I had a nice long chat with the president of the Millimeter Wave company
where I work.
He is very receptive to offering an existing product or even developing a
specialized product for hams.
I need to get an idea of what is wanted.
A few questions I can think of :
1. CW only or SSB also? It makes a difference since several products
multiply in the TX path, even when upconverting.
2. Waveguide or SMA output? All inputs will be SMA.
3. Power wanted in the TX? We currently build in the +19 to +26 dBm
range. ( at 24GHz this qualifies as QRO...comparable to a pair of 8877's
at 20M! ) Power MMICS are not cheap but it seems to be the only way to
get power without going to all too sharp dishes. I would guess that
12-18" would be the practical dish size??? Also note that those power
levels are fully saturated, drop back about 1.5db for the 1dB compression
point if you are considering linear operation for SSB.
4. RX IF frequency? ( Or TX if an up converter) We normally run
anywhere from 1200 to 2800MHz. Adapting to 1296Mhz is simple.
5. RX noise figure? Thw MM Wave industry is not after the same
performance as hams, we can easily get 3-4dB NF thru the complete
converter when an RF stage is used.
6. Package or parts? We do not build oscillators but anything is
possible...it just costs money. I would think that we would provide the
TX and RX modules at first and add options later if the product is
popular. The prez even considered a complete packaged system with the
antenna.
7. Price? Cheap hams need not bother replying! This will be state of
the art equipment with the price as low as possible considering that
almost all engineering costs are already spent and we are a high volume
shipper so component costs are at a minimum.
BTW, we are actively looking for qualified engineers, techs, mechanical
people and assemblers for 2 shifts. The company is in Salem, NH and is
growing rapidly even thru the Asian nonsense. We just signed a $ 2.5
million contract with a Japanese company today! Another company in EU
just ordered 5000 RX and TX for a 12 month delivery. Contact me privately
if you are interested.
Also, please pass the above to other reflectors, groups, etc. I only
subscribe to two since time to play on Internet is limited!
73 Carl KM1H
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