Pasternack Blog

Network parameters are mathematical tools used to describe the behavior of linear and non-linear networks, specifically electrical networks based on steady state stimulus. These parameters are heavily used with RF/microwave engineering and electronics that work with high frequency signals. At higher frequencies network parameters, such as S-parameters are often viewed as more useful methods of ..

An essential method of testing communications and radar equipment is the use of Over-the-air (OTA) testing. OTA testing is performed on antenna, user equipment, base station equipment, satellite communication, ground station, radios, and radar for virtually all applications. Though extensive characterization testing and quality testing can be performed in a compact and automated testing rigs ..

Controlling the phase of RF/microwave signals is an essential aspect of most modern communications, radar, and testing applications. Phase adjustments can be used to create a variety of effects, including combining, subtracting, and aligning signals, as well as part of phased-array antenna technology. Moreover, phase variations in a radar response can be used to distinguish important ..

Software Defined Radios (SDRs) were once a poorly understood niche device, and have essentially overtaken the architecture of most radio devices, superseding hardware defined radios (HDRs). Most common types of modern test equipment have some form of SDR capability, meaning that at least some of their physical-layer functions are determined by software instead of hardware. ..

Many types of RF test equipment are designed specifically to be used in high accuracy and repeatability test bench applications. These instruments include many spectrum analyzers, network analyzers, signal generators, oscilloscopes, though there are certainly portable and headless (PC-driven) varieties of this equipment out there. However, for technicians and installers, the broad capabilities, complexity, and ..

Unlike spectrum analyzers of the past, modern signal analyzers provide additional phase (time) information that can be used for much more expansive analysis than a power sweep across frequency. Though modern signal analyzers are often still called spectrum analyzers, the capability of signal analyzers includes many features beyond what a spectrum analyzer can perform. For ..

Spectrum Analyzers are one of the essential RF test and measurement instruments, alongside network analyzers, oscilloscopes, and signal generators. Spectrum Analyzers are one of the most versatile RF test instruments, and are used as dedicated laboratory equipment, integrated within larger RF test assemblies, part of mobile RF signal/interference hunting applications, and are even slung over ..

While prototyping and testing RF equipment, there are many occasions where it can be helpful to test at non-ported locations in a circuit for optimizing a design or during troubleshooting. Unfortunately, this is a much greater challenge to perform at higher frequencies, as inserting a typical voltage probe would dramatically skew the results due to ..