RF video lectures - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / rf-microwave

author: goldcoin
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: October 21, 2018, 01:46:44 pm
content: Are there any good lectures on RF/microwave/mm-wave circuit design on youtube from your point of view ? How much in common have microwave and mm-wave design ? Is it easy to transition from microwave to mm-wave ?

author: German_EE
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 21, 2018, 04:04:22 pm
content: Simple RF Circuit DesignBuddy over at The Radio Shop does repairs but you can also learn a hell of a lot from himhttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHJpeSrEjtVk1YtRU3FrpQQ/videosAlan, W2AEW covers lots of RF theory in his posts and demonstrates it on his workbenchhttps://www.youtube.com/user/w2aew/videosThe Signal Path is THE goto place if you want RF engineering and test gear but Shariar tends to specialize on Microwave stuffhttps://www.youtube.com/user/TheSignalPathBlog/videosPeter over at TRX Bench also does radio repairs and sometimes includes some theoryhttps://www.youtube.com/user/TRXBench/videosThats all the RF links I have but I am sure that there are others.

author: G0HZU
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 21, 2018, 09:56:23 pm
content: QuoteNone of the regular bloggers cover RF/microwave/mm-wave circuit design in any detail but there are some good (but short) youtube videos from Keysight that explain how to do basic RF design using their SW tools and there are also some good classic design lectures from various universities on youtube.

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 22, 2018, 04:26:24 pm
content: people rich enough to do MMwave design in their home don't have enough time for youtube ? hahathe signal path is like the most focused microwave channel and it took him something like 6 years just to get some basic MMWAVE test equipment (but still all 100GHz).Like I said before, can you think of fun applications you actually have a desire to work on in the higher microwave bands? Even the signal path is like a test equipment digest. I myself have no idea what to do with my higher frequency equipment. I had some fun with bug detector type stuff, and looking for weird emissions... but its hardly enough to make a youtube channel about. And experimenting indoors ETC is just a serious pain in the ass with antennas past like 4GHz.. everything was going crazy when I just was walking around the room (and when I was new I thought that electrometer measurements were bad because I could detect myself running hands through my own hair).Has anyone actually seen any remotely useful MMWAVE/high microwave experiments conducted by amateurs?IMO EEVBLOG and others were so successful doing test equipment reviews because there was already a ton of projects out there all over the internet that the more advanced theory and shortcuts offered by EEVBlog in terms of using correct test equipments and methadology allowed for things like:-more robust circuitry thats better designed for a measured spec-different circuits/approaches used for improving existing projectsThere were just tons of experiments all over the internet that were being like, designed in a 'it should probably work fashion, do it this way so it has a good probability of working, if you do it the more 'weird way' you won't be able to figure out whats going on' that we could approach from a different angle. There were all these circuits being published since like what, the 1920's, that we could better study with increased understanding.With the microwave stuff, its like 'yea check out all this gear and learn how to use it'.. but why? All the projects are built around like highly optimized LNB's and stuff anyway.Interesting microwave work/experiments I saw:-measure the diameter of the sun (done with commercial gear, little point reengineering the experiment for a different frequency or something)-trouble shoot wifi/bluetooth (we are SO legally band limited in what we are allowed to do)-make some illegal ass cool stuff that no one wants to talk about and pisses everyone off/.. and the best resources for this stuff seem to be freaking neonazi zines (seriously) (magnetrons reflecting off moon, etc). Basically like anarchist cook book of electronics. I think the most hobbist approachable power/interesting microwave projects featured primers about jews and corrupt governments.I can't even see like TSP wanting to cover a project just because if you search for it, your gonna end up finding it was pulled from skinhead docs.. no one wants to associate with it loleven if you could, would you even want to re-do something like blue tooth at a different frequency? Or start your own protocol? (after you see blue tooth went through serious revisions every year, its hard to want to deal with all those problems yourself).-odd point to point links (but really most people that wanna do this, are just gonna use a laser because its way more approachable and cool).Half the tear downs are like telecom back end equipment (zzzzzzzzzzzzz)I think a big 'project zone' could be around physics experiments involving microwaves, (something in Xband comes to mind) since they could theoretically be done in legally shielded areas and involve some of the cool stuff.But downwards the spectrum, from HF to LF, there is a great deal of stuff,check out

author: G0HZU
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 22, 2018, 11:50:38 pm
content: QuoteI don't think there is a lot of 'design' stuff across LF through UHF. I see a lot of bloggers repairing stuff and explaining a bit about how it works but that isn't the same as a video dedicated to designing circuits and/or systems.Up at much higher frequencies there is virtually nothing which is a shame. I get the impression that Shahriar (TSP) has a lot of work related experience with ASIC design up to tens or even hundreds of GHz. It would be very interesting to see him do tutorial/background videos about this as very few people get to play with this stuff for real. My own experience of detailed RF design generally tops out at about 15GHz although I've tinkered with stuff up to 40GHz many years ago. So I'd be very interested to see microwave/mmwave design tutorials at the bare die level even though I will probably never get to do any of this myself unless I change jobs.

