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Teardown
Posted on September 12, 2012 by KF5OBS
4 Comments

A low-noise block downconverter (LNB) is a

key element in a satellite receiver system and
is responsible for converting the relatively high
frequency of the received signal into the more
convenient L-Band. But how do they work and
what do they look like on the inside? Lets
have a look!

From a theoretical standpoint, a low-noise block

downconverter (LNB) is a fairly simple circuit. The
key components are a pre-amplifier, a local
oscillator, a mixer and another amplifier for the L-
Band output thats it. Now, lets tear some C-
Band LNBs apart and have a look at the practical
implementation.

The first LNB I found is a Norsat 8520 C-Band

LNB. According to the manufacturer the LNB
works between 3.4 4.2 GHz with 60 dB gain
and has a frequency uncertainty of 500 kHz.
Essentially 500 kHz means that the LO
frequency drifts over a range of 1 MHz. That
might sound like a lot but is small enough for
analogue TV signals.

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Norsat 8520 C-Band LNB

The PCB looks very clean. The design is very

straightforward and obviously kept as
inexpensive as possible.

PCB of the Norsat 8520 C-Band LNB

On the bottom right is the input pre-amplifer

stage. The three white round things with 4 golden
legs each are transistors. Right above the
transistors (where the green silk screen is) are
the bias regulators for the pre-amplifier.

Next there are two 3-pole hair-pin filters. The two

band-pass filters are supposed to make sure that
only signals in the intended frequency range (3.4
4.2 Ghz) make it into the next stage, the mixer.

The mixer circuit is a simple Schottky diode mixer.

The rectangular thing in the center of the bottom
PCB is a 180 degree stripline hybrid coupler. The
stripline on the bottom is the input for the Local
Oscillator (LO) signal. On the top right is the input
for the RF input (from the 3-pole hairpin filter). The
two signals are combined by the hybrid coupler
and then handed off to the red Schottky mixing
diode. The Shottky diode and the 180 degree
hybrid coupler together form a single-balanced
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mixer. The IF signal (L-Band signal) is then

handed off to the top board.

The top board is rather boring: On the top left

side is a L-Band amplifier. On the right side is the
voltage stabilization for all the circuitry in the LNB.

But wait, we skipped the Local Oscillator (LO) on

the bottom board. Lets have a closer look
because this part of the circuit is rather
interesting.

YouTube

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Closer look at the Dielectric Resonator Oscillator (DRO) Subscribe 3K

and schottky diode mixer of the Norsat 8520 C-Band LNB

The purple thingy on the far left side (with the

transparent plastic screw) is a Dielectric
Resonator. A Dielectric Resonator (DR) is an Recent Searches
electronic component that exhibits resonance at bw of psk
a particular frequency by means of change in 13 8v 6v
permittivity. In summary, permittivity is a measure demodulator pll with xor
of how an electric field is affected by a dielectric quadrature demodulator
medium, in this case the Dielectric Resonator. diptrace pcb manufcturer

Just a little bit to the right of the Dielectric Recent Comments

Resonator is the oscillator transistor (white circle
Arkon_the_grouch on KF5OBS #53: 14
with four golden legs). The stripline, which is
GHz Ku Band Block UpConverter
connected to the left leg of the transistor
Simple Arduino SD-Card GPS/NMEA
(transistors base), is used to couple the dielectric
Datalogger | Electronics Infoline on Simple
resonator into the circuit through an electric field.
Arduino SD-Card GPS/NMEA Datalogger
Dielectric Resonator Oscillators (DRO) can be KiCADEagleDipTrace3D
tuned about 20 % around their center OnBoard PRESS Japan on PCB
frequency by introducing a metallic or dielectric Layout Design with DipTrace An
disturbance into the magnetic field [1]. A DRO Overview
can be tuned by a voltage if a voltage dependent Generating PWM signals | Electronics
disturbance is introduced into the electric field. Infoline on KF5OBS #56: Generating PWM
The practical implementation can be as simple as Signals
using a varicap tuned stripline. David on IC-706 MKII Extended Tx

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I have another Norsat LNB available for Modification

teardown. Its a Norsat 8215. The main difference
is the tighter frequency tolerance of 250 kHz.
Lets have a look inside, shall we?

