Development of high power gridded tube CW RF systems with excellent reliability and maintainability

In the course of expanding the PSI proton accelerator complex towards very high beam currents, the entire RF system (except cavities) was redesigned. Aside from the set beam intensity goal, higher reliability became a prime objective. Analysing problem areas and failure mechanisms led to a much improved overall system. New power amplifiers and coupling loops were designed, together with improved protection, spark detection and RF recovery systems. This paper shows and explains the recently obtained results in performance and discusses means for further improvements.