ADF4107 PLL Frequency Synthesizer Part II - 1.35Ghz LO for Radio Astronomy

Earlier this year I built the first version of my frequency synthesizer which was to provide a stable local oscillator frequency of 5.4Ghz. It was based on an Analog Devices ADF4107 PLL chip paired with a Z-Comm VCO. Control is provided by a Microchip PIC 18F14K50 microcontroller. The original design I had made was specifically for a Z-Comm V940ME02 VCO to provide the 5.4Ghz LO source that I wanted to use for downconversion of various amateur satellites (FITSAT-1 being one of them). The ADF4107 is a very versatile frequency synthesizer with 7Ghz of bandwidth. Using it I wanted to leave my design flexible for other frequencies for various other designs requiring stable local oscillators. With this in mind, I stuck with the Z-Comm VCO mini-14 form factor to give me the flexibility for many other frequency ranges including the one shown here.

Another design feature is the addition of a serial interface. Analog Devices ADIsim PLL software provides the tools for programming either fixed or tunable PLL designs. While the two units I have now built do not require tuning as they are fixed frequency, having the possibility of tuning or simply a status of frequency lock via RS232 was a nice addition.

The next unit I have made provides a fixed 1.35Ghz LO source that I will be using for radio astronomy. 1.35Ghz will provide a 70Mhz IF from the target 1.42Ghz hydrogen line frequency. Only a few modifications were needed on this second unit from the original design:

1. A new VCO had to be chosen, a Z-Comm V602ME15 was selected with a tunable range of 1100Mhz to 1400Mhz.
2. A new loop filter had to be calculated which ADIsim PLL was able to do for me. Several high frequency capacitors and thin-film resistors were used.
3. The PIC had to be programmed to write the correct register values to the ADF4107. The PLL calculator on Analog Devices website was attempted to be used for this. Interestingly its calculated values were not working as it would not lock with them in place. After manually calculating the values out and programming them in I was able to get a successful lock.
4. The output filter had to be replaced. A 5.4Ghz bandpass filter was easy to source in the original build as that is used in 5Ghz wifi access points as part of the 802.11A and N frequency ranges. Unfortunately a filter centered on 1.35Ghz was not easy to find. For the time being I have bypassed the filter on the board which did end up with a spur on its output (will discuss more in a bit).

ADF4107 Based 1.35Ghz Local Oscillator

While testing the original 5.4Ghz version, I was limited to measuring its performance by my test equipment. I was able to measure the peak frequency output via my EIP 18Ghz frequency counter and its RF output could be measured by my Boonton microwattmeter. Unfortunately my best spectrum analyzer only goes to 3Ghz, so spurs and phase noise would not be measurable. With my new design on 1.35Ghz, these measurements are now easily obtainable.

1.35Ghz LO

Once the ADF4107 registers were programmed correctly, I had an immediate lock and very clean RF output. The Z-Comm VCO has a rated output of 7.5dBm. I have a small pad on the VCO output to both feed the loop filter and stabilize the VCO which results in a final output of roughly .70dBm. Driving my mixer will need a slight higher output so an external amplifier will be used.

Now to check phase noise, I zoomed into a 100Khz and 10Khz span respectably:

Using the 10Khz span to calculate phase noise, my results are -65dBc/Hz. Not quite as good as I would like, although adequate for my needs. There still may be some performance I can get out of the design by adjusting some of the other registers within the ADF4107. 

I am still very happy with the output, the results are a very clean peak near perfect on frequency with no noticeable drift. Looking at a full span of 10Mhz to 3Ghz, there is one noticeable harmonic at the 2x frequency of 2.70Ghz. Due to the fact that I am not using my onboard filter. I will have to add an external lowpass filter to remove it. 

Hydrogen Line 1.42Ghz RF Front End - Radio Astronomy

After finally completing the power supply for my RF front end last week, I spent some time tonight assembling the power supply onto the back of the feedhorn assembly and wiring all of the amplifiers and downconverter to the necessary voltage supplies. Here is a look of what it currently looks like:

From the front, you have the feedhorn, LNA, 1420Mhz cavity filter, downconverter, low pass filter, second LNA, then the power supply on the very back. Now that it is completed, I performed some testing tonight to check operation, sensitivity, and power supply stability. So far everything is looking good, the video below shows its operation on my bench for testing purposes:

Radio Telescope Power Supply - Progress

Today I received my power supply boards for the RF frond end of my radio telescope. Due to the number of amplifiers and the voltage requirements of my downconverter, I needed a supply that provided a stable and clean +5V, +10V, +12V, +15V, and adjustable 8V to 15V output.

Current requirements on all outputs is very small (less then 20mA at each respected output) with exception of the 12V supply which powers the mini-circuits ZRL-2400LN low noise amplifier. It has a 350mA @ 12V requirement so I have utilized the aluminum enclosure to sink some heat off of the 12V regulator. I slightly miscalculated the boards size for the aluminum enclosure I had chosen to use for it. Due to the mounting standoffs inside the case, I was not able to mount the board flush against the side of the enclosure... although it was nothing a band saw couldn't fix. All voltage outputs are passed through the enclosure using feed through capacitors.

