[time-nuts] Another new GNSS antenna gadget

John Ackermann N8UR jra at febo.com
Fri Sep 8 18:06:05 UTC 2023


Sometimes you have *too* much signal at the input to your GNSS.  There's 
a problem using an attenuator to fix that: most receivers put a DC 
voltage for antenna power on the cable, and a typical attenuator that 
has a DC path to ground gets kind of hot.

To address that, I made some boards that incorporate a bias tee on both 
sides of an attenuator to allow DC to flow around and not through the 
resistors.  It's cleverly called the IsoTennuator.  There are boards for 
nominally 3 dB, 8 dB, and 15 dB attenuation.  While I was at it, I also 
made the UnBias-Tee which blocks DC and has LEDs to indicate the 
presence of voltage on either side of the blocking capacitor.

TAPR is offering a kit that includes three IsoTennuators (nominal 3 dB, 
8 dB, and 15 dB), and an UnBias-Tee.  The boards are fully assembled 
except that the provided SMA connectors need to be installed.  It's 
available now:

https://tapr.org/product/the-isotennuator-and-unbias-tee-accessories-for-gus/

NOTE -- these are not precision devices!  They're intended for signal 
level adjustment and shouldn't be used for calibrated measurements.

John




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