Frequency mixing- SMA or jumpers?

Thread Starter

captoro

Joined Jun 21, 2009
207
Hello,

I am working on a development board requiring a multitude of frequencies varying from 1khz to 5Mhz.
Some of the frequencies will be multiplexed and others with me added. Because of this, the traces on the PCB cannot be fixed. I was going to implement a multitude of SMA connectors to connect the ICs to the amplifiers. Or will be better to create a series of jumpers to connect every scenario.
bascially, is SMA or jumper a better choice?

Ken
 

tindel

Joined Sep 16, 2012
936
It depends on how far the signal is propagating... rule of thumb: if the signal is traveling over 1/10 of the wavelength, then it needs to be a properly terminated transmission line with connectors and cable suitable for the task.

1/10 the wavelength of 5MHz is 6m (~18ft), so if it's traveling less than 18ft, you're probably okay using jumpers...

Also note that I'm assuming you're mixing sine waves... waves of other types will have much higher frequency components than 5MHz, and much shorter wavelengths.
 
Last edited:

Thread Starter

captoro

Joined Jun 21, 2009
207
It depends on how far the signal is propagating... rule of thumb: if the signal is traveling over 1/10 of the wavelength, then it needs to be a properly terminated transmission line with connectors and cable suitable for the task.

1/10 the wavelength of 5MHz is 6m (~18ft), so if it's traveling less than 18ft, you're probably okay using jumpers...

Also note that I'm assuming you're mixing sine waves... waves of other types will have much higher frequency components than 5MHz, and much shorter wavelengths.
I am mixing both Sine wave and Square wave. The SMA wires should not be more then 8 inches. ( or traces) I though of going with SMA since the there will be a lot of jumpers if I go that route.
 

DickCappels

Joined Aug 21, 2008
10,140
SMA is probably always a better choice, the question is whether you would be able to tell the difference. It seems from your answer jumpers would be fine.
 

MisterBill2

Joined Jan 23, 2018
18,061
With the explanation in post #1 there is no reason to try to answer. The TS needs to provide a lot more details as to what the desired result should be. Not even enough information for a random guess.

So we need a much more detailed explanation of what the goal is.
 
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