TSP #26 - Tutorial on Microwave and mm-Wave Components and Modules
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- Опубліковано 28 лип 2013
- In this episode Shahriar demos various microwave and mm-wave connectors, components and modules. The purpose of this video is to help new engineers become familiarized with microwave components and help reduce the chance of component damage and failure.
This video demonstrates microwave connectors (BNC, SMA, 3.5mm, 2.92mm (K), 2.4mm, 1.85mm (V), 1.0mm), interfacing instructions, attenuators, power splitters (both resistive and reactive), phase shifters, mm-wave cables, AC coupling caps, Bias-Ts and their principle of operation, mixers, tuning stubs, couplers, switched attenuators, microwave filters, multipliers, amplifiers, coaxial to waveguide converters, waveguide components including horn antennas, and directional couplers. The video also demonstrates Cascade GSG probes and GGB custom composite RF probes. The documents for this video can be downloaded from TheSignalPath.com.
The Signal Path Blog
www.TheSignalPath.com - Наука та технологія
After a decade, there is a mistake in the video I'd like to address:
The subtle description of the doubler operation at 45 minute mark is not correct. The top and bottom of the board form a broadband balun and the tapered lower layer transforms the signal into a balanced mode into a quad pair of diodes. The signal then mixes with itself producing the doubled frequency. At the same time we don't want to self-mix down to DC and create a DC offset so the little wire is there to keep the DC voltage at 0V while acting almost like an open at higher bands - kind of like a bias-T but with a lower cut-off at >1GHz. This doubler is fairly broadband, operating at the input from 1GHz to 32.5GHz. The fundamental rejection is about 15dBc worst case, likely at the edges of the band where the balun does not have very good phase and amplitude response.
Next week on the Signal Path Blog: How to build a communications satellite using household materials.
I always wished this this to happen
You're not only incredibly knowledgeable and intelligent, you're a phenomenal teacher. Those qualities typically lack synergism.
Not only that, you are willing to take valuable time away from your life to enlighten an effectively anonymous audience for no significant monetary benefit.
I'm an electrical engineer. I'm still young in my career (I'm 27), but my hunger for discovery has been present my whole life.
I just wanted to thank you, on behalf of all of us.
Couldn't have said it better myself, coming from a 1st year electrical engineering student (telecommunications).
Thank you for your kind words.
100GHz circuits are rather common these days. Radars, imaging circuits, ultra high-speed data converters and data communication systems, short reach and backhaul radios...
Fantastic topic, fantastic video. Another home run.
I've used your video library as a reference for years now! Thank you, Shahriar! 🙏
This is a very good review of connectors, couplers, amplifiers, waveguides, and other microwave components! It's also very interesting getting to see inside some of these components......something you don't get to do very often in the lab..... It shows that many of these devices, such as splitters, amplifiers, and multipliers, can be designed in-house if you're on a budget......
Thank you so much Shahriar. This was one of kind video which you can not find in other places.
Great video! As someone who works in microwave and mm wave R&D I have to say you do a great job of explaining these things in layman's terms. Good job!
As long as you are careful, patient and familiar with the components, everything will be Ok!
Now that was certainly an interesting hour of video. Thank you.
Fantastic video, thanks. It's nice to have someone go through the real world aspects of high frequency systems like connectors and components. As an electronic engineer I have a huge amount of respect for microwave engineers. Nevertheless it's happened to me a few times that I go to a lab to test something and look like a moron because I use the wrong connector terminology or idly steak my sticky fingers over their $1000 precision load...
This video is great! I had already decided that I will contiunue my study in EE in Microwave Engineering, but of course I hadn't known that much about these things Ive never touched one except my laboratory courses because they are very expensive ! But watching you demonstrate is truely fun. Thanks, now I will go through all of your microwave related videos :D
cool RF-Stuff and very good Explanation ! the Radio Amateur,s heart is bumping
This was a very good overview of the common microwave lab components. This would have been really useful to see when I was starting my grad research.
This was super useful, but I'm sure many of us are wondering how much this stuff costs, so I made notes throughout and looked up prices for everything I could identify. If no manufacturer specified, it's HP/Agilent/Keysight, and prices are either new, or taken from eBay in Jan 2021, all in US dollars. I'm not an expert on any of this, I just looked stuff up.
