Our amazing team has used its experience to create a "Remote Asynchronous Microwave Measurement System", or RAMMS. With a small portable battery-operated wideband transmitter set to run autonomously at an Antenna or remote location, and a downstream Receiver measuring the signals transmitted, the whole RF path from Antenna to Receiver can be measured, tested and adjusted if needed. This is great for long distances. There is no synchronizing connection required between the transmitter and receiver. It's all very portable, fitting in a pelican weatherproof case. RF path gain/loss vs frequency is accurate to within a few tenths of a dB. Frequency coverage is 10 MHz to 20 GHz. The easy to use software provides analysis and reports of the performance.

Hi Everyone! The initial results for the EW Configurable Filter Module (EWCFM) look really impressive. We've created a connectorized module comprised of a surface mount Tunable filter, Gain Block Amp, Tunable Filter, Gain Block Amp, and 15.5 dB Attenuator. Initial results were taken stepping a 2 GHz bandwidth across 2-18 GHz in 500 MHz steps. An internal microcontroller stores up to 32 filter and attenuator states which can be customized for the user's needs. This surface mount assembly will provide significant improved reliability compared to "chip and wire" techniques using beam lead diodes. A preliminary Product Data Sheet can be viewed.

R. A. Wood Associates has developed many RF/microwave components to support our higher level assemblies. These have been designed, built, tested and integrated into our delivered products. Since most of our products support EW missions, the parts are inherently wideband, and can be used in wideband or narrowband applications. We've created a Top Level Catalog of these components that can be downloaded.

The components include:

• RF/Microwave Equalizers
• RCT0050 Wideband Amplifier
• RCT0067 Digital Attenuator
• RCT0061 Wideband Amp/Digital Attenuator
• RCT0075 HDR (High Dynamic Range) Gain Block
• RCT0070 Mixer/LO Amp
• RCT0080 EW CFM (Configurable Filter Module)
• Wideband Power Dividers, 8 Way and 12 Way
• SP2T Wideband Switches
• Extreme BW RF Amplifiers

Let us know if you would like more information about any of these products!

We designed, bult and tested 2 new RCT0056 RF Receiver Simulators. These simulators match the performance of an RF system front end (noise figure, gain, Pin1dB, slope), and when connected to the back end of the system, the full system can be tested without the need for actual front end hardware. 12 Frequency bands were provided, from VLF up to mmW frequencies. Adjustable attenuators with front panel controls were added to allow gain adjustment during testing.

We designed and built a complete low cost RF/Microwave Test Station capable of providing signals and measuring responses from 10 MHz to 18 GHz. The station also provides Digital I/O and measures analog voltages. This test station is shown testing RF to Fiber Optic transmitters and Fiber Optic to RF receivers, testing and evaluating the complete RF fiber optic loop. Everything is controlled by a USB interface. When coupled with our Automated Test Software, this station can perform many RF measurements, including gain, Pin/Pout 1dB, isolation, relative attenuation, and more. Everything is enclosed in a 3U chassis.

Hi Everyone!

We've just updated our Website with our new equalizer designs. We now have over 322 unique, high performance designs covering up to 20GHz. These designs have many different slopes and the lowest loss, best slope and return loss performance of any equalizers on the market today. We also have 4 new negative slope designs, based on customer requests. We will very soon be adding custom filtering to the Website to make it easier to find the parts you need. If you don't see a part that fits your need, just contact us at rawood-at-rawood-dot-com and let us know what you are looking for.

We've recently designed, built, and tested a 6U VPX microwave module for a high performance radar system with state of the art residual phase noise performance. The module was tested with our Holzworth Phase Noise Analyzer. Residual phase noise of <-155 dBc/Hz at 1 KHz offset and <-162 dBc/Hz at 10 KHz offset were acheived. Spurious levels were <-130 dBc. Internal detectors provided input and output detected power levels for Built-in-Test reporting. This module was tested using our in-house vibration, temperature, and shock qualification equipment.

We've delivered our 40th 9X8 Switch Matrix / Up Converter. We designed and started producing these in 2018, and have made on-time deliveries on each one since then. Congrats to the team on getting these products completed on time!

We just delivered SN022 of RCT0064. This unit allows 14 microwave inputs to be switched to any of 12 Microwave outputs. This was an extremely challenging design, with custom-designed 12-Way power dividers, our own RCT0050 WB Amplifiers, custom designed SP2T Switches, 3 internal switch matrix "cubes" (2X12, 6X12, and 6X12) with blind mate interconnections, and custom designed WB Digital Attenuator/Amplifiers, all in a 3U height rack mount package.