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 23, 2018, 12:39:12 am
content: Well what do you think some projects could be for those frequency ranges?I think alot of lack of interest is because of the SDR revolution..People don't feel the need to build their own circuits because the SDR can essentially do all the cool stuff that people used to build.I do see build videos for things like diplexers and antennas but you are right that there are no tutorials that show you how to engineer the systems, usually they just post a few screen shots of the simulation and call it a day.I think some design could be done to work along with SDR in the form of things like GOOD design of preselectors/filters, low noise preamplifier amplifier design and protection systems engineering. Stuff that might go into a EMI receiver front end for instance. Like maybe how to setup a tracking preselector with a bunch of bands..There is also room for things like test-amplifiers meant to connect to a VNA to allow for medium power tests of networks.On the transmit side you end up alienating alot of people because of licensing requirements. You also don't interest alot of people with things like demodulators etc because people like to do that in software... you would need actual metrics to show certain designs that allow for capabilities that you can't do in GNURADIO with a SDR (I don't know what these would be though). I think there is a information black hole along these lines.And people that do ASIC design are usually fairly stuck in a simulator, making the videos not interesting, which is a problem.I also think there could be interest in explaining the use of YIG modules to do certain things, like tracking filters, oscillators, etc.. since they usually come in a can modular easy to use form.There is this channel also:https://www.youtube.com/user/GBPPR2/videosIt kind of has a milita/nefarious vibe though...He does kind of go into some engineering details but yea the vibe.. it's very interesting but it needs a kind of PR and application make over. It reminds me of this episode of the show Seinfeld where the company that elane worked for hired this paranoid nut.. with a bit of work she managed to make great product adverts by changing the nouns he used.

author: clockspectrum
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: October 24, 2018, 01:21:17 pm
content: Here are a couple data points to think about. You can go the applied science route and focus on some of the HAM related outlets available to you. There are obviously lots of tools and books that cover this space fairly comprehensively. I think you will find that at some point you will hit a wall where you will want to understand more but it will be quite difficult to grasp some of the underline concepts.The other option is to learn about the theory of microwave systems. The starting place for this is really taking or watching lectures for 'Electromagnetic Theory'. When you start to dig in and understand what is happening (eg. transmission line) you will realize that most of what is happening requires a deeper level of understanding of electromagnetic theory. There are a number of good youtube classes that have been posted online by the professors from various universities. Here is one example:ECE3300 -https://www.youtube.com/user/cfurse/Depending on your background, you may find that it may help to do a bit of both. You could start with some of the HAM related stuff to help grasp high level concepts and then dig into the theory to propel your understanding. I would not let the math in electromagnetics scare you to much as it is mostly dealing with trig and complex numbers. Whether using software or building up experiments, I would encourage you to do some hands on as you work through some of these concepts. Once you start to understand broadly what is going on, you will start to appreciate why there are fields (no pun intended) such as antennas, amplifiers, etc. that people focus on within the microwave space.Matt

author: MrW0lf
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 25, 2018, 10:19:37 am
content: Quote from: coppercone2 on October 22, 2018, 04:26:24 pmPssst... wrong place to talk about it. Much same with LF - who needs another 555 timer project... In fact most things people do are not very useful. In general probably only valid point to exist is maximize own genetic potential and gather data about  engine that runs the world - to operate sensibly within it's limitations. So as you mentioned science seems to be right direction but as you close in on leading edge might discover that this is the thing that generates lift to the whole wing and you are not really allowed to fiddle around it.

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 25, 2018, 11:22:18 am
content: well LF is annoying because its gigantic and MW is annoying because its so tiny and requires so much precision on the work. I had to study metal working, welding, machine shop stuff for a long time to even understand the required spec for something like a waveguide and to dream about making it kinda properly.To do this date I only made one amature waveguide project, which was taken off a website to adapt a magnetron to a coaxial N connector, and I have not even tested it yet... and its expected to perform fairly poorly.All the cool antennas are hard to build in the required precision and with LW you need physically large shit I think?it goes pretty quickly to 'i can do this with a vice and an altoids tin' but quickly requires fairly esoteric metal working techniques (spin metal for a dish, use weird tools like shapers for a wave guide.. then getting a good polish on everything afterwards...)idea for microwave circuit based on what someone read on this forum: reflection measurement to test integrity of PCB inner layers etc.

author: MrW0lf
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 25, 2018, 12:00:23 pm
content: Found some interesting read for future inventors and such hoping to make millions with their new clever stuff...Technology which may be subject to section 22 of the Patents Act 2004https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/technology-prejudicial-to-national-security-or-public-safetyAnd thats thepubliclist only, and probably the tiny one because it's not US list...https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invention_Secrecy_Acthttps://www.nature.com/news/us-export-rules-threaten-research-1.17770Quote...and so on. So basically you cannot do anything but another 555 timer unless under some bigger umbrella what knows right from wrong...Practical example:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RF_resonant_cavity_thrusterIs even hard to imagine how much effort has gone to dealing with this inconvenient mess...