Norsat 8215 C-Band LNB

The first difference is that this LNB only has one

PCB as opposed to two. The second thing I
immediately noticed is the fact that in this design
Norsat decided to use three MMICs instead of
discrete transistors in the input stage. Also quite
apparent is the big heavy metal shielding around
the Local Oscillator in the bottom left corner. I
would assume that this little shielding case
makes the main difference between the 500
kHz and 250 kHz frequency uncertainty.

Other than that the circuitry hasnt changed all

too much. Theyre now using a different type of
filter and instead of using just one Schottky diode
as in the previous model, Norsat now uses two
antiparallel Schottky diodes. In case youre
wondering where the diodes are, they are in the
tiny black SOT-23 package above the hybrid
coupler.

PCB of the Norsat 8215 C-Band LNB

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After removing the metal shield around the DRO,

I noticed that Norsat changed the oscillator
design a little bit. Now there are two striplines
enclosing the dielectric resonator (top and
bottom). One stripline is connected to the
collector of the oscillator transistor and the other
one to the base of the transistor. I personally
have very good experience with this kind of DRO
and have been using it for many years in
homebrew designs.

Closer look at the Dielectric Resonator Oscillator (DRO)

and the schottky diode mixer of the Norsat 8215 C-Band
LNB

DROs are fairly simple to design. Asides from a

few challenges in designing the actual PCB, they
have a lot in common with regular Pierce crystal
oscillators. Lets compare a standard Pierce
oscillator and an oscillator for dielectric
resonators.

Standard Pierce crystal oscillator (left) and Dielectric

Resonator Oscillator (right)

The Pierce crystal oscillator is on the left and the

DRO on the right side. At first one may notice the
missing feedback capacitor. But its actually
there; The parasitic capacitance of the collector-
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emitter junction. In the GHz range the collector-

emitter junctions capacitance is big enough so
that an additional feedback capacitor is no longer
needed.

The second difference is that a crystal is actually

electrically connected to the circuit. A dielectric
resonator is loosely coupled through an electric
field between two striplines.

Modern, more stable C-Band LNBs use a

10.05859375 MHz reference Temperature
Compensated Crystal Oscillator (TCXO) and a
Phase Locked Loop (PLL) based multiplier to
generate the 5.15 GHz LO signal. By multiplying
10.05859375 MHz by 512 one gets 5.15 GHz.

Links and Sources:

[1] Properties, Test Methods and Mounting [of
Dielectric Resonators], Skyworks
http://www.trans-techinc.com/

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Categories: Electronics
Tags: Dielectric Resonator, DRO, GHz Oscillator

4 thoughts on C-Band DRO LNB

Teardown

Lindsay Wilson on November 26, 2012 Reply

at 6:21 pm said:
The purple thingy on the far right side (with the
transparent plastic screw) Should that be on the
far LEFT side?

KF5OBS on November 26, 2012 at Reply

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10:14 pm said:
Yes indeed, thank your for noticing and
reporting it.

Rakesh on November 27, 2012 at 7:09 Reply

am said:
I never knew that DROs exist. Good explanation
on the parts and their functions.

I have worked with some Bluetooth and

AM/FM/DAB receivers. Their RF section is Quite
mystical. The Bluetooth 2.0 Antenna consists of
two traces in the PCB, placed like a two pronged
fork. And the DAB front end has an SMD
component (capacitor?) in series to the input RF
signal path with the two leads being shorted out
by a PCB trace.

While I could appreciate the effect of the

capacitance and inductance of the PCB traces at
high frequencies, I could not understand the logic
behind the PCB trace patterns. Could you give
any links or suggested topics to read.

KF5OBS on November 27, 2012 at Reply

3:28 pm said:
Rakesh, I am working on a few articles for a
new category called microwave circuit design
101 (MCD101) at the moment. Have a look at
the teaser I wrote here; http://jaunty-
electronics.com/blog/2012/10/demystifying-rf-
circuit-design-the-art-of-voodoo/

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