Magic tee

A magic tee (or magic T or hybrid tee) is a hybrid or 3 dB coupler used in microwave systems. It is
an alternative to the rat-race coupler. In contrast to the rat-race, the three-dimensional structure of
the magic tee makes it less readily constructed in planar technologies such as microstrip or stripline.

The magic tee was originally developed in World War II, and first published by W. A. Tyrell (of Bell
Labs) in a 1947 IRE paper.[1] Robert L. Kyhl and Bob Dicke independently created magic tees around
the same time.

Structure

The magic tee is a combination of E and H plane tees. Arm 3 forms an H-plane tee with arms 1 and
2. Arm 4 forms an E-plane tee with arms 1 and 2. Arms 1 and 2 are sometimes called
the side or collinear arms. Port 3 is called the H-plane port, and is also called the port, sum port or
the P-port (for "parallel"). Port 4 is the E-plane port, and is also called the port, difference port,
or S-port (for "series"). There is no one single established convention regarding the numbering of the
ports.

To function correctly, the magic tee must incorporate an internal matching structure. This structure
typically consists of a post inside the H-plane tee and an inductive iris inside the E-plane limb,
though many alternative structures have been proposed. Dependence on the matching structure
means that the magic tee will only work over a limited frequency band.

Operation
The name magic tee is derived from the way in which power is divided among the various ports. A
signal injected into the H-plane port will be divided equally between ports 1 and 2, and will be in
phase. A signal injected into the E-plane port will also be divided equally between ports 1 and 2, but
will be 180 degrees out of phase. If signals are fed in through ports 1 and 2, they are added at the H-
plane port and subtracted at the E-plane port.[2] Thus, with the ports numbered as shown, and to
within a phase factor, the full scattering matrix for an ideal magic tee is
(the signs of the elements in the fourth row and fourth column of this matrix may be reversed,
depending on the polarity assumed for port 4).

Attenuator (electronics)
 An attenuator is an electronic device that reduces the power of a signal without
appreciably distorting its waveform.

An attenuator is effectively the opposite of an amplifier, though the two work by different methods.
While an amplifier provides gain, an attenuator provides loss, or gain less than 1.

Construction and usage

Attenuators are usually passive devices made from simple voltage

divider networks. Switching between different resistances forms adjustable stepped attenuators and
continuously adjustable ones using potentiometers. For higher frequencies precisely matched
low VSWR resistance networks are used.

Fixed attenuators in circuits are used to lower voltage, dissipate power, and to improve impedance
matching. In measuring signals, attenuator pads or adapters are used to lower the amplitude of the
signal a known amount to enable measurements, or to protect the measuring device from signal
levels that might damage it. Attenuators are also used to 'match' impedance by lowering apparent
SWR.

E-Plane Bend

Low insertion losses

Precision flanges
Low VSWR
E-Plane Bends are essential parts of every waveguide systems. E-Plane formed bends are available
with angles of 15, 30, 45, 90. Maximum VSWR is 1.1. The sizes and combinations are available on
request.

Circulator
A circulator is a passive non-reciprocal three- or four-port device, in which a microwave or radio
frequency signal entering any port is transmitted to the next port in rotation (only). A port in this
context is a point where an external waveguide or transmission line (such as a microstrip line or
a coaxial cable), connects to the device. For a three-port circulator, a signal applied to port 1 only
comes out of port 2; a signal applied to port 2 only comes out of port 3; a signal applied to port 3 only
comes out of port 1, so to within a phase-factor, the scattering matrix for an ideal three-port circulator
is

SS tuner

electro-mechanical slide screw tuners have been used in the RF industry in prototype form since
1985 and as final products since 1989. Over the years, we have worked and reworked our tuners,
making them the most universal, user-friendly and reliable tuners on the market. Focus tuners have
been designed following a simple and robust principle: they consist of two precise hardened and
grounded parallel shafts accurately guiding a carriage controlled by a center lead screw with
trapezoidal thread. The carriage slides on Teflon-coated bearings that reduce friction and eliminate
noise. An extremely precise stainless steel vertical axis with a 1.5 to 3m resolution per motor step is
located inside each carriage and is used to control the vertical position of each probe. Backlash
within the carriage is eliminated by using spring-loaded horizontal and vertical movements.

Timing belts are used to transfer movement from the horizontal and vertical motors thereby reducing
vibration. By adjusting the pitch of the lead screw and the size of the timing pulley on the horizontal
motor we are able to fine tune the step resolution from 3 to 50m, so the same gear can be used
from 200MHz to 110GHz. 100MHz and new 200MHz tuners (models iCCMT-101, -201, -301 and
-302) use a bigger step size and a belt drive instead of the lead screw, allowing for a tenfold increase
in tuning speed while maintaining the same accuracy.

