', but provides no explanation of the term.

Can anyone help me out here so I have an answer for Chuck upon his next
frantic wave?

73

Paul WA6OKQ

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