@14:20 - 8710-1765 Torque Wrench, 8 lb-in, $300 (eBay)
@17:29 - N5520B, 1.85mm - 1.85mm F-F coupler, DC-67GHz, instrument grade, $1649
@20:14 - 85138A terminator, DC-50GHz, metrology grade, $1036
@21:28 - 33340C fixed 20dB attenuator, DC-26.5 GHz. (obsolete)
8493C replacement part for 33340C, $506
@22:29 - 11636B power divider, DC-26.5 GHz, $1725
@24:46 - 11667C power splitter, DC-50GHz, $2572
@27:16 - 87304C Hybrid Power Divider, 2-26.5Ghz $1144
@28:10 - MACOM 180deg stripline hybrid, $2483
@28:57 - 5086-7518 50 GHz directional coupler, $1400 (eBay)
@29:23 - MACOM 3020-4099-00 directional coupler, $75 (eBay)
@31:20 - 5086-7489 50 ohm R-Channel coupler, $575 (eBay)
@32:17 - Picosecond Pulse Labs 5500A DC Block, $199 (eBay)
@33:05 - Picosecond Pulse Labs 5575A 12GHz bias tee, $250 (eBay)
@37:32 - SHF 123B bias tee
@39:54 - 11612B Bias Network, 45MHz - 50GHz, $2033
@40:32 - MACOM PS20-0001-K DC-30GHz phase shifter
@41:51 - Maury Microwave 1819C trible-stub tuner 2-18GHz
@44:20 - Marki Microwave D0265IJVV passive doubler
@46:33 - Anaren 74125 1-4GHz double balanced mixer, $60 (eBay)
@48:23 - Mini-Circuits ZFJ-1000VH amplifier, $100 (eBay)
@49:40 - Anritsu A7HB3102 wideband amplifier, $400 (eBay)
@50:40 - W281C waveguide adapter, 75-110GHz, $4144
@51:45 - Hitachi WR28(?) directional coupler waveguide, $150 (eBay)
@52:26 - millitech 45168H-1000 circulator, CF 140 GHz
@53:23 - WR10 horn antenna, $775 (eBay)
@54:26 - Cascade 167-A-GSG-100 probe
@57:40 - GGB PicoProbe MCW-23-137205
These connectors are precision components. But the main reason they are expensive is volume. An Intel processor is more expensive to produce in small quantities, but you can buy them at a lower price than these connectors because they manufacture millions of them. The price of >50GHz components have already dropped significantly in the past decade.
Amazing microwave show and tell. Thanks!
Thanks for making videos like this. They are the best.
Really Informative!! Thank You. Hope more other new device clarification
👍🏻🇺🇸🇦🇲👍🏻. THANK YOU Shahriar ! Yet ANOTHER OUTSTANDING VIDEO !!
I honestly think that I’ve obtained more practical information from this UA-cam channel
than EE schooling and 30+ years in the field designing, installing and servicing public-safety
communications systems. (and tuition was wayyyy cheaper compared to the new “WOKE”
Institutions of Debatable 🤪 Learning rates are)
Between TSP and IMSAI Guy (& a few others), UA-cam is a phenomenal resource that I really
could have benefited from in years past.
Keep up the great work.
&. 73 from an NJ Armo 😷😀
Incredibly informative and definitely learnt a great deal from watching this video. You are a wealth of knowledge and greatly appreciate you taking the time to share this invaluable insight. Should've been my professor when I did my EE :). Frankly, addictive watching your videos. Keep up the great work, and will nominate you for Noble prize, cheers!
Physics experiments, THz imaging (in airports) and spectroscopy are a few that spring to mind.
It's cool... When you know...you know...Thanks for honest information & Great video.
that was really interesting looking in those microwave modules.Thank You for your videos .:)
Very nice presentation, and very interesting. I am not familiar with this topic but you explained it the right way. Thanks a lot and please continue making videos because you know how to make them very useful.
That.. Was..AWESOME!!!
Hi Shahriar, great introduction into microwave components. Way beyond my understanding but nice to have an explanation I can understand. Gerry
26:00 Did you ever happen to put together that tutorial on microwave design? You would do a fantastic job and I hope to see that video in the future
any news?
Since this was made, the state of the art has changed, also. Just not in the areas he dealt with!
Thanks for the explanation, that's really informative
Wondeful Lecture!
Very nice and helpful, thank you!!!!
Another stellar video. I learned a lot. My experience and education is pretty much limited to freq below 1GHz. Higher RF is a bit of a mystery to me. I wish more people would discover your videos.
