https://www.microsource-inc.com/ Independent technical resources covering YIG oscillators, microwave filters, frequency synthesizers, converters and high-frequency signal-chain design. en https://www.microsource-inc.com/components/frequency-converters/ https://www.microsource-inc.com/components/frequency-converters/ A converter is a mixer plus everything that makes the mixer usable. What the preselector, the LO and the IF stage each set, and how to specify them together. Fri, 28 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT Frequency converter Mixer Frequency plan Component selection https://www.microsource-inc.com/yig-technology/how-yig-oscillators-work/ https://www.microsource-inc.com/yig-technology/how-yig-oscillators-work/ A YIG-tuned oscillator is a negative-resistance active device locked to a magnetically tuned resonator, with a coil driver doing most of the work you actually specify. Fri, 28 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT YIG oscillator Frequency sources Tuning https://www.microsource-inc.com/components/microwave-frequency-synthesizers/ https://www.microsource-inc.com/components/microwave-frequency-synthesizers/ How a phase-locked microwave synthesizer trades resolution against lock time and spurious content, and where a YIG oscillator earns its place as the loop VCO. Fri, 28 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT Frequency synthesizer Phase-locked loop YIG oscillator Component selection https://www.microsource-inc.com/sourcing-quality/obsolete-rf-component-sourcing/ https://www.microsource-inc.com/sourcing-quality/obsolete-rf-component-sourcing/ Why RF parts go obsolete early, how the authorized and open-market channels differ, and what traceability, inspection and testing to require before fitting one. Fri, 28 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT Obsolescence Counterfeit avoidance Traceability Incoming inspection https://www.microsource-inc.com/engineering/phase-noise/ https://www.microsource-inc.com/engineering/phase-noise/ What L(f) actually measures, why the offset frequency matters more than the headline number, and how phase noise relates to jitter. Fri, 28 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT Phase noise Frequency sources Measurement https://www.microsource-inc.com/applications/radar-rf-components/ https://www.microsource-inc.com/applications/radar-rf-components/ How a radar waveform decides the LO, the preselector and the converter — wideband and hopping plans lean YIG; fixed-channel plans lean DRO and cavity. Fri, 28 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT Radar Local oscillator Preselector https://www.microsource-inc.com/signal-chain/rf-if-lo-explained/ https://www.microsource-inc.com/signal-chain/rf-if-lo-explained/ The three frequencies in a heterodyne receiver, why the image sits 2 × IF from the wanted signal, and how that plan decides the preselector and the local oscillator. Fri, 28 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT RF signal chain Local oscillator Image frequency https://www.microsource-inc.com/signal-chain/upconverter-vs-downconverter/ https://www.microsource-inc.com/signal-chain/upconverter-vs-downconverter/ Downconverters translate RF to a lower IF; upconverters translate IF to RF. Same mixing identity, opposite direction — the unused product is a frequency-plan problem in both. Fri, 28 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT Frequency converter RF signal chain Mixer https://www.microsource-inc.com/yig-technology/what-is-yig/ https://www.microsource-inc.com/yig-technology/what-is-yig/ Yttrium iron garnet resonates at a frequency set by an applied magnetic field, which is what makes octave-wide tunable oscillators and filters possible. Fri, 28 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT YIG Ferrimagnetic resonance Microwave materials https://www.microsource-inc.com/yig-technology/yig-filter-vs-cavity-filter/ https://www.microsource-inc.com/yig-technology/yig-filter-vs-cavity-filter/ Use a YIG-tuned filter when the passband must move and stay a roughly constant absolute width. Use a cavity when the band is fixed and insertion loss or power handling binds. Fri, 28 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT YIG filter Cavity filter Preselector https://www.microsource-inc.com/components/yig-filters/ https://www.microsource-inc.com/components/yig-filters/ What stage count, coupling and coil current actually set on a YIG filter, and when a cavity or a switched bank is the better preselector. Fri, 28 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT YIG filter Preselector Component selection https://www.microsource-inc.com/yig-technology/yig-oscillator-vs-vco-vs-dro/ https://www.microsource-inc.com/yig-technology/yig-oscillator-vs-vco-vs-dro/ When a YIG-tuned oscillator, a varactor VCO or a DRO is the right microwave source — decided by tuning range, hop speed and close-in phase noise, not by a headline dBc/Hz figure. Fri, 28 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT YIG oscillator Voltage-controlled oscillator Dielectric resonator oscillator https://www.microsource-inc.com/components/yig-oscillators/ https://www.microsource-inc.com/components/yig-oscillators/ What each YIG-tuned oscillator specification actually constrains, how the driver changes the answer, and when a VCO or DRO is the better choice. Fri, 28 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT YIG oscillator Frequency sources Component selection