Intro

RF sources are common building block in today’s connected world. They are available in wide array of frequency ranges, power levels, form-factor and type. In this article we will take a brief look on benchtop RF source, designed to provide clean signal from 10 MHz to 20000 MHz with output levels over +20 dBm. It is lightweight half-rack size instrument with simple encoder control, 16×2 LCD and SMA output connector. There is RF output toggle switch and a power switch.

It features the following performance parameters:

Parameter	Value	Unit
Frequency range	10 – 20000	MHz
Phase Noise	-98 dBc/Hz	10 kHz Offset @ 10 GHz
Setting resolution from front panel	10000	Hz
Setting resolution from GPIB	1	Hz
Power output	-35.0 to +26.0* (depends on Fout)	dBm
Power stability	±2	dBm
Stability	1.5	ppm/year
Aux signals	Trigger in/out, Reference Clock In/Out 10MHz
Interfaces	RS232, USB, GPIB
Min operational temperature	-10	°C
Max operational temperature	+80	°C
Power supply	External, +12V 8A rating

Table 1. HMC-T2220 specifications

Datasheet for Hittite HMC-T2220

User Manual for Hittite HMC-T2220

Quick Start Guide for Hittite HMC-T2220

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If you willing to contribute or add your experience regarding instrument repairs or provide extra information, you can do so following these simple instructions.

Teardown of HMC-T2220 RF source.

After little tracing for input power connector, RF source was powered up from trusty HP 6653A DC power supply. While sourcing 20 GHz -20 dBm it was consuming around 25W (+12V 2.1A).

EIP 578B counter was used to measure output of the HMC-T2220. To avoid overloading counter input source was limited to -20 dBm power. Counter was also configured to use external 10 MHz reference clock, sourced from RF source as well.