TSP #182 – Antikernel Labs Inexpensive Multi-GHz Transmission Line Probe Review & Experiments

February 7, 2021 No comments

In this episode Shahriar takes a look at the design and performance of the open-source ALK-PT1 passive probe. This probe uses is based on a classical transmission line feed structure and has gone through many iterations to improve its performance. The design tradeoffs of various passive probes are explored and the performance of the ALK-PT1 is measured both in S-parameters domain and time domain using NRZ serial data at various data rates.

You can get your own AKL-PT1 Passive Probe from Antikernel Labs:
https://www.antikernel.net/products.html

http://www.TheSignalPath.com
http://www.YouTube.com/TheSignalPath​
http://www.Patreon.com/TheSignalPath

TNP #3 – Zeiss Microscope LED Upgrade & Differential Interference Contrast (DIC) Microscopy Preview

January 30, 2021 No comments

In this episode Shahriar works on a Carl-Zeiss Axioskop with Differential Interference Contrast Microscopy. The instrument has bene meticulously restored to a working condition. The scope is retrofitted with an LED illumination source. Although not idea, it does offer good brightness and uniform illumination. An ideal source would have to be a point source.

The microscope is used to examine an integrated circuit revealing the intricate BEOL of the chip. Furthermore, DIC imaging shows the non-uniformity of the internal integrated circuit metal surfaces.

http://www.TheSignalPath.com
http://www.YouTube.com/TheSignalPath​
http://www.Patreon.com/TheSignalPath

TSP #181 – Starlink Dish Phased Array Design, Architecture & RF In-depth Analysis

January 10, 2021 No comments

In this episode Shahriar takes a detailed look at the Starlink Satellite Dish. The dish was kindly sent by Ken who has done his own initial teardown here:

https://youtu.be/iOmdQnIlnRo

The dish is analyzed layer by layer from the radome down to individual integrated circuits. The RF design, system architecture and many aspects of the overall product are described in details. An X-Ray of the RF stack is also shown which further explores the design of the array.

http://www.TheSignalPath.com
http://www.YouTube.com/TheSignalPath​
http://www.Patreon.com/TheSignalPath

TSP #180 – Rohde & Schwarz ZNL 5kHz – 6GHz VNA, SA, Power Meter Combo Review, Teardown & Experiments

December 25, 2020 No comments

In this episode Shahriar takes a detailed look at the Rohde & Schwarz ZNL 5kHz – 6GHz Combo VNA, Spectrum Analyzer & Power Meter instrument:

https://www.rohde-schwarz.com/us/product/znl-productstartpage_63493-432704.html

The instrument offers excellent performance as well as two-port vector network analyzer for bidirectional measurements and Wide dynamic range of 130dB. This review is organized as follows:

00:00 – Introduction, instrument overview (front/back), basic specifications
05:26 – Teardown, RF analysis, instrument architecture and design
13:58 – Experiments overview, network analyzer functions, calibration, sweep mode, etc.
28:43 – Spectrum analyzer mode, MultiView multi-mode overview, built-in measurements, TOI, etc.
38:08 – Power meter capability, integrated power, TOI versus Pdc, etc.
47:04 – Real-time capabilities, AM/FM demodulation, digital analysis, 3D spectrogram, vector analysis, RF triggering
55:54 – Noise Figure measurement capabilities
58:34 – Concluding remarks

http://www.TheSignalPath.com
http://www.YouTube.com/TheSignalPath
http://www.Patreon.com/TheSignalPath

TSP #179 – Teardown & Experiment with a Keysight M9505A AXIe Chassis & M8190A Dual 12GS/s 12-bit ARB

November 29, 2020 No comments

In this episode Shahriar repairs a Keysight AXIe Chassis (M9505A) with a broken power button. The power button (with built-in LED) are replaced with a functionality-similar setup. The teardown and architecture of the System Controller and Embedded Controller Module are also presented.
The star of the video is an M8190A Dual-Channel 12GS/s 12-bit (or 8GS/s 14-bit) Arbitrary Waveform Generator module. The instrument provides in excess of 90dBc SFDR, 2G-Samples of memory per-channel, digital up-converter, built-in secondary amplifier path and up to 5GHz of analog output bandwidth:

https://www.keysight.com/us/en/products/arbitrary-waveform-generators.html

The module is coupled with a Keysight S-Series Oscilloscope for experiments showing multi-tone performance as well as image-rejection and extraordinary EVM performance with modulated signals.

http://www.TheSignalPath.com
http://www.YouTube.com/TheSignalPath
http://www.Patreon.com/TheSignalPath

« Older Entries   Recent Entries »