Pasternack Blog

As virtually all electronic systems—and even some mechanical, biological and chemical systems—are susceptible to electrostatic discharge (ESD), and when operating alongside other electronics there is a need for electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) standards. The DoD offers a handbook and several standards which cover ESD and EMC. MIL-HDBK-263 provides much of the background around the application of ..

In many installations and test bench scenarios, a precisely designed rigid waveguide structure with the proper flange and orientation is not readily available. Lead times of several weeks to months are common to receive the correct part. This is not always convenient in a design, repair, or replacement situation. Flexible waveguides at various lengths enable ..

RF switches are broken down into several configurations, typologies, and technologies. The simplest distinction is the normally open-circuit or normally closed-circuit configurations. Generally, if unlabeled, a switch is normally open-circuit, though it is worth investigating to a high degree of confidence. If a switch remains in the switched state after power has been removed, the ..

It is common to see high reliability (Hi-Rel) labelled electronic components and devices in virtually every automotive, industrial, avionics, military, and space application. Obviously, these applications have widely different standards and expectations for reliability. For example, an automotive device may have an expected failure rate over 5 years that is orders of magnitude less than ..

Bi-directional amplifiers are used to strengthen communication signals between two points for a wide array of applications. This include boosting signals along large subterranean or in-building distributed antenna systems (DAS), acting as a repeater to a remote observation station, and even enabling rapidly deployable portable networks with unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). As many modern uses ..

Though many failure modes cannot be predicted or avoided, many of the common failure modes of waveguide assemblies can be avoided by properly accounting for the applications demands and running preventative maintenance programs. If the outer coating/jacket of a waveguide cable run is important in preventing environmental ingress, visual and chemical inspections can be performed ..

A balun, meaning balanced-unbalanced, is a three-port device that converts differential signals to single-ended signals, and vice versa. Hence, a balun presents a 180° phase shift between the signals in the balanced end, unlike a power divider with no phase shift between the splitting ports. This functionality allows for baluns to take the input, or ..

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 ..