PXI-5690 Preamplifier

[Oli_Wachno]

Hi there,

I'm considering the (ab)use of a PXI-5690 as a PA amplifier @900MHz, since I only need about 20dBm of power. Does anyone know, how this device behaves in the presence of reflected power? When does it start smoking?

Cheers

Oli

[David S.]

Hi Oli -

That could be a tough question to answer without actually blowing up an expensive piece of equipment.  Can you focus your question more, in terms of electronics specs or transmission characteristics?  Are you looking for a VSWR, or a Reverse Isolation on the output?  Or is there another type of spec you need?  What kind of environment will you be plugging this thing into?

If you're really considering this application, I recommend directly contacting NI Support to see if we can get you some more detailed information on the ouput stages used by the 5690.  We try to answer all our forum questions on the web, but I can't post per-component specifications publicly.

[Oli_Wachno]

Hi David,

there might be a lot of reverse power, so I better stick to a discrete PA.... the modularity that I could get using the 5690 might not be worth blowing one of those nice cards...

Thank you very much for your answer!

Oli

P.S. I think it was at this NIWeek when  I heard someone say, NI's planning a PF-PA module for PXI?