There is nothing really exciting about this supply other than the fact that it is now completed. Power supplies are probably the least exciting components of any project to build, even though their importance and stability are critical. Now that it is completed I can install it on the back of my RF frontend and start prepping the actual mount for the dish.

Here is the final assembled board mounted in its shielded enclosure:

New 10Ghz Oscillator

I have been needing a stable 10Ghz oscillator for a few projects I have been working on and was able to pick this brick up for pretty cheap. This is a Digital Microwave Corp 10.210763 GHz phase locked oscillator. This unit consists of a dielectric resonator oscillator that is phase locked to the x100 harmonic of a 102.10763 MHz crystal.

 

While not a YIG, it should be more than stable enough for my needs now (I hope). The new 10Ghz project will be coming after I finish up my 1420Mhz front end for the radio telescope which is nearing completion :)

Radio Astronomy Hydrogen Line 1420Mhz RF Front End Testing

I have been building the RF front end for my radio telescope for a few weeks now and am finally at a point where I can sit down and test it. Right now I have the feedhorn assembly completed and the necessary front end electronics mounted to the back of it.

The feedhorn feeds directly into a mini-circuits ZRL-2400LN low noise amplifier. The output of this then feeds into a cavity filter with a center frequency of 1420Mhz. This was a rare but exciting eBay find hat I came across a few years ago, it actually had come off of the VLA in New Mexico. It had been originally tuned to 1430Mhz but with the assistance of a VNA I was able to tune it down to 1420Mhz. This then outputs to my own custom built downconverter which I have mounted in a custom copper enclosure. I will eventually mill a aluminum enclosure for it but this will suffice for now. Finally after the amplified output stage on my downconverter, I pass the IF through a mini-circuits SLP-450 low-pass filter to remove the original source frequencies, LO, and image frequencies. For testing I have my LO set to 1200Mhz which will result in a 220Mhz IF based on the 1420Mhz source. Ideally I will probably downconvert to 70Mhz as there is plenty of 70Mhz detection gear available on the surplus market. I'm still most likely going to build my own I/Q demodulator for the detection side.

Here is a quick video demonstrating the testing setup:

21cm Hydrogen Line Feedhorn Assembly for Radio Astronomy

I am excited to finally be able to say that my radio telescope is starting to come together. This morning I worked on another major component of my receiving system, a 1.420Ghz hydrogen line feedhorn. This has been a project that I have been wanting to build for roughly 16 years and now that things are moving along I am hoping to have a system together ready for testing within a month or so.

Now for the feed, I decided to go with a rectangular design for my feed instead of a circular one for simplicity of assembly. I went back and forth many times on which design I should use but ultimately ended up deciding on the rectangular feed for several reasons. It is easier to assemble (90 degree cuts are easy to mill), it's based on a standard size, and the material was cheap. Rectangular waveguides are polarized, although for radio astronomy purposes this should not matter as any natural occurring signals would in theory have random polarization. Here is the final assembled version:

While not really a feedhorn as of yet (I have not built the horn) it is a nice waveguide to coax adapter that will be used as a feed at the focal point of my dish. As for the horn, I will have to check to see if I will have any benefit of using one. A horn can provide additional gain from the dish, but it also blocks off surface area of the dish in its shadow. A choke ring on a circular feed would have the same effect in blocking the signal, this is just something I need to research more.

The feed itself is assembled out of 1/4" 6061 aluminum stock that I cut and milled down to size. The dimensions of the opening are 6.5" x 3.25" which is the exact spec of the industry standard WR-650 waveguide which is designed for frequencies between 1.12Ghz and 1.70Ghz. The Hydrogen line of 1.420Ghz fits nearly perfect between these two limits which makes this specific size ideal for radio astronomy. I drilled and tapped 22 holes which have stainless steel hex head screws holding it together. I was very pleased with the final assembly as it has a nice tight fit.

The probe consists of a 4mm section of copper wire which is exactly 1/4 wavelength of 1.420Ghz long and positioned 1/4 wavelength from the back of the feed. The probe terminates to an SMA connector mounted to the top of the feed. I had to mill a small slot into the top of the feed to allow the bottom section of the SMA panel mount jack to lie flush with the inside of the feed.

One note on the WR-650 standard itself. There are commercial feeds available as it is a standard waveguide size, but the cost is extremely high since this this specific size of waveguide does not show up in the surplus market very often. Smaller waveguide standards for higher frequencies like WR-90, WR-42, etc, do show up but it has been extremely hard to find anything WR-650 available for cheap. My total cost to build this feed is about $50.

I have already tested this with my HP 8614A signal generator set at 1.420Ghz and have verified it does indeed work very well. Next steps are to add the mounting brackets to it which will allow me to mount it at the focal point of my dish and also add the additional RF amps, filters, and my downconverter to the back section of the feed. I still also will need to calculate total system gain and noise once completed.

