Receiver Band-Pass

Filters Having
Maximum Attenuation
in Adjacent Bands
Third-order Cauer filters can boost performance of
multi-transmitter, multi-operator contest stations to
the “next level.” The filters are practical and you
don’t need expensive test equipment to align them.

By Ed Wetherhold, W3NQN
ARRL Technical Advisor

I
n a recent QST article, 1 I ex- contester, where six receivers and six more than really needed, and the con-
plained how to design, assemble high-power transmitters are in simul- struction was difficult. The author
and test six three-resonator band- taneous operation, and the receivers made a passing reference to Zverev’s
pass filters (BPFs) for attenuating the need preselection filtering to prevent Handbook of Filter Synthesis 3 as a
phase noise and harmonics of the typi- front-end overload. source of the designs, but no explana-
cal 150-W transceiver, both on trans- Several receiving band-pass filter tion of the design procedure was in-
mitting and receiving. In this article, designs are in current use by the multi- cluded; consequently, none of the BPF
I will explain how to design, assemble multi contest fraternity, but they are designs could be confirmed. Other re-
and tune smaller-sized four-resonator either difficult to assemble, have in- ceiver BPF designs used over the past
BPFs having maximum attenuation in sufficient attenuation, or lack design 15 years by the better-known multi-
the two ham bands adjacent to the information so the interested reader multi operators used a capacitively
band being received. The BPFs are in- can confirm the correctness of the de- coupled three-resonator design with
tended for connection to the 50-Ω RF sign or try a different design. For ex- capacitor input and output. The at-
input terminals of a receiver. They are ample, an article in CQ CONTEST tenuation of low-frequency signals was
especially useful for the multi-multi Magazine2 described a group of band- very good because of the capacitive
pass filters for the multi-multi opera- coupling, but the high-frequency per-
1Notes appear on page 33. tor station. Although the BPFs had formance was poor. In addition, the
exceptional stop-band attenuation (on tuning procedure was difficult unless
1426 Catlyn Pl the order of 80 dB in adjacent bands), you used a network analyzer.
Annapolis, MD 21401 the number of components (seven in- In comparison, the new four-resona-
tel 410-268-0916 ductors and seven capacitors) was tor receiver BPFs described below
July/Aug 1999 27
need only four inductors and four ca- third-order filter, the software costs for the 160, 80, 40, 20 and 15-meter
pacitors for each BPF. Preliminary tun- nothing! This unusual offer to the BPFs are shown in Table 1. With these
ing of the four resonators requires a Amateur Radio fraternity is made by data, you can assemble and tune a set
signal generator and detector, with fi- Jim Tonne, president of Trinity Soft- of BPFs with confidence.
nal tuning using the return-loss test ware. 8 Jim’s intent is that those seri- Fig 1 shows the schematic diagram
described in a previous article.4 Stop- ously interested in filter design and and the L, C and frequency values of the
band attenuation of 60 to 80 dB is analysis—either for amateur or profes- 40-meter BPF. As specified in rows 4, 5
obtained in the center of the bands ad- sional purposes—should have the op- and 6 of the 40-meter data in Table 1,
jacent to the passband. The four induc- portunity to become familiar with his inductors L1 and L4 each have five
tors and capacitors of each BPF can be ELSIE (LC) filter-design and analysis quintifilar turns of #18 and #20 magnet
mounted on a piece of 1×11/2-inch perf- software. He is therefore offering a wire wound on T94-6 powdered-iron
board and installed in a 21/8×1 5/ 8×31/ 2- demo disk of his DOS-based ELSIE cores. A tap at the fifth turn above
inch aluminum Minibox. The design software to anyone who asks. Although ground serves as the input and output
procedure is fully explained. Anyone the program on the demo disk is lim- connection to a 50-Ω source and load.
having a computer can duplicate the ited to filters of the third order only, all The other BPFs are wired in a similar
designs and confirm the correctness of options of ELSIE are available for use. manner, except the 160 and 80-meter
each design by means of free software These include plots and tables of all BPFs use quadrifilar windings for L1
that is available. parameters, ELSIE can design filters, and L4 instead of quintifilar windings.
Whether you want to update your and tune the designs. Using quadrifilar or quintifilar
receiver BPFs for better selectivity, or Those interested in either duplicat- windings on L1 and L4 results in an
design different BPFs, this article will ing these third-order Cauer BPF de- interleaving of all turns, with a corre-
show you how to do it. signs or designing other third-order spondingly greater coupling between
BPFs for different bands may obtain turns than that obtained with the
Background ELSIE software on a 3 1/ 2-inch floppy more-customary single continuous
Some previously published designs disk by writing to Jim. In your letter, winding. The inter-winding coupling
used two or three top-coupled resona- please include a description of your in- reduces leakage inductance while op-
tors, such as the N1AL designs,5 or the tended application and your filter-de- timizing the filter performance. This
W3LPL designs. 6 K4VX used three- sign background. same winding technique was used in
resonator Butterworth designs for his the wiring of the input and output reso-
BPFs, 7 and the most-selective BPFs BPF Design and nators in the transmit BPFs discussed
by N6AW used seven resonators in a Confirmation Procedure in an earlier article (see Note 1).
series-parallel configuration (See The design of these third-order Cauer It was necessary to connect resona-
Note 2). I elected to base my BPF de- BPFs involves discovering the optimum tors 2 and 3 of the BPFs to taps on L1
signs on the four-resonator, third-or- values of many parameters, such as and L4 at 1/4 or 1/5 of the total turns so
der Cauer. The input and output shunt passband and stop-band widths, cen- that the component values of resona-
resonators are tuned to the center fre- ter frequency, stop-band attenuation, tors 2 and 3 would be practical. For
quency of the passband and the two passband return loss, and impedances example, the inductive reactances of
series-connected resonators are tuned of the input and output resonators. L2 and L3 in the 40-meter BPF design
to the center frequencies of the adja- Finding the optimum values of all these are 413 Ω and 391 Ω at 14.287 and
cent bands. The intent is to have one would have been impossible without 3.734 MHz, respectively. These rea-
more resonator than used in the sim- the help of ELSIE. My ELSIE designs sonable reactances can be achieved
pler designs while getting maximum
attenuation in the adjacent bands by
having two of the resonators tuned to
the frequencies where maximum at-
tenuation is needed.
Although the stop-band attenuation
of the third-order Cauer may be less
than that of the N6AW seven-resona-
tor design, the less-complex Cauer has
less passband insertion loss, and is
easier to assemble and tune. The de-
sign procedure to be explained shows
how to confirm each BPF design and
how to calculate other designs having
different center frequencies or band-
widths. The computer used for design-
ing needs only a DOS operating sys-
tem. The computer I used has a 386SX
microprocessor operating at 20 MHz C1, 4 = 100 pF L1, L4 = 4.926 µH F1, F4 = 7.17 MHz
with MS-DOS Ver. 4.01. C2 = 27 pF L2 = 4.60 µH F2 = 14.29 MHz
In addition to a computer, you need C3 = 110 pF L3 = 16.5 µH F3 = 3.734 MHz
filter-design and analysis software.
Fig 1—Schematic diagram and component values of the 40-meter receiver band-
Normally, such software would cost pass filter. The diagram is representative of all receiver BPFs, except for the 160
more than $100, but for you to design, and 80-meter BPFs, which have quadrifilar windings for L1 and L4. See Table 1 for
analyze and plot the responses of any the component values and coil-winding details.