Love the videos, keep up the good work.
Excellent Video, Really appreciate your efforts showing these expensive components. Keep it up 👍. I learned alot.. 😊
you are my hero. bro.
let me take a seat and watch the tutorials.
I love this tiny +300 GHz horn hahaha lovely!
I have worked with waveguides in the Navy, but never made measurements. Make sense seeing as how I would have been sent to mast if I broke one of those meters. Awesome video.
The geometry is almost identical. But the coupling will depends on the launch port (i.e. the input signal propagation direction).
Can you please clarify what you mean by "MOSFET" RLC? Are you talking about a tutorial on MOS based VCOs that use LC tanks?
The more varied tutorials there are the better, they will compliment each other. Some one might cover some points while another tutorial will cover another aspect. That's why there are hundreds of books covering each topic, otherwise we would have a single book for each topic. :-)
This was very interesting to watch. I didn't really realize that simple adapters and connectors could make this much of a difference in terms of attenuation and frequency response, but I have personally seen those differences now. Some cables and connector types simply block the signal entirely, whereas others introduce lots of spikes etc. I will prove this in videos very soon (not on this account), unless Shahriar brings a 65GHz VNA home to make another killer video haha. ;) ;)
Amazing, thank you!
Thank you for the explanation
a couple of Gigs is almost DC these days. Love the vids, looking forward to see where you are going with RF topic.
Really great video.
Yes, I did! Those connectors have already been misused and are quiet old.
That is actually what that is... I'll look into fixing it.
I'd love to do a full VNA measurement tutorial, but I would need a VNA for that. :) If someone wants to donate a portable VNA to The Signal Path Blog, let me know!
Subscribed thanks to this video
Ah, you show some basics. Hope for more...
Awesome!
Hi,thank you for the video. Could you explain more on the tapered grounding of the frequency doubler? Thank you.
One minor point... The two step Wilkinson splitter shown at 26:05 probably only works over 700MHz-1500MHz and not 100MHz to 1500MHz. I don't think you can get 15:1 bandwidth from a 2 stage splitter like this.
Truly amazing and there was me searching around for a 1GHz Dc block.
Thanks for taking your time to make interesting videos. I can only guess why satellites cost so much.
SMA in amateur radio handhelds too. Of course for good stuff at 70cm and above you use N connectors.
Inspection under a microscope is critical. Some metrology labs have bizarre criteria for acceptance of these connectors. For example, I've had calibration kits returned as "okay" when upon inspection, most of the spring fingers inside the connector were missing! It turns out, the only criterion for acceptance was pin depth!
Absolutely superb video, I learnt huge amount. I find RF fascinating nowadays and I wish I could remember more from the comms lectures at university....
Off-topic and random, has any said you sound a bit like the character Dr Nick off the Simpsons? :)
Epic popcorn time!! :D
Man, I wanted to make a video like that! Well, I guess I was too slow. Now I gotta come up with something better. Good job!
do you have a list of your tutorials in order they should be watched?
You can buy surplus waveguide components quite cheaply (about $150-400) but it's when you have to couple back to coax where it gets really expensive...
Thank you very much for the awesome content. Do you possibly sell some of those? For example the directional bridge.
excellent educational video.can you give more detailed analysis of phase noise when you can
Very nice to see some of this stuff, I've *heard* of most of the components on display, but never seen them, let alone with their clothes off ;)
What causes the directional coupler to be directional, and why do the forward and reverse ports select power going that direction, the geometery seems nearly identical?
You want your coupler to be directional because these are mostly used in networks and you want to see where in your network the signal is getting through and not getting through and which direction the signal is coming from, so there fore you can trace where in your network there may be a problem. The signal coming in through the out put port is usually terminated through the coupling to a terminator, unless of course your using a dual directional coupler.
Small thing - you should only tighten with the torque wrench until its starts to move. If it 'snaps' over you may well put extra torque on the connector.
Microwave, the progression of electronics.... to plumbing.
At 32:00 the coupler looks very much like the one in HP VNAs such as the 8753 d/e/es series. The resistors on the right hand side have a tendency to burn out due to ESD as they're built onto the trace/board. They can be fixed (basically) by replacing them with a 265 ohm resistor to make up for the burnt out component. Extremely common problem with HP VNAs. The screw positions appear to align and the internal structure is extremely similar, so if this isn't an HP part, it's a knock-off.