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 25, 2018, 07:12:52 pm
content: in this forum we do things not because they are easy, but because they are hard

author: HB9EVI
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 25, 2018, 07:35:45 pm
content: To come back on the main topic...I don't know, why everything has to be on YT today; is reading a mag completely out, or am I just totally old fashioned in the meantime?If you're interested microwave/mm-wave you can go with the Dubus magazine. There are plenty of technical information next to construction manuals, antenna building, propagation a.s.o. in every single issue.There are plenty of OMs working in that area, but, yes, they are not running youtube channels, some of them not even simple websites.

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 25, 2018, 07:40:24 pm
content: its fun infotainment that younger people enjoy. You can kinda have fun and kinda learn at the same time without going full retard watching vines or something. I also found that if I was doing documents and reading crap at work or school, it was more difficult to do the same thing at home.. but youtube is good enough that you can still learn after doing it the 'traditional' way at work all day.But if you spend all day at work trying to pick transistors and lay out a PCB then you come home to read more of the same and you do that for a few months your gonna feel kinda off IMO. Thats when youtube really shines.

author: MrW0lf
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 25, 2018, 07:55:58 pm
content: Quote from: coppercone2 on October 25, 2018, 07:12:52 pmSort of like a complicated hobby, think its ok until something even remotely useful does not emerge. Yet fine balance is needed since one indeed must never go full retard!But back to topic. If looking for experiments suggest surf the Russian language space. In soviet era it was a bit of a mess they werent really sure what to publish and what not and many weird stuff left to poke in.Edit: In fact did just look around a bit and took not long even to find stuff to poke stuffwith, for example found 53.57 - 78.33GHz signal sources for <1000USD, fully checked, 18 month warrantySeems quite common model, lots on sale.http://zapadpribor.com/g4-142/

author: goldcoin
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: November 29, 2018, 09:05:18 am
content: Thank you for your answers.How much of the microwave theory is still valid at mm-wave frequencies ?

author: tggzzz
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 29, 2018, 09:47:32 am
content: Quote from: HB9EVI on October 25, 2018, 07:35:45 pmThere are some YT videos that use the format in ways that cannot easily be duplicated with static media. But those videos are few and far between - far too many are talking heads that are easy to make but slow to view.When I was young information was scarce and was carefully devoured to gain as much as possible. Now There is a glut of information available now, via the web. Hence now the key skill is toquickly determine what to ignore. That's a complete inversion that is not appreciated by many people.I can speed-read text to determinewithin 30swhether reading it in detail will be worth some of my remaining life. That's impossible with video; fast-forward is too crude and watching somethingon the off-chance it might be interestingis a waste of time.Consequently I ignore most YT videos unless there is evidence that itwill beinteresting. Having a text "table of contents/times" predisposes me to watching something, since it is a concrete demonstration that the author has gone to some trouble to make it easy for the viewers.

author: madsbarnkob
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 29, 2018, 10:08:31 am
content: I am no RF expert, but I came by a lot of WCDMA/LTE equipment by a coincidence and I had the possibility to do teardowns of it before it was scrapped for precious metals.I hope it serves as an inspiration source for RF design to look the big ones over the shoulder and it has also been a way for me to learn more and try to pass that on in simple terms, if possibleThere is 18 different RF related articles with each a teardown video which you can see either on my teardown playlisthttps://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLw4xMO1xCMSV9REhsRRaTXc-AULq7lAJlor my list of teardown articles:http://kaizerpowerelectronics.dk/general-electronics/teardowns-a-complete-list/

author: asdf
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: November 29, 2018, 10:29:08 pm
content: Some good videos about microwave circuits designMichael Steer -https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAuucMJ1jkR13lCQbUXsNBg/feed

author: HB9EVI
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 30, 2018, 09:11:21 am
content: Quote from: tggzzz on November 29, 2018, 09:47:32 amThe same goes for me. I don't say that there are no interesting YT videos, but to me it seems that todays youngsters prefer to watch thousands of more or less useful videos over reading one single page with dense, competent information.Whenever I can choose I prefer to read an article instead of watching a video