PLL measurements continued… ADF41020 locking the Micro-Tel 1295

With the work on the Micro-Tel SG-811 generator PLL mostly completed, some trials with the Micro-Tel 1295 receiver – this instrument has similar YIGs fitted, just needs to be tuned 30 MHz above the actual frequency tuned, because the 1295 is running on a 30 MHz IF (all diagrams have tuned frequencies, not LO frequencies).

After some crude analysis of the schematics, the 1295 seems to be able to handle a bit more PLL bandwidth – so the target set more in the 500 Hz to 1 kHz region, and some calculations were carried out with the ADIsimPLL program, to determine the rough capacitor and resistor values – otherwise, the loop filter is the same as for the SG-811 PLL, also using an OPA284 opamp.

Otherwise, pretty much comparable results (earlier post related to the SG-811), for example (17.8141 GHz tuned/17.8171 GHz LO frequency, Icp setting 6):

Gain (disregard 1 to 10 Hz)
micro-tel 1295 17814100 kHz cpc6 gain

Phase
micro-tel 1295 17814100 kHz cpc6 phase

After quite a few of these measurement (doesn’t actually take too long), the results.
adf41020 pll bw phase margin 1295

Phase margin vs. bandwidth
pm vs bw adf41020 micro-tel 1295

Bandwidth vs. charge pump current Icp setting, at various frequencies
bw vs icp at various frq adf41020 micr-tel 1295 pll

Again, a bandwidth frequency^0.7 product could be used to get the numbers down to two parameters – slope and intercept of the bandwidth*frequency^0.7 vs. Icp setting curve.
Finally, suitable Icp settings for a 600 Hz target BW:
bw vs frq adf41020 micro-tel 1295 with Icp adjustment

The result seems quite satisfactory, pretty much constant 600 Hz BW can be achieved over the full 2 to 18 Ghz range, at about 47 degrees phase margin. This should allow for stable operation. No locking issues were observed at any of the frequencies, even with full Icp current.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.