Low-noise RF Preamplifier

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Overview

A low-noise amplifier for early gain stages that functions at at a range or radio frequencies. Functions using the PHA-13LN+ (see parts list at bottom).

Design

The LNA is housed inside a 0.75" X 0.5625" X 0.58" RF enclosure from Lotus Communications Systems (see parts list at bottom). The enclosure takes SMA input and output, and requires 6+ V DC with ~75 mA of operating current. The enclosure is connected to the board and SMA GND. The current model does not have impedance matching incorporated.

This layout is adapted from the PHA-13 datasheet from Mini Circuits.

Specs

Gain

The LNA demonstrates a gain of above 20 dB over 1-100 MHz. Gain slowly falls off to 17 dB at 1 GHz, and drops sharply below 1 MHz.

Safety limits

[Safety data needed]

Testing

The LNA was tested on the Halbach table-top scanner (~3 MHz center frequency) as a gain stage, along with the Minicircuits ZFL-500LN+ [1]. It demonstrated similar SNR to the lab's current AU-1583 amplifiers when total gain was comparable, using different gain stages. The domain chosen as "noise" is delimited by vertical dashed lines. All testing data is included below.

Files

KiCAD file:
Media:lna_kicad.zip
Parts list:
Media:lna_parts.txt
Testing data:
Media:lna_test_data.zip