Junction gate Field-Effect Transistor (JFET) is also known as JUGFET. The JFET is the most simple type of field effect transistor currently in use and has either voltage controlled resistance or an electronically controlled switch. When using a JFET, the electric charge flows in a semiconducting channel that is located between the source and drain …
A breadboard is a thin rectangular piece of insulating material used to hold electronic components when making circuit prototypes. They have many rows and columns of conductive points for inserting component terminals and jumper wires. The original breadboards were just wooden boards, presumably used to cut bread on, but the modern versions have plastic cases …
In order to understand how sunspots effect radio reception, you need to understand that the light waves and radio waves that the sun emits are both categorized as electromagnetic (EM) radiation. While light waves are visible to the human eye, they are still electromagnetic waves that oscillate. There are many electro magnetic waves, some oscillate …
The basic types of satellite systems include geostationary (GEO), Low Earth Orbit (LEO), Medium Earth Orbit (MEO), and Highly Elliptical Orbit (HEO) satellites. There are also public and private satellite systems such as Television Receive Only (TVRO), Direct Broadcast Satellite (DBS), Global Positioning System (GPS), and multibeam satellite operations. Geosynchronous satellites orbit the Earth on …
A multimeter combines several electrical meters into one hand-held unit. Basic multimeter models measure voltage, current, and resistance. Advanced models also measure temperature, inductance, capacitance, duty cycle, and frequency. They can also test diodes and transistors. Some even work as an oscilloscope. The two main types of multimeters are digital and analogue. Parts of a …
A common question asked by new student of electronics is what is a momentary switch? The short answer is that a momentary switch is a unit capable of turning any electronic device to either an on or off state when an end-user presses the switch. This type of switch can actually represent one of two …
QPSK (Quadrature Phase Shift Keying) is a phase modulation algorithm. Phase modulation is a frequency modulation version where the carrier wave’s phase is modulated to encode bits of digital information in each phase change. The “PSK” in QPSK refers to the use of Phased Shift Keying. Phased Shift Keying is a form of phase modulation …
VSWR (Voltage Standing Wave Ratio) is a metric commonly used with antenna systems for ham or shortwave radio communication. VSWR is normally defined as a ratio with a 1:1 VSWR, indicating that there is an exact or perfect match between all antenna system elements. The VSWR can also be expressed by comparing Vmax with Vmin …
A spark gap consists of two electrodes separated by a small gap that is filled by a gas, usually air. The potential difference across the gap increases until it reaches the level where the gas ionizes and current flows across it for a brief time. The two types of spark gap are the static and …
MCPC stands for Multiple Channel Per Carrier. MCPC is a form of satellite transmission where each carrier is utilized to transmit multiple channels. MCPC transmits multiple video or audio channels on one carrier by utilizing Time Division Multiplexing (TDM). The alternative to MCPC is SCPC (Single Channel Per Carrier). MCPC is used much more than …