We've just designed and delivered a new product: First Stage Signal Distribution Unit (FSSDU). This 3U unit provides many functions, including:

• Amplification and equalization of extremely wide RF and Microwave frequency bands
• Distibution of bands to support many receivers and carry-on equipment
• Combining of frequency bands to create a broad spectrum output for wideband analysis
• Low noise figure, high dynamic range amplification to maintain the system RF signal path performance
• This unit replaces an older unit with new hardware and expanded capability
• Ethernet Interface

We've recently designed and delivered a new 1U Height BIT (Built-in-Test) / DVA (Digital Variable Attenuators) Assembly. This unit provides:

• Wide Microwave Frequency Band coverage across 8 inputs
• The capability to inject BIT Signals into each microwave input to support system health testing and grooming
• Gain Adjust and high dynamic range Amplification using our RCT0061 Wide-Band Digital Attenuator Amplifier
• Equalization to correct negative slope across the frequency band
• Creation of mmW BIT signals using frequency doublers
• Ethernet Interface

This part can be used anywhere in a system to inject Built in Test signals, while still maintaining the RF path dynamic range and noise figure. It's small 1U height allows it to fit in many locations in a system.

We've delivered Serial Number 25 of our 8X8 Switch Matrix / Up Converters, and are working on new orders of SN's 26-33. This is a 3U direct form, fit, and function replacement for a 6U LRU, giving the customer a modern upgrade and space savings at the same time. All deliveries have been on schedule!

Our 2000th HPOI Microwave Tuner was delivered!

In honor of the Y2K scare that was supposed to cause major world chaos on 12:00 AM, Jan 1, 2000, we have named this Tuner the "Millennium Edition", and have certified that it is Y2K complaint!

We just delivered our 1st 14 X 12 Microwave Switch Matrix / Up Converter (RCT0060). This unit allows 14 microwave inputs to be switched to any of 12 Microwave outputs. This was an extremely challenging design, with custom designed 12-Way power dividers, our own RCT0050 WB Amplifiers, custom designed SP2T Switches, and custom designed WB Digital Attenuator/Amplifiers. The whole unit is made to fit in a 3U rack mount location. Congrats to our great mechanical and electrical design, and integration and test team for developing this successful design!

We received orders for QTY 268 Microwave Tuners for FY20. This is the result of our committment to keep our costs under control, and continuing to deliver quality products to our customer and ultimately for the US military.

Hi Everyone!

We are marking the 1500th Microwave Tuner in production, showing Serial Number 1500 here. Congrats to our great team for working hard to get us to this amazing milestone!

We are still going strong manufacturing and shipping these now and for the forseeable future.

We designed and built an RF Receiver Sumiulator RCT0053, designed to simulate the front end characteristics of an EW system, from the antennas to the downstream rack equipment. We used our customer designed RCT0050 WB amplifiers in many of the 6 microwave channels.

R. A. Wood Associates has received more orders for non-blocking microwave switch matrices for Naval applications. We have orders and are executing on QTY 21 9X8 Switch Matrices/Up Converters and QTY 20 8X8 Switch Matrices/Up Converters. Each of these matrices uses our own wideband power divider designs (8/9 each). The 9X8 design uses our own surface mount switches and ultra wideband (0.5 to 18 GHz) surface mount amplifier designs. Both of these products are packed into a 2U rack mount chassis design.

R. A. Wood Associates received an order for 268 Microwave Tuners for FY19. This will bring our total orders to over 1500 Microwave Tuners, resulting in over 3000 digital/signal conditioning boards, and over 12,000 packaged microwave assemblies being assembled and tested at our facility, all with on-time delivery and keeping costs under control.

We've developed a new Ultra-Wideband Microwave Amplifier, the RCT0050, covering the frequency band of 0.5 to 18 GHz. This amplifier is built using surface mount technology, resulting in a lower production cost than traditional MIC amplifiers, with faster delivery times. Typical amplifier characteristics are:

• ~19 dB Average Gain
• <3.0 dB P-P Flatness
• 22 dBm Average Pout 1 dB
• Noise Figure ranging from <2 dB to 5.0 dB.
• ~200 mA Current Draw from +12 V

This is a great overall amplifier for low noise, high dynamic range, wideband EW applications, or narrowband applications. More information is available from this link. Let us know if you are interested in this product!

If you haven't visited our Equalizer WWW page in a while, you'll notice we have about 30 new equalizer designs, covering different slopes and frequency bands. Have a great Memorial Day Weekend!

We are excited to anounce that our 1000th Microwave Tuner is in burn-in and getting ready to be shipped! What a great accomplishment for our amazing team!

We've shown our customers that we can deliver a quality product at production rates, and meet their delivery schedules. I'd like to personally thank them for giving us the opportunity to meet their expectations. Thank You! Bob Wood

We just received an order for 9 RCT0043 Switch Matrix/Up Converters, to be used in Navy Vessels. These products allow 8 RF/microwave inputs to be routed to any of 8 RF/microwave output ports, The switch matrix is non-blocking. The design includes:

• Custom designed 8-way power dividers (covering a 4:1 bandwidth)
• A low band Up Converter
• An internal power supply
• High Speed LVDS interface
• High Dynamic Range RF amplifiers on inputs and outputs
• Custom designed equalizers for slope correction, and
• FPGA board for control and status (Built in Test) monitoring

The entire assembly is housed in a 2U rack mount assembly, saving precious rack space. The full frequency coverage is 0.5 to 18 GHz.

