The invention relates to a switching power supply for generating a voltage for a pulsating load, in particular for generating a helix voltage for a TWT, where the switching power supply is provided with a dc voltage source, a buffer from which the load is powered, and switches and a control circuit for regulating the charging of the buffer from the dc voltage source.
The phase performance of a transmitter provided with a TWT is directly dependent on the helix voltage of the TWT. If such a transmitter is used in radar equipment, it is of crucial importance that the phase performance of the transmitter is extremely accurate. After all, Doppler information of a target is obtained from the phase difference between transmitted and reflected radio waves. This means that the supply voltage for the helix power of a TWT must be extremely accurate. A switching supply as described above however is not sufficiently accurate. The lack of accuracy in the power supply is caused by the fact that the buffer is charged in steps by switching of the supply. The size of such a step therefore contributes to the inaccuracy of the power supply.