Radio Frequency (RF)

VHF LDMOS Power Amplifier Experiments

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LDMOS VHF Power Amplifier Prototype

The NXP MRF101 series high ruggedness N-channel Enhancement-mode lateral MOSFETs promise over 100 Watt CW output power and slightly over 20 dB gain from 1.8 MHz all the way up to 250 MHz. Their mismatch insensitivity for a VSWR of greater than 65:1 without significant device degradation makes these devices extremely interesting for amateur radio operators. While there a plenty of designs for the HF + 6m Bands on the internet, I wanted to see what it takes to use them on the 2m VHF band.

ICS501 / ICS501 VHF Experiments

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ICS501 output spectrum, 15.1 MHz input clock, 90.6 MHz output. Horizontal scale: 2 MHz / division, vertical scale: 20 dB / division

The ICS501 / ICS511 from Renesas are easy to use, fully integrated clock multipliers for output frequencies up to 200 MHz. What makes them particuarly interesting is the integrated crystal oscillator circuit and ability to produce some fractional multiples, such as 6.25 or 2.5. So let’s find out if they’re interesting for the hobbyist who wants to generate clock signals in the VHF range.

Secondary Surveillance Radar | An Introduction

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Quick introduction to Secondary Surveillance Radar and how it works. After explaining the absolute basics, I am showing how one can simulate transponder responses using off-the-shelf test equipment. RTL1090 is used to verify the generated signals as valid. If you want the arb waveform file for the 7777 Mode A response, here it is: https://baltic-lab.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/SQUAWK_7777_IDENT.zip

Instrument Landing System Testing

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This video shows how easy it is to test an Instrument Landing System, ILS for short, receiver for localizer and glideslope accuracy. This video was shot in DNxHD using the Blackmagic HyperDeck shuttle I showed in another video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cc83-Cc-vtw). After editing in Adobe Premiere and finishing it off in SpeedGrade, I exported it to h.264 … [Read more…]