Pasternack Blog

The growth of wireless and high speed data applications has only expanded the use of coaxial cabling beyond traditional video and telecommunications uses. With the growth and standardization of coaxial cabling for a wide range of applications, coaxial cabling has become very familiar in the home, office, telecommunication facility, rail platform, industrial plant, and government/public ..

A systems engineer will often weigh many factors when selecting the appropriate attenuator for a specific application. An application may demand greater electrical, physical, or environmental properties from an attenuator and these factors will ultimately dictate the design constraints that lead to attenuator selection. The main electrical parameters considered, are the attenuation level and how ..

The next generation of mobile wireless technologies (5G), RF imaging, and even radar will be leveraging upper microwave and millimeter-wave frequencies for high data rate communications and sensing applications. The U.S. FCC and ITR have already investigated several upper microwave and millimeter-wave bands for use for these applications, and intense international investment has been gaining ..

Depending upon the frequencies, power levels, and physical requirements, either coaxial or waveguide interconnects are used for high power RF and Microwave applications. Both technologies vary in size as a function of frequency and require higher precision materials and manufacturing processes to handle higher power levels. Generally, as a product of the way the RF ..

A Radio Frequency mixer is a three-port passive or active device that combines two or more signals into one or two composite output signals, and is the backbone of heterodyne and superheterodyne communications technologies. The purpose of a mixer is to produce a signal at a new frequency, while preserving other characteristics of the initial ..

A Bi-Directional amplifier (BDA) is a device that locates a wireless signal, amplifies it, and then rebroadcasts it throughout a building or area. The backbone of most range or signal extending technologies is a relatively simple dual amplifier device with an integrated low noise amplifier (LNA) and power amplifier (PA). The Bi-Directional amplifier either enables ..

Waveguides are predominantly constructed entirely with conductive metals, with the exception of pressure windows, some gaskets  and jacketing materials. Generally, this means that waveguides are constructed in machining facilities by technicians knowledgeable in waveguide construction. Some of this knowledge is based in physics, such as the proper bend radius and lengths of bends, and some ..

Phase Shifters are a critical component in many RF and Microwave systems. A phase shift module is a microwave network module which provides a controllable phase shift of the RF signal and are used in phased arrays. Phase shifters are used to change the transmission phase angle of a two-port network. Applications include controlling the ..

As every adapter and termination can introduce unwanted insertion loss and reflections. Carefully choosing the right component can prevent unwanted signal degradation and potential damage to sensitive electronics. Adapters and terminations come in many forms, generally coaxial or waveguide for high power applications. Additionally, adapters can be more complex as the sizes and types of ..

Attenuators are an intrinsic part of many electrical designs, due to their utility in controlling amplitude and ability to improve the voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR) of a poorly matched load. Some applications include test set ups that leverage fixed attenuators as protection before test equipment to stay within the dynamic range of the equipment. ..