Questions tagged [rf-power]

Questions about power ratings and restrictions, including maximum power by law or for certain components, or about calculating power in certain situations.

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What is the actual loss in a feed line with high SWR?

It is well-known that it is unwise to have standing waves on the feed line between one's antenna and one's transmitter, unless it is a very low-loss type (e.g. ladder line), because the transmitted ...
Kevin Reid AG6YO's user avatar
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12 votes
2 answers
1k views

What are the (US) rules about unlicensed low-power transmissions?

It is common wisdom that transmissions of any sort (perhaps unidentified, encrypted, in the FM broadcast band, etc.) are permitted if they are sufficiently low power. Where are the FCC regulations ...
Kevin Reid AG6YO's user avatar
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18 votes
1 answer
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How does an SWR meter really work?

For ham radio operators, the SWR meter is a ubiquitous piece of equipment. There are dozens of standalone models on the market and most modern transceivers and antenna tuners have this functionality ...
Glenn W9IQ's user avatar
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2 votes
6 answers
4k views

How to make an RF probe for accurate power measurement at QRP power levels?

Typical SWR meters don't measure forward power very accurately at the lower end of the scale, which can be a real problem at QRP power levels. Better power meters like the Bird model 43 are expensive,...
rclocher3's user avatar
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6 votes
3 answers
8k views

How should this SWR meter's directional coupler work?

I'm wrapping up a "home build" of the MFJ-941EK antenna tuner kit and having trouble getting the wattmeter calibrated. I can't use C4 to get the reflected power reading calibrated down to 0 as is ...
natevw - AF7TB's user avatar
6 votes
3 answers
13k views

How do I power my radio in a vehicle mobile install?

I want to install a 30W mobile UHF radio in my car. I already have an antenna and mounting bracket - but how do I get power to this radio? It has an SAE bullet connector on the back - do I just need a ...
Dan KD2EE's user avatar
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5 votes
3 answers
4k views

How to find or derive the maximum safe input power to a receiver?

A number of my RF devices have a specified safe maximum input power, for example: "The maximum RX power of HackRF One is -5 dBm. Exceeding -5 dBm can result in permanent damage!" source "If you look ...
natevw - AF7TB's user avatar
2 votes
2 answers
2k views

High data rate on HF & MF bands

Is it possible to transfer data at a high rate, like 1-2 Mbps, on 0.5 - 30 MHz? From Shannon's Theorem, with a bandwidth of just 300 kHz it is possible to reach 1.5 Mbps. I want to use these bands ...
abduoman11's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
175 views

Coaxial cable loss, dbm, db correlations

I am very confused how ham operators deal with all this, because most of the information in internet is controversial. I have coaxial cable with loss of 34dB at 100 meters at 2400mhz. People say that ...
Svetoslav's user avatar
10 votes
1 answer
484 views

Why bother to have a high power base station when mobile units are generally low-power?

I want to find out why, say in a GSM/cellular system, a base station can be up to 50 watts however the mobile units can be only 100mw (for example). Surely if the base station ever uses 50w to reach ...
code_fodder's user avatar
7 votes
3 answers
15k views

Decibel subtraction in dBm and dB

If i have equations for subtraction of 27dBm-3dBm=27dBm how can this be written as 24 dB. I convert the 27dBm and 3dBm -> 10^2.7-10^0.3.But how can we simply ...
Mayank Mehra's user avatar
6 votes
2 answers
887 views

Power dissipation in transmission lines?

I was wondering, does the impedance of a transmission line have any effect on the power it dissipates? I'm familiar with the fact that an impedance equal to the load will provide maximum power ...
s3c's user avatar
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5 votes
1 answer
561 views

What would be the typical received power of an "S9" signal?

Obviously, I would expect the amount of power at a receiver would vary greatly based on distance from, and the power/efficiency of, the transmitter. But I don't really have a good sense for what "...
natevw - AF7TB's user avatar
3 votes
3 answers
896 views

How does the Maximum Power Transfer Theorem relate to RF power amplifiers?

The Maximum Power Transfer Theorem says that maximum power transfer occurs when the source impedance equals the load impedance, when the power transferred to the load is 50%, the other 50% being ...
Andrew's user avatar
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3 votes
2 answers
149 views

What safety procedures should be followed when developing and testing a high power amp?

I'm designing a 300W power amplifier using the MRF300AN from NXP targeting a center frequency of 146 MHz. Obviously I need to keep my fingers out of it and test into a dummy load, but generally ...
KJ7LNW's user avatar
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3 votes
2 answers
554 views

How do you calculate peak voltage given VSWR caused by impedance mismatch in a 50-ohm system?

I would like to choose a feedline that is safe for the wattage at a given VSWR to avoid coax arcing. How do you calculate peak voltage given a peak power in watts and maximum expected VSWR from ...
KJ7LNW's user avatar
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3 votes
2 answers
627 views

Using approximate signal strength at a distance to estimate reception strength of a radio station

I have some historical data on radio stations, but unfortunately, the dataset only has these variables: the power of the transmitter, in watts the coordinates of the radio tower Unfortunately, I ...
Michael A's user avatar
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3 votes
1 answer
240 views

Would a switched RF attenuator be (a)symmetric?

I picked up this 0-80 dB switched RF attenuator at a flea market, with no part number or other useful markings other than the knob settings. I've tested it and confirmed that it works, but there's one ...
Kevin Reid AG6YO's user avatar
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2 votes
1 answer
371 views

What is a "feed-through load" and how does it work?

While browsing some miscellaneous RF test equipment supplies I stumbled across a two-port component sold as a "feed-thru load". Take for example the Pasternak PE6026 (datasheet), which looks ...
natevw - AF7TB's user avatar
2 votes
2 answers
1k views

Is my low-power VHF transmitter dangerous?

I use a Raspberry Pi for transmitting FM on 107.9 Mhz. It uses square waves and has a power of approx 0.085 Watts, but just to be safe: If I have a 1 watt transmitter approximately 1 metre away from ...
user avatar
0 votes
2 answers
344 views

measures for quantifying non-linearity of a HF linear power amplifier

I am DIYing a class-AB HF Linear Power amplifier. How to quantify the non-linearity of this amplifier. What are the common measures of non-linearity as applicable to RF power amplifiers? How to ...
SRK's user avatar
  • 113
0 votes
2 answers
298 views

Can a Loop Antenna send and receive 10,000 miles away

Can we expect a Loop Antenna such as a Chameleon F-Loop Antenna transmit and receive from the USA's midwest to Australia on HF using an average 100 watt SSB transmitter and an average receiver? If so,...
Hashem's user avatar
  • 19
0 votes
1 answer
448 views

Calculating receive wattage given transmit power, antennae dBi and path loss

I would like to understand how to calculate receive wattage given the following (excluding feeder loss and SWR): Transmit 50 dBm (100W) => 24 dBi directional antenna => 30 dB path loss => 24 dBi ...
KJ7LNW's user avatar
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