For those into radio astronomy would know the significance of having ultra-low noise figures. Lower the noise figure, the more sensitive your receiver becomes. Noise figure is a unit of measure that tells us how much noise, for example, your amplifier is adding to the
We have seen the LimeSDR mini several times on this blog. So far, we have only seen how it can generate analog modulation to transmit voice and what not. Being an SDR capable to transmit practically anything, we can even transmit binary data. Speaking of
Most amplifiers we use have a fixed gain. In case of excess input power, the amplifier saturates. As a result, the blocks down the receive chain also get affected by this. To avoid this, the preferred technique is to reduce the gain of the amplifier
We have gone over NanoVNA so many times in the past. I did a complete review of the inexpensive NanoVNA last month. Furthermore, I compared it with the super-expensive Keysight N9952A Vector Network Analyzer. Finally, I wrote a small script to compute the TDR response
There are so many new RF devices coming out these days which has pushed the envelope the technology where a common person can access it. In one of the previous posts, I demonstrated how LimeSDR mini can be used like a RF source. This time,
Update: Now you can plot the impedance vs. distance/time plot. Click here to learn the concept. Original Post: Having a VNA opens up so many possibilities. Just last week, I reviewed the nanoVNA and found to be an interesting device to have. Having handled expensive
Vector network analysers (VNA) come in all sort of price ranges. Most of them are out of reach for a typical hobbyist. Very few VNAs are available to be bought by someone like you and me. For example, the $500 miniVNA and the sub-hundred dollar
Do you build RF circuits? Have you built any antennas? If the answer to any of the two questions is YES, then you know how valuable having a VNA (Vector Network Analyzer) is. Just an year ago the cheapest VNA on the market was the
PLL chips such as the ADF43xx, MAX287x and so on come with an integrated VCO. The frequency range on these PLL chips can extend all the way from few tens of MegaHertz to several GigaHertz. Such a wide range of output frequency can be obtained
Remember the previous post where we generated PWM? We are going to use the PWM output from the TivaC microcontroller and drive an RF switch. I will be using the Minicircuits HSWA2-63DR+ SP2T switch to generate pulsed RF output. Correspondingly, A simple SP1T switch would