True beauty lies within, or so they say. For an exclusive look under the hood, I decided to break the warranty seal on my Teledyne LeCroy HDO4024. It took me a while to debate with myself whether or not I should void the warranty on this scope. Curiosity won and I couldn’t resist, I just […]
Continue reading…
Search Results for: ms rim
IC-706 MKII Extended Tx Modification
Expanding the transmit range of an amateur radio transceiver is probably the most common modification. Because of its use associated with the Military Auxiliary Radio Service (MARS) or Civil Air Patrol (CAP), this modification is often referred to as MARS or CAP mod. This article shows how to perform this extended transmit modification on the […]
Continue reading…
Review: Analog Devices ADF4360 PLL Synthesizer
The ADF4360 series from Analog Devices is a a family of integer-N-synthesizer chips with on-board VCOs. Since the chips cover all amateur radio bands between 4m – 13 cm and are rather inexpensive, they are predestined to be used in homebrew amateur radio equipment. Not too long ago I reviewed ADI’s wideband PLL synthesizer ADF4351 […]
Continue reading…
Review: Analog Devices ADF4351
Frequency generation is usually a very critical part in every RF design. The higher the target frequency, the higher complexity. Usually. With the ADF4351, Analog Devices offers an effort-saving component level solution for frequencies up to 4.4 GHz. The ADF4351 from Analog Devices (ADI) is a modern wideband PLL synthesizer with integrated low phase noise […]
Continue reading…
Review: STM32 F3-series Discovery Kit
STM’s STM32 F3 series of microcontrollers offer 32-bit performance with DSP functionality. To make the evaluation of this microcontroller easier, STMicroelectronics offers an evaluation board called the STM32F3DISCOVERY. If you have ever wanted to experiment with an RISC microcontroller that comes with special Digital Signal Processing (DSP) capability, the STM32F3DISCOVERY board might just be the […]
Continue reading…
Review: Abracon ABFT Frequency Translators
In March, 2012, Abracon announced the production of ultra-low jitter, VCXO based frequency translators / jitter attenuators. This is supposed to resolve some problems that accompany classic PLL-based designs at an affordable price. Now, the ABFT frequency translators / jitter attenuators are available on the market and it’s time to have a closer look. The […]
Continue reading…
Closer look at a Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum Signal
This article is going to take a closer look at the properties of a pseudo random bit sequence and a simple direct sequence spread spectrum signal both in the time- and frequency domain using the FFT capabilities of a Teledyne LeCroy WaveAce 1002. A while back, I posted an article about a Pseudorandom Number Generator […]
Continue reading…
AOCJY1 series high stability OCXOs from Abracon
An Oven Controlled Crystal Oscillator (OCXO) is used wherever one needs a highly accurate and precise frequency reference. Abracon manufactures a series of affordable off-the-shelf OCXOs, which are due to their low price and outstanding performance particularly suitable for homebrew designs. Abracon’s AOCJY1 series offers various through-hole OCXOs with several possible frequencies between 10 MHz […]
Continue reading…
How it works: Quadrature detector
Many integrated FM quadrature demodulation circuits, such as the MC3361 or MC3362, have a defined LC tank circuit that creates a specific phase shift of 90 degrees at the center frequency of the demodulator. Let’s take a closer in depth look at how they work. A quadrature demodulator for FM signals consists out of two […]
Continue reading…
Broadband Preamplifier for up to 7 GHz
Luckily the times when DIY projects in the GHz range have been the final frontier that’s rarely been crossed are over. Monolithic Microwave Integrated Circuits (short MMIC) are making the design of microwave (pre-)amplifiers a piece of cake. Mini-Circuits GVA-84+ is a perfect candidate for a simple 7 GHz preamplifier. The datasheet [1] of the […]
Continue reading…