Overview of all RF and Microwave products

Content

1. Power Splitter and Combiners

1.1 Resistive

Resistive splitters/combiners are broadband devices. They are used in test equipment and in the lab. Due to their resistive nature, they waste 3 dB of power on top of the 3-dB power reduction caused by the power splitter action itself. So, for example, _S21 is -6 dB. If power loss is critical or you don’t need a broadband device, you are probably better off using a Wilkinson splitter.

Please note that the 3R and 2R configurations are fundamentally different—they are not interchangeable. You can find an explanation of when to use each type in this blog.

Part	Data- sheet	Status	Type	Frequency (MHz) (Low)	Frequency (MHz) (High)	Mounting Flange
SPLT-3R1-0-6000-B-YF		Active	Three resistor configuration	0	5000	Yes
SPLT-3R1-0-6000-B-NF		Active	Three resistor configuration	0	5000	No
SPLT-2R1-0-6000-B-YF		Active	Two resistor configuration	0	3000	Yes
SPLT-2R1-0-6000-B-NF		Active	Two resistor configuration	0	3000	No

1.2 Wilkinson (Magic-Tee)

Magic tee splitters/combiners don’t waste 3 dB of power like resistive splitters/combiners do. But this comes at a price: they are narrowband devices. A very useful property of the Wilkinson splitter is the high isolation between its two splitting ports (_S23).

1.3 Resistive Bridge

A resistive bridge can be also used as a splitter/combiner. Designs with the designation HY (hybrid) split the power in half (-3dB). Adding to this the 3 dB power loss caused by dissipation in the resistors results in an insertion loss of 6 dB. The resistive bridge itself has true broadband characteristics. However, in practice, its frequency range is limited by the transformer that is used to expose the bridge as an RF port. The resistive bridge creates very high isolation between its splitting ports.

2. Directional Couplers

2.1 Resistive bridge

Directional couplers are designed to measure the magnitude of signal reflections caused by an impedance mismatch. These measurements are also known as VSWR measurements because return loss is often represented as a VSWR figure (because they are directly related to each other). Have a look at this article for a detailed discussion of these phenomena.

3. Amplifiers

3.1 LNAs

LNAs are broadband devices with excellent linearity and a flat frequency response. Input power is regulated and filtered against power line–induced noise. Inputs and outputs are well matched against 50 ohms over their entire frequency range.

4. DC-Blocks

DC blocks do exactly what their name suggests: block any DC component from a passing RF signal. They are used to protect sensitive equipment and to prevent measurement errors created by applying a DC component to test equipment—for example, when doing an RF power measurement using a sensor that also responses to DC signals.

5. Bias-Tees

A bias tee comes in handy when power has to be transferred to some remote device (e.g., an LNA) using the coaxial cable that is already running to it. One bias tee is used to inject power to the coaxial line while another retracts power from the line. The bias tees in this table are designed for the most demanding situations. They provide very good separation (isolation) between the DC and RF signals. They have a broad frequency range (more than 4 decades!) and are tuned to have a very flat frequency response and an excellent match to 50 ohms over their entire frequency range.

6. RF Enclosures

These are aluminum RF enclosures for prototyping and small series production. PCBs can be easily changed out. The enclosure is produced by CNC milling of a solid aluminum body. This gives these enclosures, in addition to very tight mechanical tolerances, excellent thermal and EM-shielding properties.