Amazing, if I may ask, how do you have access to such expensive hardware?
Question: When using right angle connectors, will there be reflections and return losses? Do they have same performance as inline connectors?
For those want a pdf version of this table, www.thesignalpath.com/uploads/TheSignalPath_EP26.pdf
Shahriyar Jaan,
You know what would be good is step by step VNA measurement of S11/S21 with calibration OSL. I know how to do it, but I haven't seen any videos on youtube. So it would be the first and very popular.
Also how to measure balanced components or antennas with a 2 port VNA, which is a tricky process.
Love your work.
Mersi ;)
Thumbs up!
26:10 >tutorial on microwave design
wait wait wait, where's that? that's exactly what i was looking for.
I did my BSc in EEE and ya i have microwave in my theory and lab....didnt learn this stuff there.learned abt waveguide and radiation pattern of antenna mostly. what do you think teachers should teach in undergrad level microwave lab which is very helpful in the industry?
Great video I wish you had detailed schematics draw for better understanding thanks
Do you account for the capacitance between the tips of the probes you showed at the end? I would imagine it would be significant at high frequencies.
The electronics engineer of the future would do well to take a class in plumbing/ mechanical engineering, with these pipes and cavities. I believe at these GHz freq's the signals/current travel on the surface of the metals due to skin effect. Very interesting video.
good video
You should not take my word for it! You should try it for yourself. Setup a 67GHz VNA with -20dBm launch power and do a two port calibration. Then measure the SP of a DUT with better than -40dB return loss. Disassemble your setup, and re-assemble it. Recalibrate and measure again. Do this once with metrology grade and once with production grade connectors that have been used at least 10 times. Compare the four measurements you just did. Guess which curves will be on top of each other?
Hello, maybe you could demonstrate some basic fundamentals of using a VNA by using the Diligent Analog Discovery's basic network analyzer function. You could design your examples to fall within its limited 10MHz bandwidth. Many EE students have this $99.00 device and they would be able to follow along with your demonstration. In the video you could also point out the benefits of using a lab grade VNA too so their advantages would be fully appreciated. Just a thought. Keep up the good work.
Of course you can measure the difference! It is more than just raw performance, it is also performance over time, repeatability and life span of the metrology grade connectors. These things are not the latest consumer product where you can 'fool' the buyer through exaggerated advertisement. They are scientific products. They are either objectively better, or they are not. For example, device modeling with production grade components is essentially not possible.
EXCELLENT VIDEO......I WILL SUBSRCIBE
Cool. What ever happened to "plumbing"? Seems that was all one used to see for even moderately high frequencies. Now, it's copper to >100GHz! Can't remember the last time I saw plumbing...
Don't they use solid gold or silver center pins in some of those connectors?
Did you put together a metrology grade connector with an instrument grade cable in the first half of the video? I thought that was bad.
Your latest video is so pornographic it should not be legal. By far the most interesting part of my day. Thanks! Again!
I have to ask. What was the 325GHz waveguide for? What have you used it for in the past? I can't even fathom an application that requires a frequency that high. Wow.
ha I don't know that. thank. Whivh is the maximum frequency use today? among the tera hertz?
At about 44:00 he talks about frequency doublers.
if it's so critical to connect the right type of connector why there are no clear markings on them? if it's not possible to make a different shape I'm sure there could be some text or markings without changing the characteristics of the connector
Because it is good business to sell you another $500 cable, and $2000 to service your instrument.
That HP bias network sells for about $950 on Ebay...
At the end of your video you said that the probe was rated to 40 GHz, but you didn’t describe how impedance could physically work with such a dynamic system. :(
Also, now that you have access to a decent/fancy X-ray imager, it would be fascinating to see the actual RF traces that you’ve glossed over throughout your videos 🙏
Thanks for showing me all that black Magic. I don't even begin to understand this!
could anyone give some introduction of phase shifter for millimeter wave?
Pornographic goodness, loved the video!
I think Dan is a classic case of the Dunning-Kruger Effect at work. I may even have encountered him before on another website forum. Someone who thinks a 5lb mallet is the appropriate tool for every occasion!
Its really iseful
52:55 hmm, now comes the voodoo
Isnt the taper on the frequency doubler a balun, not Z matching
Yes. It is a microstrip-to-balanced stripline balun driving a full bridge rectifier, then another balun to get back to single ended output. Marki has an app note on their doublers.