More exciting news that shows our continued comittment to our customers and the critical program these tuners are being used on.

After a difficult negotiation to make significant cost reductions, we received an order for 212 microwave tuners. We will be delivering these at an increased rate of 24 per month. The 2 slot VME wide band microwave tuner is shown here being tested in our portable microwave test station.

We keep working on new designs for our customers, and improving on our earlier designs. We now have over 231 equalizer designs available, more than any other manufacturer. Various slopes over frequency ranges from DC to 28 GHz are available. You can go to our Equalizer WWW page to see what we have. Actual plots are shown for each design. If you don't see what you need, let us know, and we'll see if we can help you out.

Hi Everybody

We've recently developed the capability to automatically measure surface mount capacitors and bin them into very tight tolerance windows. We can work with 0603, 0402, and 0201 size capacitors. We can provide down to 2-2.5% tolerance capacitors for values down to 0.1 pF. These parts are typically only available in very wide tolerances (up to 50%).

This capability is very useful for filter designs, and other microwave circuit designs.

These tight tolerance capacitors can reduce or eliminate tuning typically needed to meet performance requirements.

We are going to start providing these parts to customers on a trial basis. If you are interested, please contact us to see how we can help you out!

We delivered a new design to one of our customers: An 8X8 Microwave Switch Matrix /Up Converter. The unit allows 8 RF/microwave inputs to be routed to any of 8 RF/microwave output ports. The design includes:

• Custom designed 8-way power dividers (covering a 4:1 bandwidth)
• A low band Up Converter
• An AC/DC power supply
• High Speed LVDS interface
• High Dynamic Range RF amplifiers on inputs and outputs
• Custom designed equalizers for slope correction, and
• FPGA board for control and status (Built in Test) monitoring

The entire assembly is housed in a 2U rack mount assembly, saving precious rack space. The full frequency coverage is 0.5 to 18 GHz.

We've received another production order for wideband Microwave Tuners. We will be delivering these at a rate of 17/month.

We received an order to design and build QTY 3 8X8 microwave switch matrices. The unit allows 8 RF/microwave inputs to be routed to any of 8 RF/microwave output ports. In another viewpoint, each of 8 RF/microwave output ports can select any of 8 RF/microwave input ports for down stream processing. The design includes:

• custom designed 8-way power dividers (covering a 4:1 bandwidth),
• a low band Up Converter,
• an AC/DC power supply,
• LVDS interface,
• RF amplifiers on inputs and outputs,
• custom design equalizers for slope correction,
• FPGA board for control and status (Built in Test) monitoring

The entire assembly is housed in a 2U rack mount assembly, saving precious rack space. The full frequency coverage is 0.5 to 18 GHz. The first unit will be delivered in September 2015.

Another endorsement of our quality, great design, and determination to maintain low cost for our customer.

Another 13 of our state of the art high dynamic range Microwave Tuners (with integrated synthesizers) are getting ready to be shipped (on time) to one of our customers. The shipment includes our 100th production Tuner, a very exciting milestone!

For more information, download the RCT0017 product sheet.

LB Modules, Serial No's 32-43, built using our Extreme BW RF Amplifier designs, are on order and being built for our customer. These modules are being deployed in a subsystem on board U.S. Navy submarines.

"Our experience with R. A. Wood Associates was beyond our expectations. The willingness to deliver a product in such a short time period was very refreshing. The product worked exactly as described and met our needs. We will very likely buy again."

We are always pleased to hear good feedback about our products and services!

We are currently under contract to build 109 high dynamic range Wideband Tuners/Quad Converters over the next year. These devices feature:

• The highest dynamic range microwave tuners in the industry
• Maximum use of surface mount RF/Microwave assemblies for frequencies up to 18 GHz
• 4 output IF bands to provide 1.5 GHz instantaneous bandwidth

We are bringing all our computer automated test software and hardware design expertise into this program to maximize our productivity and provide the lowest cost product to our customer.

This is the improved RCT0017B Wideband Tuner/Quad Converter, which is the result of 18 months of development improvements from our original RCT0017 model.

20 more LB Modules, built using our internal amplifier designs, were built and tested and delivered to our customer on time! These modules are being deployed in a subsystem on board U.S. Navy submarines.

