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Synthesizer Fits On A Card

June 12, 2012

Instruments-on-a-card designs, such as analyzers built into the PXI format, can provide compact building blocks for larger, multifunction systems. The model VMESG frequency synthesizer from Elcom Technologies is such a design, a 1-to-20-GHz source fabricated in a VME form factor. The source on a card incorporates several frequency synthesizer technologies to achieve its combination of fast switching speed and excellent spectral purity, including indirect-analog and direct-digital-synthesis (DDS) technologies. It includes a low-noise oven-controlled crystal oscillator (OCXO) reference and can achieve switching speed of 10 microseconds or less for a full-band frequency step. For additional information on the frequency synthesizer, click here.

About the Author

Jack Browne | Technical Contributor

Jack Browne, Technical Contributor, has worked in technical publishing for over 30 years. He managed the content and production of three technical journals while at the American Institute of Physics, including Medical Physics and the Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology. He has been a Publisher and Editor for Penton Media, started the firm’s Wireless Symposium & Exhibition trade show in 1993, and currently serves as Technical Contributor for that company's Microwaves & RF magazine. Browne, who holds a BS in Mathematics from City College of New York and BA degrees in English and Philosophy from Fordham University, is a member of the IEEE.