On 3/1/2013 8:53 PM, Tim Williams wrote:
You'll be much better off simply using the conventional radio approach
than trying to simulate everything, especially when circuit equivalents
are nebulous like this.

I don't know what you mean by the "conventional radio approach".


After all, if you can't quite tell what it *should* look like, how would
you know if you could implement your model once you've found a
satisfactory result?

I was simulating a specific circuit for a specific purpose. I got the
answer I was looking for.


What kind of antenna are you looking at, loop? The first thing to know
about a loop is, if it's a very small loop (I'm guessing, at this
frequency, it is), its radiation resistance is very low, meaning, you can
treat it as a nearly pure inductance (Q 10 I think is typical), and its
bandwidth (even with a matched load) will be correspondingly narrow.

Yes, I plan to use a shielded loop. I have found some contradictory
info on the effectiveness of the "shield". One reference seems to have
measurements that show it is primarily E-field coupled in the longer
distance portion of the near-field.

I am aware of the low radiation resistance and have not included that
factor in my simulation. The Q of just the antenna loop is around 100
as calculated from the ratio of reactance to resistance.


The nature of the incoming signal could be modeled as a voltage or current
source; how doesn't really matter, because it isn't really either, it's a
power source that couples in. Again, you don't have voltage without
current and vice versa, it's all about power flow, and the matching that
allows the power to flow.

A friend in a loop antenna Yahoo group suggested the use of the
transformer coupling with a low k to model the signal reception.


Since the loop is inductive, your first priority is to resonate it with a
capacitor at the desired frequency. This will require a very precise
value, and even for a single frequency, may require a variable capacitor
to account for manufacturing tolerances. In the AM BCB, a Q of 10 gets
you 50-160kHz bandwidth, so you only get a few channels for any given
tuning position. And if the Q is higher, you get even fewer.

Yes, that is loop antenna 101 I think. It was when I added a coupling
transformer with 100:1 turns ratio that I was told I needed to consider
the parasitics. I have found it is not useful to go much above 25 or
33:1 on the turns ratio. I am receiving a single frequency, 60 kHz.
There is no need for a wide bandwidth. Ultimately, I prefer a Q of
100 for the higher gain. If it gets too high, the off tuning by
variations (drift) in the parasitic capacitance affects the antenna gain
appreciably.


Now that you've got a high Q resonant tank, you can do two things: couple
into the voltage across the capacitor, or the current through the
inductor. You need only a small fraction of either, because the Q is
still going to be large. This can be arranged with a voltage divider
(usually the capacitor is split into a huge hunk and a small variable
part, e.g., 300pF variable + 10nF, output from across the 10nF), a
transformer (a potential transformer across the cap, or a current
transformer in series with the inductor), an inductive pickup (the big
loop carries lots of volts, but you only need a few, so a much smaller
loop can be placed inside the big loop), an impractically large inductor
(like in my example circuit, which models radiation resistance as a
parallel equivalent), etc. Whatever the case, you need to match
transmission line impedance (e.g., 50 ohms) to radiation resistance
(whichever series or parallel equivalent you have).

Transmission line? What transmission line? The antenna is directly
connected to the receiver which has a very high input impedance. Why do
I need to consider radiation resistance? I have not read that anywhere.


Once you get the signal into a transmission line, with a reasonable match
(Z ~= Z_line, or alternately, SWR ~= 1), you can do whatever you want with
it. Put it into an amplifier (don't forget to match it, too), etc. Yes,
you're going to have funny behavior at other frequencies, and if you're
concerned about those frequencies, you'll have to choose the coupling
circuit and adjustable (or selectable) components accordingly. But for
the most part, you completely ignore any frequency that you aren't tuning
for, usually enforcing that concept by inserting filters to reject any
stragglers.

Example: suppose you have a loop of 5uH and need to tune it to 500kHz. It
has a reactance of 15.7 ohms. Suppose further it has Q = 20. The ESR
(not counting DCR and skin effect) is X_L / Q, or 0.78 ohms; alternately,
the EPR is X_L * Q, or 314 ohms. The capacitor required is 20.3nF. If we
use a current transformer to match to a 50 ohm line, it needs an impedance
ratio of 1:64, or a turns ratio of 1:8. If we use a voltage transformer,
it's of course 8:1. (A capacitor divider is unsuitable for resonant
impedances less than line impedance, since it can only divide the
impedance down. If the inductance were a lot larger, it could be used.)
To a rough approximation, a smaller inductive loop, of 1/8 diameter of the
larger, I think, would also work.

I'm not familiar with the concept of voltage transformer vs. current
transformer. How do you mean that?

How did you get the 1:64 impedance ratio and the 1:8 turns ratio? I
don't follow that. Are you saying the line impedance should match the
ESR? Why exactly would it need to match the ESR?

--

Rick