R. A. Wood Associates QuickNews

• 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

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

• 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

• 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

• 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

• 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

• 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 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

• 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

• 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

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!

• 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

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

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.

• 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

• 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

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.

• 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.