A tough challenge for test engineers is explored in terms of test methods, pitfalls, and measurement errors. For the test engineer, RF and microwave power amplifier testing imposes unique challenges.

This is an excerpt from “Self on Audio,” by Douglas Self, used with permission from Newnes Publishers, a division of Elsevier. For many years I felt that the output stages of power amplifiers ...

Over the years, tutorials have appeared in EMC journals explaining how to estimate the power required from a power amplifier intended for use in an RF immunity test system. Little material, if any, ...

The voltage-amplifier stage (or VAS) has often been regarded as the most critical part of a power-amplifier, since it not only provides all the voltage gain but also must deliver the full output ...