From Jason, NT7S, via the qrp-l.org mailing list:
I thought I would share a nice resource that I found earlier when I
was doing some research at work. Mini-Circuits (the guys who make the
SBL-1 DBM, plus other RF goodies) has a great list of reference
material on their application notes page:Among some of the best documents on the page:
- Return loss vs. VSWR table
- dBm – volts – watts conversion table
- The Effect of VSWR on Transmitted Power
- Biasing MMIC Amplifiers (e.g. ERA SERIES)
- Understanding mixers
- Definition of mixer terms
- VCO fundementals and concepts
- Phase locked loop fundamentals
If you do any homebrewing, then this site is worth bookmarking.
Great Idea; I have been licensed since 1969 and totally in Electronics/Telecom even now – using my Ham Radio building and experience doing EMI/EMC, Power and Reliability testing and equipment construction. I have long wondered why MiniCircuits itself does not have an Amateur Radio corner or blog on their website/marketing. True we are nuisance volume purchasers, but many of us are Engineers who can learn about these devices by USING them, at home and at work!
Similarly I wonder why there is not a “Hams For Hittite” blog ect, before they became merged into Analog Devices.
My point there is ADI with the highly creative Apps Engineer Mr. Charles Kitchens put out legendary Regenerative and other QRP Receiver/Transmitter designs, and made it into QST and more.
Fortunately you can buy very inexpensive RF subassemblies including the great SiLabs Timing and VCO/PLL parts – very Ham friendly and Arduino interfaceable.
As Hams we are the original Mentors (Elmers) and Makers, and very able to encourage the newer generation of tinkerers beyond just coding and robotics…