App note from Coilcraft on how inductors where used for solving RF isolation issues. Link here (PDF) Many consumer products communicate with each other over broadband networks. From television to fiber transmission networks, the bandwidth of data communication is increasing, and the integrity of RF signals has become a major design concern. This paper provides […]
Tag Archives: RF
High efficiency 4V supply QRP amplifier
Low voltage, high efficiency QRP RF amplifier project @ circuitsalad.com This is an example of a high efficiency QRP transmitter designed to work at very low supply voltages (3v-5v). It can produce 2 watts a 4 volt supply @ 70% efficiency. It uses small, inexpensive switching mosfets. The primary requirement for these mosfets is low […]
Compact Si5351 based SDR
Ray Ring has written an article detailing the build of his mini SDR radio using FV-1 Audio processor and Si5351: This is a revised version of my FV-1 based SDR. I replaced the CS2100 clk generator with the Si5351 clk generator. The Si5351 has some advantages over the CS2100, namely you can generate quadrature clks […]
Keysight MXA revision-b signal analyzer / Spectrum analyzer review, analysis & experiments
Keysight MXA revision-b signal analyzer / Spectrum analyzer review, analysis & experiments from The Signal Path: In this episode Shahriar reviews the long awaited Keysight MXA Signal Analyzer (N9020B). The new X-Series Spectrum Analyzers from Keysight offer an entirely re-designed GUI interface which supports multiple tabs as well as multi-touch interaction. Check out the video after […]
Pen FM transmitter bug
A pen FM transmitter bug project from Talking Electronics: Pen FM Transmitter bug projects have been very popular. The idea of being able to hide a transmitter in a pen is very appealing. In an effort to reduce the size of this design, we have used surface-mount components. Firstly, the thought of using the coil […]
Teardown, repair and experiments with the Anritsu 37347A 20GHz Vector Network Analyzer
Here’s another great video teardown from TheSignalPath: In this episode Shahriar repairs an Anritsu 37347A 20GHz Two-Port Network Analyzer. The unit does not boot up and as a result its internal state is unknown. The boot fault is traced to a bad RTC module which has a built-in integrated battery. A replacement unit is located […]
Simple crystal tester
Dilshan Jayakody writes: This is simple Colpitts oscillator to test commonly available passive crystals which range between 2MHz to 27MHz. This unit must connect to an oscilloscope and/or frequency counter to get the frequency of the crystal. This circuit is design to work around 9V to 12V DC power source. Both 2SC930 transistors can replace […]
Rigol DSA875-TG 9kHz – 7.5GHz Spectrum Analyzer & tracking generator review, teardown & experiments
Rigol DSA875-TG 9kHz – 7.5GHz Spectrum Analyzer & tracking generator review, teardown & experiments from TheSignalPath: In this episode Shahriar takes a close look at the top-of-the-line Rigol DSA875-TG 7.5GHz Spectrum Analyzer. This unit which, offers a built in tracking generator for the full frequency range, has a portable form-factor. I offers the following performance: 9 […]
Teardown & analysis of a Keysight InfiniMax III N2802A 25GHz active probe
A teardown & analysis of a Keysight InfiniMax III N2802A 25GHz active probe from TheSignal Path: In this episode Shahriar takes a close look at one of Keysight (Agilent) InfiniMax III active probes. The model N2802A offers 25GHz of analog bandwidth, 17.5pS of rise time and a total differential input capacitance of 32fF at 10k-Ohm […]
Building and characterizing a DIY RF power sensor
Kerry Wong writes: For the build, I followed LT’s reference design detailed in the datasheet. For the output filtering, I used a 2.2K/10pF output RC filter to limit the output bandwidth to around 3 MHz. Since we are in the RF realm, board layout becomes much more critical than dealing with sub MHz circuits. But […]
Wireless LED driver with PCA9634
Ondřej Karas of DoItWireless writes, “If You are interested in LED driving through RF, this article would be interesting for you. I tested own PCA9634 breakout board for this chip and wrote simple low level driver for IQRF TR-52D module. Next week, I am going to publish PC application for comfortable operation with that.”
App note: Direct-sampling DACs in theory and application
An application note from Maxim: Direct-sampling DACs in theory and application High-speed digital-to-analog converters (DACs) with high resolution in the 12- to 14-bit range enable new types of transmitter designs that employ a direct modulation scheme. In such designs, the modulated transmission signal is generated directly on the base frequency. This application note explains how […]
Variable RF signal sampler
Brian Dorey posted an article describing how he built his variable RF signal sampler: It isn’t safe to connect the output of a radio directly into a frequency counter or oscilloscope due to the high voltages and currents on the transmitter and so we needed a way to sample part of the transmitted signal while dumping the […]
References regarding RF, DC, AC ferromagnetic materials
Drone writes in suggesting this site with lots of info on RF, DC, AC ferromagnetic materials and applications. The company, RJ & US Imports, has stopped trading but keeps the reference info up as a service to others. Via the contact form.
Si4707 weather band receiver IC breakout board
AIW designed a breakout board for the Si4707 weather band receiver IC. It features a coax antenna connector, and I2C pins broken out and pulled high to 3.3V. Code sample for interfacing the device to the Arduino was released in the forum. I do have comms utilizing Arduino I2C bus. The Si4707 is 3.3V so […]
PIC12LF1840T48A MCU with Integrated Sub-GHz Trasmitter
Octal tipped us off about the new PIC12LF1840T48A microcontrollers that have a built in sub-GHz transmitter: Microchip just published the datasheet related to using the PIC12LF1840T48A Microcontroller with Integrated Sub-GHz Trasmitter. The PIC12LF1840T48A is a Microchip microcontroller that has an on-board transmitter. The transmitter is suitable for operation in the 418, 434 and 868 MHz […]
Microchip RF transceiver
William Dillon shares his project, including code, schematic and board file, for his RF transceiver based on the Microchip MRF49XA. Via Hack a Day
SimpliciTI™ protocol
SimpliciTI™ is a low-power RF protocol aimed at simple, small RF networks. This open-source software was designed for easy implementation and deployment out-of-the-box on several TI RF platforms such as the MSP430 family of low-power MCUs and the CC1XXX/CC25XX/CC430 transceivers and SoCs. Access point and range extenders are not required but provide extra functionality such […]
MSP430 based RF spectrum analyzer
Here’s a well documented RF spectrum analyzer project by