Photographs
Here are a few photos of the RTCE laboratory. All are "click to enlarge". There are many other lab photos in the wireless testing page too.
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View of RTCE's main lab bench and RF equipment |
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Inside the RTCE 3m anechoic chamber, looking towards the Elevation over Azimuth turntable from the "antenna end"... antennas shown in the foreground are: a bilog, calibrated from 25 MHz to 2GHz, and used for both receiving and transmitting, and a pair of open boundary double-ridge guide 0.7-18 GHz V/H horns. |
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RTCE's 3m anechoic chamber Elevation over Azimuth turntable. Shown with a table top in place for 80cm height unintentional radiator testing, which can be removed to make room for a short equipment rack. For antenna testing, 16 square feet of pyramidal absorber is placed on the table top to "hide" the turntable base. The entire turntable and "roll axis" positioner are made of non-metallic materials. |
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The 5 foot wide projection screen inside the chamber is part of RTCE's debug-optimized laboratory. It allows real time visualization of RF failures while products are manipulated or probed, with projected limit lines. |
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An example of a measured antenna pattern. Please see this document for details about RTCE's antenna testing. |
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A close-up view of RTCE's main microwave antennas: a pair of open boundary double-ridge guide 0.7-18 GHz V/H horns. A Hewlett Packard RF relay and LNA are also mounted to this assembly (on the rear). |
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RTCE's quad ridge guide 2 - 18 GHz horn antenna |
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RTCE measured EIRP (15 degree grid) from an iPhone 3GS, on a GSM call at maximum transmit power (836.6 MHz). The highest measured EIRP was +35.2 dBm (in the -Z direction, out of the handset's back, or away from the user), and the lowest was +19.2 dBm. The Total Radiated Power (sin[theta] weighted spherical average) was +28.6 dBm, or 0.724 Watts. AT&T's minimum TRP in the GSM 850 band is +22 dBm |
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Glenn Robb in the fixed antenna end of the RTCE anechoic chamber. |
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RTCE's professional rework bench with dual Metcal irons and hot-tweezers, hot air, and vacuum de-soldering equipment. We also have a stereo Mantis microscope or a video microscope with a 14" focal distance. |
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RTCE's lightning surge rack with power line couplers |
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RTCE's variac and AC Power Fault (Power Cross) test source |
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RTCE Chamber construction in 2003, located in the home (large garage) of RF consultant Glenn Robb |
