Free-Running Reference Oscillators offer highly stable and accurate output frequency response with low phase noise, making them ideal components for use in phase locked loop, function generator, radar, navigation, surveillance and test and measurement applications.

We are pleased to offer you 6 new models of free-running reference oscillators with output frequencies of 10 MHz, 50 MHz and 100 MHz.

Features Include:
• Desirable Fixed Tuned Output Frequencies: 10 MHz, 50 MHz, or 100 MHz
• Exceptional Phase Noise Performance @ 10 KHz offset: -150 dBc/Hz Typical
• High Stability levels of +/- 5 ppm and Aging rated at < 1 ppm
• Output Power Level: +7 dBM Typical
• Low Spurious Output: -70 dBc Typical
• Operational Temperature Range: -30°C to +70°C
• Rugged SMT and Coaxial Package Designs meet MIL-STD-202 Test Condition

Our new free-running reference oscillators are in-stock and available to ship today. For detailed information on these products, please contact Vermont Rep.

The flatness or frequency sensitivity of an RF coupler is the measure of how the coupling value can vary over a given frequency range. For a quarter-wavelength coupler operating over an octave band, typical coupling flatness is within ± 0.75 dB of the nominal value.

All things being equal, stronger coupling factors (3, 6 and 10 dB) show greater flatness than weaker coupling factors (20 through 50 dB). When operating over frequency bands greater than an octave, the flatness tolerance may need to be lessened due to the inherent characteristics of coupling roll-off.

Pasternack offers a wide array of RF Couplers that are in-stock for same day shipping.

Pasternack now offers seven new I/Q Mixer models boasting high levels of image rejection and sideband suppression. These new mixers operate with RF and LO frequency bands ranging from 4 GHz to 38 GHz with In-Phase and Quadrature IF bandwidths that range from DC to 4.5 GHz.

A key benefit of these IQ mixers is that the high levels of image rejection and sideband suppression can reduce overall system cost and complexity by removing the need for pre-selection filtering. Typical applications include point-to-point and point-to-multipoint radio, VSAT, military radar, electronic warfare, satellite communications, test equipment, and sensors.

IQ Mixer Features Include:
• RF/LO Broadband Frequency Coverage from 4 GHz to 38 GHz
• GaAs MESFET MMIC Technology
• IRM Down-converter or Single Sideband Up-converter Capability
• High Image Rejection ranges from 15 to 35 dB
• LO to RF Isolation up to 45 dB typical
• Input IP3 Linearity as high as 35 dBm
• Hermetically Sealed Drop-In Packages Support Field Replaceable Connectors
• Designs are Mil-Spec Compliant

The new IQ mixers are in-stock and available to ship today. For additional product details, please contact Vermont Rep.

Attenuators are fundamental components of RF and Microwave circuits and systems. Often found in virtually every RF application, attenuators play a vital role in receivers, transmitters, and test and measurement systems.

Attenuators simply decrease the wanted or unwanted signal strength along a signal path. They can be used to decrease the output signal of a device-under-test before a sensitive test and measurement receiver, to ensure a more conformal impedance match, or to ensure precise control of the signal amplitude at the output of a transmitter. The attenuation level of a device—the amount of signal power/voltage lost through the device—is commonly measured in either decibels (dB) or as a voltage ratio.

The most common attenuators are broadband attenuators. But, some attenuator types and technologies may have frequency dependant performance and limitations. Though terminations also reduce the signal strength at the load of a system, attenuators differ from terminations as they are in-line to the signal path.

Attenuators are based on passive resistors, absorptive material/techniques, PIN diodes, or field-effect transistor (FET) technologies. Additionally, attenuators can be developed from coaxial transmission line, stripline, surface mount, or even waveguide interconnect technologies. The performance and physical properties of these different technologies vary widely. The quality of construction and costs also contribute to the range in performance, thermal, and physical properties.

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 switch is known as a latching switch. Otherwise, after switching power is removed, the switch will revert to the default state. Though these configuration options aren’t complex from an outside perspective, they may have a significant impact on the power consumption, safety, system complexity, and cost in a larger system.

The main switch configurations are, routing, multiport, transfer, matrix, and bypass. The varieties of RF switches are often used in combination to form larger switch structures, sometimes utilizing signal paths with different frequency behaviors. The most common naming convention for switches is constructed of the number of inputs, or poles, and the number of output positions, or throws. For example, a single-pole single-throw (SPST) switch is a simple cut-off configuration, where a six-pole 10-throw (6P10T) is a complex matrix switch.

In addition to the simple configuration nomenclature, certain switch configurations have common names. A multiport switch is just a single-pole switch with three or more throws. Sometimes confusingly, a DPDT switch could also be designed as a 4-port transfer switch. The transfer configuration locks the switch into 2 modes, path 1 to 3 and 2 to 4 or path 1 to 2 and 3 to 4.

To view our inventory of RF Switches, please contact Vermont Rep.