The design and quality of RF probes is very important for electro-mechanical tuners. Focus
manufactures two types of probes: probes that make ground contact with the slabline walls and
contactless probes. Long term testing has shown little difference between the two probe types.
Probes are manufactured out of Aluminum, Brass or Bronze, depending on the frequency range and
application. Our probes (slugs) operate between 100 MHz and 67GHz in coaxial tuners and up to
110GHz in waveguide (Ka, Q, V and W-band) tuners. Wear of contacting probes is negligible. Tuners
using this technology have been in operation for more than 20 years.

Microwave cavity
A microwave cavity or radio frequency (RF) cavity is a special type of resonator, consisting of a
closed (or largely closed) metal structure that confines electromagnetic fields in
the microwave region of the spectrum. The structure is either hollow or filled with dielectric material.
The microwaves bounce back and forth between the walls of the cavity. At the cavity's resonant
frequencies they reinforce to form standing waves in the cavity. Therefore, the cavity functions
similarly to an organ pipe or sound box in a musical instrument, oscillating preferentially at a series
of frequencies, its resonant frequencies. Thus it can act as a bandpass filter, allowing microwaves of
a particular frequency to pass while blocking microwaves at nearby frequencies.

A microwave cavity acts similarly to a resonant circuit with extremely low loss at its frequency of
operation, resulting in quality factors (Q factors) up to the order of 106, compared to 102 for circuits
made with separate inductors and capacitors at the same frequency. They are used in place of
resonant circuits at microwave frequencies, since at these frequencies discrete resonant circuits
cannot be built because the values of inductance and capacitance needed are too low. They are
used in oscillators and transmitters to create microwave signals, and as filters to separate a signal at
a given frequency from other signals, in equipment such as radar equipment, microwave
relay stations, satellite communications, and microwave ovens.

RF cavities can also manipulate charged particles passing through them by application
of acceleration voltage and are thus used in particle accelerators and microwave vacuum tubes such
as klystrons and magnetrons.

MHD coupler
The directional couplers are inherently assumed as four-port devices, which consisted of two transmission lines
that are electromagnetically coupled to each other. The first port is named as input, and the second one as
output or transmitted, the third one as sampling or coupled and the fourth one as isolated or terminated. By
using a special design the input power is divided between output and coupled port in a certain ratio named
coupling factor. The required value for coupling factor P1/P3defines the range of applications for directional
couplers. Based on the application, coupling factor could be any value like 3, 6, 10, 20 dB and even more. The
performance of the directional coupler is usually evaluated by its directivity between port 3 and 4.The
directivity is a calculated parameter from isolation and coupling factor and shows how the two components of
wave cancel each other at port 4. Though we prefer to have high value for directivity as much as possible, but
in real situation this could be happened only around center frequency of designing band. The waveguide
directional couplers have a good directivity compared to microstrip or stripline couplers and in spite of their
bulky size, give us a low loss, high power handling, good characteristics and low cost due to use of just a
simple waveguide.

Circulator
A circulator is a passive non-reciprocal three- or four-port device, in which a microwave or radio
frequency signal entering any port is transmitted to the next port in rotation (only). A port in this
context is a point where an external waveguide or transmission line (such as a microstrip line or
a coaxial cable), connects to the device. For a three-port circulator, a signal applied to port 1 only
comes out of port 2; a signal applied to port 2 only comes out of port 3; a signal applied to port 3 only
comes out of port 1, so to within a phase-factor, the scattering matrix for an ideal three-port circulator
is

4 port circulator

The 4 port circulator can be made using two magic-T and a non reciprocal 180
degree phase shifter. It can also be made using a combination of two 3dB side
hole directional couplers with two non reciprocal phase shifters. S matrix of
perfectly matched,lossless, non reciprocal 4 port circulator is defined below.

3 port circulator

The 3 port circulator is formed by a 120 degree H plane waveguide OR by using

strip line symmetrical Y junction with a central ferrite disc. S matrix of perfectly
matched,lossless, non reciprocal 3 port circulator is defined below.
 Twists
Sometimes the electromagnetic fields must be rotated so that they are in the
proper phase to match the phase of the load. This may be accomplished by
twisting the waveguide as shown in the figure. The twist must be gradual and
greater than two wavelengths (2).
The flexible waveguide allows special bends which some equipment
applications might require. It consists of a specially wound ribbon of
conductive material, most commonly brass, with the inner surface plated with
chromium. Power losses are greater in the flexible waveguide because the
inner surfaces are not perfectly smooth. Therefore, it is only used in short
sections where no other reasonable solution is available.