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Most SDR users deal with occasional FM broadcast interference. Ethan deals with 23 FM radio stations, all transmitting from the same antenna on a 328-metre tower a few kilometres from his front door. Auckland's Sky Tower is home to the world's largest FM combiner, and living in its shadow means every wideband receiver picks up FM energy strong enough to consume its entire dynamic range. A GPIO Labs FM Notch Filter permanently installed ahead of each SDR was the fix. He also found it worked on a handheld radio with the same problem.

RF Attenuator Pad Calculator Calculate T-pad or Pi-pad resistor values for a target attenuation and impedance, with resistor power dissipation. Pi-pad T-pad IN R1 — R2 — R1 — OUT IN R1 — R2 — R1 — OUT Attenuation 3 dB 6 dB 10 dB 20 dB System impedance (Z0) 50Ω 75Ω Input power (optional, for resistor power rating) dBm W Resistor Values Get the RF Pi Attenuator Kit → Or buy our fixed 10 dB attenuator → Formulas use the standard matched-pad equations referenced to the voltage attenuation ratio K = 10^(dB/20). Power dissipation assumes a perfectly matched source...

GPS and GNSS satellites orbit roughly 20,000 km overhead, and by the time their signal reaches your antenna it has fallen to somewhere around −130 dBm, weaker than the noise floor of the receiver trying to capture it. A link budget is the running tally of every gain and loss between the satellite and your receiver, antenna gain, cable loss, splitter loss, and LNA gain, that determines whether your signal survives the trip. Pick too little LNA gain and cable loss buries your signal before it arrives. Pick too much and you risk overloading the receiver's front end. Use the...

You bring a GPS receiver indoors and it goes blind. The device that locked onto eight satellites in the parking lot can't find one at your desk. If you develop GPS-enabled products, run a timing server, test trackers, or just need a working GPS reference at a bench, this is a daily frustration with a well-understood engineering fix. This guide explains why GPS fails indoors, why the popular quick fixes mostly don't work, and how to build the antenna chain that does: an outdoor antenna, amplification in the right place, filtering, and power delivery over the coax. By the end...

If you work with RF equipment, you've probably spent time connecting and disconnecting antennas, cables, filters, amplifiers, and test equipment. While these routine connections may seem harmless, they can gradually wear out one of the most vulnerable parts of your equipment: the RF connector. A connector saver is a simple, inexpensive adapter designed to protect these connectors from mechanical wear and tear. Despite its simplicity, it can help extend the life of expensive equipment and prevent costly repairs. What Is a Connector Saver? A connector saver is a short RF adapter that remains permanently attached to your equipment's RF port....