A 2nd general purpose automated RF/Microwave Test Station was designed and built by R. A. Wood Associates. The purpose was to provide automated test and device characterization to:

• 10 MHz - 18 GHz test range as built with capability to expand up to 20 GHz
• Reduce manual test time
• Eliminate errors in recording of results
• Increase throughput
• Eliminate manual RF connections and DC connections in mid-test
• Provide automated test reports
• Save test results electronically in a database structure

The Automated RF/Microwave Test Station includes:

• DAQ/Switch Unit
• Three programmable power supplies
• Signal Generator
• Spectrum Analyzer
• Table/Work Surface
• Rack Mount Computer
• Monitor
• LabVIEW Software utilities to support setting up the Spectrum Analyzer and Signal Generator, retrieving data from the Spectrum Analyzer, controlling the RF Switch/DIO Box and other measurement equipment in the Test Station
• Storage drawer
• Custom RF Switch/DIO Box provides:
  • Automated RF Switching to 1 of 6 RF Inputs and 1 of 6 RF Outputs up to 18 GHz
  • Oscillators needed for Test Units
  • Digital I/O to control and read digital signals to/from Test Units
  • Relay Switching to read Resistances and switch DC Power to Test Units

The RF Switch/DIO Box is a custom designed LRU that provides:

• Automated RF Switching to 1 of 6 RF Inputs and 1 of 6 RF Outputs up to 18 GHz
• Oscillators needed for Test Units
• Digital I/O to control and read digital signals to/from Test Units
• Relay Switching to read Resistances and switch DC Power to Test Units
• Bench top or Rack mount

We have built 5 of these for our own automated test stations. The design is universal and can be used for multiple test applications.

RPL0103 Low Frequency Wide Band RF SubAssembly features:

• Wide Freq bandwidths ~DC-3GHz
• Uses New R.A.Wood Associates designed amplifiers with new 50% smaller M06 amplifier packages
• Used as part of a Subsystem, deployed on Navy vessels
• 14 built and delivered on time
• Provides 9 output ports for downstream equipment

We keep improving and adding to our lineup of available equalizer products. We currently have over 155 low loss equalizers designs with more to come. Each design is unique with a range of choices of various slopes, along with a mixture of different frequency bands from 5 kHz to 20 GHz. We can provide a selection of male and female combinations of connectors on the inputs and outputs. We'll keep updating the equalizer main page as we get more designs completed, so feel free to stop by again, or ask us if we don't have what you are looking for.

We have officially released a new line of SimpleCycle crystal oscillators. These are temperature compenstated crystal osciillators in a very small package with +5 Volt DC in, and an SMA output connector. The key features include:

• Small package size: 1.06" X 0.92" X 0.37"
• 4 through-holes for mounting
• Easy connections: +5V DC in, SMA out
• Custom frequencies available from 40 MHz to 1.4 GHz
• Frequency accuracy at +25C: < +/-1 ppm
• Internally temperature compensated: < +/-1 ppm from -20C to +70C
• Aging: < +/-3 ppm first year, < +/-1 ppm/year thereafter
• Sine wave outputs (initially)

We will be working to supply these with very quick turnarounds. For more information see our SimpleCycle Oscillator page, or contact us.

Our Wideband Down Converter and Up Converter pair offer:

• Frequency Coverage: 6 - 18 GHz
• For applications employing Digital RF Memories (DRFM's) for coherent electronic countermeasures
• Coherent system synchronized to a 100 MHz reference
• Independent synthesizers in Down and Up Converters
• Can be configured as independent Down and Up Converters, or as a coherent set for countermeasures or similar applications
• Control and Status: VME A24 D32

Down Converter Features:

• Single Unit Form Factor: 6U 2 Slot Design
• Input Dynamic Range: -60 to +2 dBm
• Input 1 dB Compression Point: >+6 dB
• Noise Figure: 21 dB
• Gain: 10 dB average
• Phase Noise: -146 dBc/Hz @ >20 MHz Offset
• Second IF's: Four outputs at 750 MHz, 375 MHz wide, providing 1.5 GHz instantaneous bandwidth
• Designed to drive 1 GHz Digitizers linearly up to +12 dB

Up Converter Features:

• Four inputs at 750 MHz, 375 MHz wide, providing 1.5 GHz instantaneous bandwidth across 6 - 18 GHz
• Form Factor: VME 6U 2 Slot Design
• High Input Dynamic Range: -55 to 0 dBm
• Phase Noise: -146 dBc/Hz @ >20 MHz offset
• Tuning Speed: 1 uSec
• Noise Figure: 31.5 dB max
• Input 1 dB Compression Point: >+2 dBm
• Gain: 1 dB average

We haven't posted in a while. It's because we've been crazy busy. Our newest product, the RCT0017 WB Tuner and Quad Converter, has been under development over the past 2 years, and is now available. We've designed this from the ground up to meet state of the art high input compression point, low phase noise, fast tuning speed, wide dynamic range, and wide instantaneous bandwidth requirements. A quick overview of the specifications:

• Frequency Coverage: 2-18 GHz
• First IF’s: 2.2-3.8 GHz, 3.8-5.3 GHz, available simultaneously
• Second IF’s: 4 outputs at 750 MHz, 375 MHz wide, providing 1.5 GHz instantaneous bandwidth across the First IF’s
• Input 1 dB Compression Point: >+6 dBm
• Noise Figure: 21 dB
• Input Dynamic Range: -60 to +2 dBm
• Gain: 10 dB average
• Tuning Speed: <1 uSec
• Frequency Step Size: 375 MHz
• Phase Noise: -150 dBc/Hz @ 10-20 MHz Offset
• Form Factor: VME 6U 2 Slot Design
• Control and Status: VME A24 D32
• Designed to follow an Low Noise Front End with Approximately 30 dB ENR
• Designed to drive 1 GHz Digitizers linearly up to +12 dBm

A brief data sheet can be downloaded from this link

We designed and built for production a 4 channel Quad Converter. Our Quad Converter design features:

• 2 Input IF's from 2.2-5.3 GHz, available simultaneously
• Output IF's: 4 outputs at 750 MHz, 375 MHz wide, providing 1.5 GHz instantaneous bandwidth across the input IF's
• Control and Status: VME Interface A24 D32 and UART Serial Interface
• Designed to drive 4 1 GHz Digitizers linearly up to +12dBm
• 5 custom surface mount RF assemblies mounted to an aluminum plate
• Separate multilayer circuit board accommodates power conditioning, FPGA signals and VME interfacing
• Form Factor: VME 6U 1 Slot Design
• RF Connector Interface: SMA

This is a very complex design with very high density surface mount assemblies. Surface mount assemblies are built using pick and place machines at a contract manufacturer. Automated RF test rack, fixtures and software has been designed at R. A. Wood Associates.

An automated RF/Microwave Test Station was designed and built by R. A. Wood Associates. The purpose was to provide automated test and device characterization to:

• Reduce manual test time
• Eliminate errors in recording of results
• Increase throughput
• Eliminate manual RF connections and DC connections in mid-test
• Provide automated test reports
• Save test results electronically in a database structure

This automated test station reduced product test time from 24 hours of semi-automated testing down to approximately 2 hours. The RCT0017 Automated RF/Microwave Test Station includes:

• DAQ/Switch Unit
• Three programmable power supplies
• Signal Generator
• Spectrum Analyzer
• Custom RF Switch/DIO Box
• Table/Work Surface
• Rack Mount Computer
• Monitor
• LabVIEW Software utilities to support setting up the Spectrum Analyzer and Signal Generator, retrieving data from the Spectrum Analyzer, controlling the RF Switch/DIO Box and other measurement equipment in the Test Station
• Storage drawer

A LB RF Receiver Simulator was designed to simulate the RF front end of a submarine periscope subsystem. The noise figure, gains, and dynamic ranges were designed to simulate the actual subsystem. The amplifiers were custom designed and equalized by R. A. Wood Associates to cover a wide bandwidth from ~DC to 3 GHz. A variable attenuator allowed the output noise floor to be adjusted in 1 dB steps.

We designed and built a 2nd (different) Automated RF Test Station for NAVSEA NSWC, which was delivered to Crane, Indiana. This Test Station contains many state of the art features and equipment, including:

• Tektronix RSA6120A Real Time Spectrum Analyzer
• An R. A. Wood Associates custom designed Test Set Load Box, capable of handling 50W loads
• Rack mount computer, keyboard, and monitor with digital I/O, GPIB interfaces
• A PXI chassis with fiber optic interface, digital I/O, serial interfaces, temperature monitors, and GPIB interface
• LabVIEW Software utilities to support setting up the Real Time Spectrum Analyzer, retrieving information from the Real Time Spectrum Analyzer, controlling the Test Set Load Box, and controlling other measurement equipment in the Test Station

The customer wanted this delivered before the holiday, so we rented a delivery truck and spent several days driving it out and setting it up for the customer at their facility. They were very pleased with our commitment to deliver the station on time!

We've released some new equalizer designs in the past few months:

For more information and test results, visit or "Equalizers on Demand" WWW page. If you don't see a design that fits your needs, please call us and we'll try to develop a design that meets your requirements. Thanks for all your support, equalizer users!

We delivered a Test Station to NAVSEA Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) in Crane, Indiana. The Test Station contains many state of the art features, including:

• The latest Agilent Network Analyzer (PNA-X Series)
• A 10-port Extension for measuring multi-port S-parameters
• An R. A. Wood Associates custom-designed RF Load Box/Chassis for testing high power RF devices
• Rack mount computer, keyboard, and monitor with digital I/O, GPIB interfaces
• A PXI chassis with fiber optic interface, digital I/O, serial interfaces, temperature monitors, and GPIB interfaces
• LabVIEW Software utilities to support setting up the Network Analyzer, retrieving S-parameters from the Network Analyzer, controlling the RF Load Box, and controlling other measurement equipment in the Test Station

This was a very exciting project, and we really enjoyed working with our customer on this program. The complete project was delivered within 7 months of the order being placed. Great job everybody!

Our 10th and 11th LB RF modules, containing our Extreme BW RF amplifiers, have been built, and tested, ready for delivery to our customer.

These modules will be used in our customer's systems, which will be installed on board Navy vessels.

We've delivered the third Electronics Support Switching Uint (ESSU) for one of our customers (ahead of schedule!). This was another set of hardware slated to to be installed on a Navy Vessel. The ESSU is shown here with the cover removed, looking from the back. All RF components are mounted on both sides of a center RF plate. Shown are RF amplfiers, equalizers, attenuators, RF switches, cabling, FPGA card, and rear connectors (21 RF connectors, 12 video/75 ohm connectors, Audio, Power).

For additional information, please visit our ESSU information page.

R. A. Wood Associates has been awarded a contract from Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC), Crane Division. The contract involves designing and delivering an automated test rack consisting of:

• A 40U rack with rack mount PC, work table, LCD monitor, GPIB controller cards,
• A state of the art Vector Network Analyzer (VNA) with 10 port extension
• A PXI chassis with PXI cards providing thermocouple temperature measurement, serial ports, 2 X 96 digital I/O signals
• A custom designed RF Load Box for testing up to eight transmitter/receiver modules, capable of providing 50 Watts of RF power
• Custom designed software for controlling the Load Box and the VNA equipment

We are fortunate to be able to work with Viewpoint Systems on this contract.

This contract was won on a competitive bid, and our solution was selected out of many other submissions. We are very excited about the opportunity to work with NSWC Crane Division!

JBU RF Plate SN3 was delivered to our customer (ahead of schedule!). The RF Module was designed to provide wideband gain, equalization, and Built-in-test (BIT) injection between two very long RF cable runs (between an Antenna Assembly and below decks receivers). The gain and equalization was needed to preserve the RF path noise figure and dynamic range performance through the long cable run.

All RF test data (gain, slope, flatness, return loss, input 1 dB compression point, and noise figure) was collected using our in house test equipment and our in house automated RF test software (Painless Extraction, Painless Extraction Noise Figure, and RFSpecTest). Mechanical parts were fabricated externally from our SolidWorks created mechanical drawings, and chem-film treated with Iridite (MIL-C-5541E Class 3) to prevent corrosion.

We've delivered our fourth RF Receiver Simulator, and our 6th of a family of Receiver Simulator products. The simulators are designed to represent the RF front end (noise figure, gain compression point, and intercept point) of a complex EW system, to allow testing, verification and validation of the EW system back end, without requiring the expensive front end components.

If you have a need for one of these types of products, please contact us.

We've extended the frequency range of our extreme BW RF Amplifier from 5 KHz to the upper end of 3 GHz. We customized the input equalizer to create a very flat gain response across the entire band. This amplfier was used for a direct laser modulation application. The measured performance was:

• Average Gain: 16.31 dB
• Slope: 0.53 dB
• P-P Flatness: 0.83 dB
• Min Gain(Low Freq): 15.30 dB
• Max Input Return Loss: -13.02 dB
• Max Output Return Loss: -9.99 dB
• Average 1 dB Output Comp Point: 20.7 dBm
• Min 1dB Output Comp Point: 19.97 dBm
• Noise Figure at Low Freq: ~12.8 dB
• Noise Figure at High Freq: ~ 5.77 dB

More information is available from our Extreme BW RF Amplifier page. Let us know if you are interested in this product line! Bob Wood.

We've delivered another RF Receiver simulator to one of our customers. This unit simulates the RF front end characterisitcs (noise figure, gain, dynamic range) of an EW system, so the customer can connect it to their back end system and validate full system end to end performance (system sensitivity, etc), without requiring the expensive front end components. Frequency coverage goes from 10 MHz to 40 GHz on this unit.

If you have a need for one of these types of products, please contact us.

We've been very busy this past year. Over the last 8 months, our super qualified staff have accomplished the following:

1. Developed automated test software for a complex RF/digital board providing RF receive, transmit, and digital signal processing functions
2. Modified/retrofitted 12 automated test stations to test this complex RF/digital board
3. Developed automated test software to test a LRU chassis, including point to point wiring and DC power supply checks
4. Modified/retrofitted 2 automated test stations to test the LRU chassis
5. Developed automated test software for a high frequency radar receiver/transmitter board, including a waveguide interface
6. Modified/retrofitted 1 automated test station to test the high frequency radar receiver/transmitter board
7. Developed automated test software for an IF frequency radar receiver/transmitter board
8. Modified/retrofitted 1 automated test station to test the IF frequency radar receiver/transmitter board

How can we help your company improve your manufacturing efficiencies with automated test stations and software?

Using our Extreme BW RF amplifiers, we designed, built, and tested 7 LB RF amplifier modules for one of our customers. Our customer's original vendor failed to deliver their amplifier products and meet the requirements. So we stepped in and helped them meet their delivery schedules. These modules were made to "drop in" to our customer's modules.

These modules will be used in our customer's systems, which will be installed on board Navy vessels.

A full set of test data was provided for each LB RF Amplifier Module delivered. Our automated RF test software (RFSpecTest and Painless Extraction) helped to quickly capture the test results and create the test reports.

Another great effort resulting in a great potential product!

R. A. Wood Associates designed and built a Direction Finding (DF) Antenna Assembly for one of our customers. The Assembly was designed, built, tested, and delivered in less than 6 months. The requirement was to develop an antenna assembly that could be used as a front end in front of a pair of COTS (Commercial Off the Shelf) receiver boards. The DF Antenna Assembly provided the capability to supply Direction Finding (DF) for incoming signals or emitters. The DF Antenna Assembly included:

• Capability to provide amplitude and phase DF between antenna pairs
• 360 degree angular coverage
• Low cost universal design (can be used with many different receivers)
• Low noise figure RF front end (~3.5-4.0 dB)
• Calibration injection to calibrate receiver amplitude and phase
• Wide frequency coverage (500 MHz to 3 GHz)
• High dynamic range
• Digital Compass for DF Antenna Assembly pointing information
• RF switches controlled by an Ethernet interface

More information is available from our DF Antenna Assembly www page

Hello Everybody

We've enhanced our portfolio of equalizer designs with new high frequency equalizers, with low losses all the way up to 18 GHz!

We also now have a smaller package design (M02 package).

We can now offer low loss, high linearity equalizers over the following frequency bands:

• 5 KHz to 2.0 GHz
• 0.5 to 8.0 GHz
• 1.0 to 8.0 GHz
• 1.0 to 2.0 GHz
• 2.0 to 4.0 GHz
• 4.0 to 8.0 GHz
• 4.5 to 12.5 GHz
• 4.0 to 18.0 GHz
• 8.0 to 18.0 GHz

For more detailed information on available designs, including measured S21 ans S11 plots, and package outlines, visit our "Equalizers on Demand" product page.

R. A. Wood Associates designed, built, tested, and delivered 2 Electronics Support Switching Units (ESSU) to one of our customers. This was another set of hardware slated to to be installed on a Navy Vessel. The ESSU was designed to be installed between the front end (Antennas, RF amplification switching, filtering) and back end (RF processing) of a complex RF/Microwave system. The purpose of the ESSU was to allow a second front end (RF Subsystem 2) to be switched into the same back end, to make use of the RF signal processing in the back end.

Some of the major components in the ESSU are as follows:

• Wideband RF/Microwave amplifiers
  • Our Extreme BW RF amplifier was used in this design for the low frequency, wide bandwidth RF path
• Equalizers and attenuators to align the RF paths
  • Some vendor purchased equalizers were used
  • R. A. Wood Associates equalizers were also used where vendor equalizers were not available
• Terminated mechanical RF switches (50 ohms)
• Terminated mechanical RF switches (75 ohms)
• HDRFI external RF interface to save RF connector space
• DC power conditioning
• FPGA card to control switches and provide Built-in-test (BIT) status
• LED displays for BIT and switching status
• Custom designed audio switching board

We've taken a challenge and come out on top again! We've developed an Extreme BW RF Amplifier, providing ~22 dB gain, and high dynamic range (~36 dBm Third Order Output Intercept Point) over the frequency band of 5 KHz to 2 GHz. An integrated RF package of 1.9" L X 1.3" W X 0.4" H was developed for the Extreme BW RF Amplifier and also included:

• DC filter to suppress power supply ripple and noise
• An input Equalizer where you can specify the full band slope desired
• An output Resistive Power Divider for providing 2 equal RF outputs

The input Equalizer and output Power Divider can be "zeroed out" if not needed. The input Equalizer can be used to compensate for the amplifier slope and/or passive loss slopes. We can provide a variety of RF slopes in the input Equalizer. More information is available from our Extreme BW RF Amplifier page. Let us know if you are interested in this product line! Bob Wood.

R. A. Wood Associates designed, built and tested and delivered 2 "JBU RF PLate" Assemblies. These RF assemblies were used to provide wideband gain, equalization, and Built-in-test (BIT) injection between two very long RF cable runs (between an Antenna Assembly and below decks receivers). The gain and equalization was needed to preserve the RF path noise figure and dynamic range performance through the long cable run.

The exciting part for us is that this design will actually be deployed on a US Naval vessel. This is our first of several LRU's that were designed to be used on a US Naval vessel.