New Spectrum Analyzer: Anritsu MT8801C

The Spectrum Analyzer is by far the most important piece of gear for any RF design work, unfortunately spectrum analyzers are also one of the most costly pieces of gear you can buy (A VNA is right up there too, but that's a different post). I have had access to spectrum analyzers at a few previous jobs which is great whenever you need to test your latest RF design. The problem is when you are at home working at your own bench at 2am,  it's annoying to not be able to have access to this gear all of the time. Buying an analyzer is ideal, but costly. Anything new is pretty much out of the question, so the usual source of eBay is the place to go. Both Tektronix and HP/Agilent have some amazing pieces of gear for an 'affordable' amount (the Tek 49N series and HP 85NN series come to mind), the problem is any of these models can easily cost over $1000 in good working condition. The other issue with this equipment (like all older gear) is their age. Since most were used in a production or lab environment, they have been powered on for 8 hours a day for years. This can result in some crt burn in, the devices being way out of calibration, instabilities and other problems as most of the equipment in this class is 15+ years old (note that makes it affordable). I have had a good run with all my HP / Tek gear as this equipment is really built extremely well. As an example, my HP8614A signal generator was built in the 1960s and still works perfect today. So what happens if you want a spectrum analyzer but don't want to spend $1000+? As I found, there are a few options:

1. Buy a really old analyzer. Some of the older HP models will go for under $500. Keep in mind that these models usually have a max frequency range of no more than a few hundred Mhz.

2. Buy a lesser known brand. There are a handful of analyzers by Chinese companies that go for cheap. They may be perfectly fine, I just prefer to go with a good established brand if I'm going to invest in one.

3. Watch local auctions. There are a ton of company liquidation auction houses such as Dovebid that sell off large companies test equipment assets. These are great places to pick up gear. The issue with this is that there is no guarantee that the gear works (no one tests it) and if it is a valuable piece it will most likely get bid up pretty high. Packing and shipping can cost hundreds of dollars as well if you are not able to pick up the gear locally.

4. My favorite option. Buy gear whose primary purpose is not a spectrum analyzer, but has an analyzer hiding inside it. A lot of communication analyzers and cell phone test sets have an available spectrum analyzer option. I will look up unusual gear on eBay that seems to be selling for cheap and read the product literature on them. You will be surprised on what you will find. I have purchased both of my spectrum analyzers this way.

My first spectrum analyzer that I bought a few years ago is an HP8922H GSM test set. It is designed to replicate a GSM cell station to test GSM cell phones. It also has a bunch of options included one of which is option 006, a 10Mhz to 1Ghz spectrum Analyzer. You can find these for around $500 or less. Now 1Ghz is great, but you eventually reach the limits of what you can do with it. One of my current projects is building a hydrogen line radio telescope which at 1420Mhz is outside of my analyzers reach. I needed something to at least 2Ghz at this point to test my down converter so I began my search again.

While recently looking at more gear that was available I came across an Anritsu MT8801C radio communication analyzer. Not being familiar with Anritsu as most of my gear is HP/ Agilent and Tektronix, I did a bit of research into this particular model and discovered that not only was it an amazing piece of gear, but much like my HP8922H, it has an option for a 300Khz to 3Ghz spectrum analyzer (Option 07):

Being a communications analyzer it has a bunch of other nice features such as a 300Khz to 3Ghz RF frequency generator, and an RF power meter:

 

 

Here is a full span of 300Khz to 3Ghz to my outside wideband antenna:

A couple nice things about this analyzer is that it has a large LCD screen, is capable of displaying a full frequency span, it has a resolution of 1Hz, and a very fast interface. I checked its calibrated accuracy with my HP 8656B RF generator and it was spot on which made me very happy as well:

The additional 3dBm loss above is from the mini-circuits splitter I was using between the generator and analyzer.

Included with this unit was a nice shielded RF test chamber for no extra cost. I can only guess what this had cost new:

 

It will be a great tool for testing devices within a completely shielded environment from external interference.

 

So all said and done this complete setup cost less than $600. Quite a steal considering new this was a $30K+ piece of gear. With that being said I'm finally excited to test my down converter further and also get my RF front end for my radio telescope underway.

21cm Line Downconverter Testing

This project is the heterodyning downconverter I have designed and assembled for radio astronomy purposes. It will be used to convert 1420Mhz Hydrogen Line reception from my 10' dish and feedhorn / LNA assembly down to a more manageable frequency of 100Mhz or so. It consists of a mini-circuits mixer along with a Z-Comm VCO for the LO. This particular VCO has a frequency range of 850Mhz to 1600Mhz, ideally covering the 1420Mhz band. A few mini-circuits low noise mmics are used for amplification along with a mini-circuits low pass filter to filter out the original LO and source frequencies.

Last week after returning from vacation I received my downconverter boards and started assembly. Here is the final assembled downconverter ready for testing:



This downconverter as I began testing has excellent performance. I need to do some further testing and measuring to calculate its noise and gain, but I have been very pleased so far. Because of the flexibility of the VCO, I have had some fun during testing downconverting and also upconverting various frequencies around, the following video show upconversion of FM bands to 900Mhz: