K-Band VCO Calibration Procedure

Objective

Measure the frequency response of the VCO and characterize it.

Steps to follow

• Turn on equipment

  • Spectrum analizer
  • Power supply

• Configure to desired parameters

  • Spectrum analizer
    • Set center frequency in the middle of VCO output band (6250MHz)
    • Set span to match the VCO output band (1400MHz)
    • Set RBW and VBW to an adecuate level
  • Power supply
    • Set Voltage to 3.3V
    • Set current limit to 0.3A

• Set up nucleo board and PC

  • Make sure the proper code is loaded into the nucleo board
  • Set up PuTTy
    • Select the serial port terminal
    • Set Speed(baud) to 115200
    • Set data bits to 8
    • Set stop bits to 1
    • Turn off parity
    • Set flow control to XON/XOFF
    • Set COM port to the nucleo connected one

• Make connections

  • Connect the power supply to the payload:
    • Vcc to PoL (RED)
    • GND to GND (BLACK)
  • Connect the DAC output to the DAC_In (GREEN)
  • Connect the spectrum analizer to the switched measuring pin (PURPLE)

  

  • Connect PC to ground (plug in the charger)
  • Connect necleo board to computer by USB

• Power on power supply

• Begin the measurements procedure

  • Enter frequency in PuTTy (begin on 5600 MHz)
  • Measure where the input signal peak is and annotate it
  • Annotate the deviation observed
  • Repeat these steps with Fvco += 50 MHz

• Update the VCO calibration and check it. If it’s not correct repeat the previous step