New "Equalizers on Demand" RF products available

Greetings! We've been very busy working on creating a new series of RF/microwave products: "Equalizers on Demand". "Equalizers on Demand" are wideband, low loss frequency equalizers made to provide a positive gain slope from the lower frequency to the upper frequency. These equalizers are designed to flatten out slope caused by long cables or other passive losses, or amplifier negative gain slopes. We have developed a wide series of equalizers with various slopes covering the following frequency bands:

• 5 KHz to 2.0 GHz
• 0.5 to 8.0 GHz
• 1.0 to 8.0 GHz
• 1.0 to 2.0 GHz
• 2.0 to 4.0 GHz
• 4.0 to 8.0 GHz
• 4.5 to 12.5 GHz

Equalizers are very important to help your system obtain the best dynamic range performance. You can use them to flatten out a negative gain slope to reduce gain tolerances/differences before going into high dynamic range amplifiers.

We're hoping this series of products create a new paradigm in RF performance. We can provide these very quickly to help correct slope in an RF path, "Equalizers on Demand" can trim RF path slopes almost as easily as attenuators can be used to adjust nominal gains.

These products were developed internally to fill a void in the RF industry. It's very difficult to quickly order a fixed slope equalizer to correct an excessive sloped RF path without waiting 10-12 weeks for delivery. Our losses at the high frequency are the lowest available in the industry. We've searched far and wide to find products with the characteristics of our products, but could not find vendors to supply them. So we bit the bullet (many bullets) and worked on these designs ourselves.

We've worked very hard to make these products easily producible. We can deliver these very quickly (typically 2-4 weeks). If you pre-order an equalizer in a certain frequency band, and then let us know what slope you need, we can most likely incorporate the slope and deliver a tested equalizer within 1-2 weeks.

For more information for the current products and designs available, please visit our "Equalizers on Demand" product page.

We hope we can help improve your RF/Microwave system performance with these products! Bob Wood

Hello Everybody

We just delivered our latest product: a multi-channel RF/Microwave Receiver Simulator. This device simulates the RF front end of an ESM (Electronic Support Measures) system. The simulator matched the noise figure, gain and dynamic range of the RF front end. The simulator contained 9 channels of RF bands covering from 10 MHz all the way up to 40 GHz.

Some pictures of the RF Receiver Simulator are shown below. The RF Receiver Simulator is a 3U rack-mounted assembly mounted in a protective roll-away cart for ease of transportability.

We just delivered an EW Receiver Simulator to one of our customers. The simulator provided the simulated RF and microwave front end performance of an EW (Early Warning) Receiver subsystem. Our simulator allows the EW Receiver/Processor to be evaluated without requiring the actual front end system. The simulator was designed to match the system front end noise figure, gain, and dynamic range. This also represents a new modular and mechanical design for us.

A block diagram of one channel of the EW Receiver Simulator is shown below:

Some pictures of the EW Receiver Simulator are shown below. The box is built to be used as bench-top equipment or as a 3U rack-mount installation. This is the first design of our standard rack-mount chassis, capable of supporting up to 16 plug-in modules (1 inch standard width). Cooling air is pulled from front to back, and the modules are thermally clamped (with Calmark Clamps) to the top and bottom of the chassis.

On September 15 2006, R. A. Wood Associates delivered the first two of 15 complete Integrated RF Test Racks. The Integrated RF Test Rack provided a complete solution for complete automated testing of 7 RF/Digital modules. All equipment was controlled through GPIB interfaces. All automated test software was written in National Instruments LabVIEW by R. A. Wood Associates. RFSpecTest was used in "script" mode to perform most of the RF measurements. The rack consisted of:

• 2 Signal Generators (one for RF signals, one for LO signals)
• 1 Spectrum Analyzer (for measuring RF signal amplitudes and frequencies)
• 1 Multimeter (for monitoring resistances and voltages at various points on the modules)
• 3 Power Supplies (for providing DC power to the modules under test)
• A rack mount PC with GPIB and Digital I/O cards, loaded with software for controlling test equipment and reporting test results
• A rack mount interruptible power supply (UPS)
• R. A. Wood Associates Automated RF Test Fixture
• Laser Bar Code Reader (for reading and automatic entry of module serial numbers)
• A 19" Flat Panel Display (mounted on movable monitor arm)
• Keyboard and Mouse in a slide-out ergonomic tray

The full rack was designed to be a comfortable testing environment, as well as easy to maintain. Equipment is easy to remove if needed with minimal interference to other equipment.

More information about the Integrated RF Test Rack is available from this link.

We designed and developed a Computer Automated RF Test Station for one of our customers. The Computer Automated RF Test Station is capable of testing 7 different RF and RF/digital modules, but is flexible enough to test many possible RF modules. The Test Stations were built and tested at R. A. Wood Associates. Computer automated test software was also developed to test the 7 different modules using LabVIEW. RFSpecTest was used in a "scripted" mode to perform all RF tests. More information about the Computer Automated RF Test Station is available at this link.

We delivered a wideband RF/microwave Receiver Simulator to one of our clients on March 1. The simulator was designed to simulate the front end of an RF/Microwave system. Frequency coverage went from HF to SHF Ka Band. The simulator was required to have very low noise figures and very high intercept points/compression points. The unit was delivered in 6 months after order. More information is available at this link location.