| For ANITA-3, 32 of the front-end, low-noise amplifier modules will be built with low-cost NTU LNAs. Since the nominal gain for these LNAs is around 33 dB, a booster amplifier is needed in order to match the gain of the BnZ amplifiers used for the other 64 antennas. The Mini-Circuits ZX60-P105-LN+ amplifier with a nominal gain of 15 and NF of 1 dB was chosen. Since the total gain of 48 is a bit high, a 5 dB inline, SMA coaxial attenuator will be used as a pad between the two cascaded amplifiers. The schematic of the resulting front-end amplifier box is shown below: |
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This web-page documents the results of the tests undertaken to verify the performance of this design. These tests included:
The results of these measurements are shown in the tables below: |
| Comparison of S-Parameter And Noise Temperature [details] | |||
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| HP8970A (May 2012) Noise Meter With 346A (May 2013) Noise Source |
PNA-L 5230C NA | ||
| Gain | Noise Temperature | S11 | S21 |
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| AvTech AVP-C Pulser Waveform Comparison (256 sample average waveform) [details] |
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| Measurement Of The 1dB Compression Point (P1dB) [details] |
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| Since the performance of the cascaded amplifiers is well-matched to that of the BnZ-based AMPA, further testing was undertaken to verify that the performance was not compromised by environmental factors. This testing included thermal vacuum chamber and freezer measurements of the noise temperature and S-parameters. No significant issues were observed; the results can be viewed via the following web-page links: |
| Test | Results Of Test |
|---|---|
| Thermal/Vacuum Testing Of The Cascaded Amplifiers | NTU LNA + 2dB Pad + Mini-Circuit ZX60-P105-LN+ 1dB Vacuum Testing |
| Freezer Testing Of The Cascaded Amplifiers | NTU LNA + 2dB Pad + Mini-Circuit ZX60-P105-LN+ 1dB Freezer Testing |
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And, finally, the unit variability of the Mini-Circuit ZX60-P105-LN+ amplifier was checked by comparing the performance of four of them. The amplifiers all exhibited
the same, within-spec performance as shown on the
Mini-Circuit ZX60-P105-LN+ (Booster Amps) performance web-page
. Likewise, the acceptance testing results for the NTU LNAs are shown on the
NTU LNA Acceptance Testing web-page
.
In addition, all of the data displayed on this web-page (and its satellite web-pages) are stored on anitarf.phy.hawaii.edu at:
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Brendan Fox