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RF BASICS and THEORY

"Very little is new in RF anymore. Almost everything that we see today is a variation on a very old and well understood theme"-- C. Marki

- Phased Array Antennas

- Understanding Noise Figure

- LNA Design

- RF Power Amplifiers

- Phase Noise in Oscillators

- RF Mixers

- Frequency Multipliers

- Phase Shifters

- RF Switches

- Microstrip, Stripline, CPW and SIW Design

- High Frequency VCO Design and Schematics

- Automatic Gain Control (AGC) in Receivers

- Bias Circuits for RF Devices

- Smith Chart Theory

- Impedance Matching

- How to measure the impedance of a strip line

- RF System Formulas

- High Impedance Matching with a Network Analyzer

- How to Characterize Surface-Mount RF Devices

- RF / Microwave PCB Design and Layout

- Impedance Matching Networks

- Inductance, Capacitance, and Impedance Bridges

- Microwave Diodes...Schottky vs. Point-contact

- How To Achieve Perfect PCB Soldering

- Guide to RF Coaxial Connectors and Cables

HOMEBREW Transceivers and RF Circuits

- Dual - Band Transceiver for 1.3GHz and 2.3GHz

- High Performance HF Transceiver

- 144MHz Band - All Mode Transceiver

- 30m Band - All BJT Transceiver

- 50MHz SSB/CW Transceiver

- Very Low Phase Noise Vackar VFO

- "Dual-Watch" 20m SSB Transceiver

- High Stability, Low Noise, Push-Push VFO

- Low Noise Floor SSB Transceiver for 80m to 15m

- 1496 Hardware Defined Radio -

Compact SSB/CW Transceiver for 20m

- Receiver Noise Canceller

- FT8-SSB-CW Low-Cost Transceiver for 17m band

- S-Band 2.4GHz FMCW Radar

- C-Band 5.6GHz FMCW Radar

- SiGe Push-Push VCO for Low-Power C-Band FMCW High Resolution Radar Applications

- Homebrew RF Circuit Design Ideas ...more than you can think...

...now 5560 design ideas...

HOMEBREW RF TEST CIRCUITS

- 100MHz Spectrum Analyzer

- Inductance meter with 1nH resolution

- RF Power Meter

- HF Antenna Analyzer (3MHz to 30MHz)

- 2.4GHz ISM Spectrum Analyzer Monitor

- Wobbulator for Filter Characterization

MICROWAVE CIRCUITS

- Multiband low power beacon for:

144MHz, 432MHz, 1296MHz, 2305MHz

- High Frequency LNA Schematics

- High Frequency VCO Design and Schematics

RF SOFTWARE and UTILITIES (Freeware)

- RFSim99 - Free RF Design Software

- AppCAD - Free RF Design Tool

- WinSmith - Smith Chart software (for Windows 32b)

- TX-line - Transmission Line Calculator AWR

- 4nec2 - Free 2D and 3D Antenna Software
- Qucs - Free RF Circuit Simulator

- LTspice - Free Spice Simulator

- Sonnet Lite - Free EM Software

- Feko Lite - Free EM Software

- Ansoft Designer SV - Free RF Circuit Simulator

- Ansys Electronics Desktop Student - Free EM Simulator

- CST Student Edition - Free EM Simulator

- AADE - Free Filter Design Software

- TonneSoftware - Free RF Software's

- SMWLink - Free MW Link and Satellite Software

- ADIsimPLL - Free PLL Simulation Software

- ADIsimRF - Free RF System Design Tools

- FilterLab - Free Active Filter Design Software

- CircuitMaker - Free Spice Simulator

- Micro-Cap - Free Circuit Simulator

- MPLAB-Mindi - Free Analog Simulator

- SimSmith - Smith Chart Tool

- Smith v4.1 - Smith Chart and S-Parameter Tool

- RF & Microwave - Graphical Design Tools

- Amanogawa - Interactive RF Java Applets

- DL5SWB - Toroid Ring Core Calculator

- Toroids.info - Online Toroid Calculator

- Saturn - Free PCB Design Toolkit

- Dishal - Free Crystal Ladder Filter Software

- Afar Communications - RF Link Budget Calculator

- Murata - Online RF Components Characteristics

- Johanson - RF Components Modeling Program

- Afreet Software Inc. - Free Ham Radio Software

- Coil32 - Online Inductor Calculators

- MultiSIM Education - Free Spice Simulator

- RF Wireless World - RF Converters and Calculators

- Pasternack - RF Calculators and Conversions

- Planar Spiral Coil Inductor Calculator

- Online LC Filter Design - WA4DSY

- Online RF Calculators - VK2ZAY

- Impedance Calculators - Mantaro

- Qorvo - RF Design Calculators and Tools

- SIMetrix/SIMPLIS - Free Circuit Simulator

- NgSpice - Free Mixed Mode Simulator

- All About Circuits - RF Tools and Calculators

- PCB Calculator - Impedance, Crosstalk, Current

- Coaxial Cable and Matched Loss Calculator

- Online Calculators for DIY Coil Winding

- Micro-Cap - Free Spice and Schematic Software

- OwenDuffy - Online RF Calculators

- Single Layer Aircore Inductor Calculator

- Planar Spiral Coil Inductor Design Calculator - Apogeeweb

- Online Circuit and System Calculators - Apogeeweb

- SAF - GPS Distance, Elevation, and Fresnel Zone Calculator

ANTENNA and PROPAGATION

- PIFA - Planar Inverted F Antenna

- Wire Antennas for Ham Radio ...now 418 antennas...

- Small Antennas for High Frequencies

- Antenna Types and Antenna Patterns

- Basics of Radio Wave Propagation

- Live Propagation and Solar Data

- Design Ideas for Printed and Microstrip Antennas

PCB / Layout SOFTWARE

- Express PCB - Free PCB Design Software

- PCB123 - Free PCB Design Software

- FreePCB - Free PCB Design Software

- Eagle Light - Free PCB Design Software

- KiCad - Free Schematic and PCB Software

- PCB Artist - Free PCB Layout Software

- TinyCAD - Free Schematic Capture and PCB Export

- DesignSpark - Free Schematic & PCB Design Software

- DipTrace Light - Free Schematic and PCB Software

- PCB Creator - Free PCB and Schematic Capture Software

- CADSTAR Express - Free PCB Design Software

Online Circuit Design and Simulation Programs

- Circuit Diagram - Free Design and Share Circuits

- CircuitLab - Online Design and Share Circuits

- DigiKey Scheme-it - Online Design and Share Circuits

- Schematics.io - Online Schematics Editor

- PartSim - Online Circuit Simulator

- CircuitMaker - Online PCB Design and Project Sharing

ICOM Related Articles

- How to fix the IC-7000 audio noise (hiss)

- How to install a Collins Mechanical filter in IC-7000 transceiver

- UHF to VHF TV Converter for ICOM IC-7000

- 433MHz ATV Transmitter and RX Converter for ICOM IC-7000

- IC-7300 Antenna Tuner Range Modification - From SWR 3:1 to 6:1

- IC-7300 Clock Back-Up Battery Replacement Modification