28 QEX
 Table 1—Design Parameters For 160, 80, 40, 20, 15-Meter Receiver Band-Pass Filters
Parameters 160-Meter (1.8 to 2.0) 80-Meter (3.5 to 4.0) 40-Meter (7.0 to 7.3) 20-Meter (14.0 to 14.4) 15-Meter (21.0 to 21.45)
Fc, BW, Stop-Band Width (MHz) 1.897, 0.222, 2.22 3.74, 0.82385, 5.2256 7.17, 0.779, 10.127 14.2, 0.7137, 11.6377 21.2, 1.83, 19.484
As (dB), RL (dB), Z (Ω) 60.2, 23.84, 800 52.0, 20.10, 800 64.0, 26.89, 1250 64.0, 32.8, 1250 60.0, 25.67, 1250

L1, L4 (µH); Qu & XL (Ω) @ Fc 11.17, 120, 133 8.965, 122, 211 4.926, 200, 222 1.570, 150, 140 1.281, 120, 171
Core & AL (nH/N2) T94-2 (Red), 8.4 T94-2 (Red), 8.4 T94-6 (Yel), 7.0 T94-17 (Blu/Yel), 2.9 T80-17 (Blu/Yel), 2.9
Turns 9 Quadrifilar 8 Quadrifilar 5 Quintifilar 4 Quintifilar 4 Quintifilar
Turns, Wire Length & AWG 36: 9T, 13" #18; 32: 8T, 12" #18; 25: 5T, 8.3" #18; 20: 4T, 7" #18 20: 4T, 5" #18
27T, 32" #20 24T, 29" #22 20T, 26" #20 16T, 21" #18 16T,16" #20
L2 (µH), F2 (MHz) 14.17, 3.60 4.72, 7.085 4.596, 14.287 2.11, 21.1 0.9228, 28.84
XL (Ω) @ F2 (MHz), Qu 321, 210 210, 240 413, 80 280, 150 167, 200
Core (Color) & AL T94-2 (Red), 8.4 T94-6 (Yel), 7.0 T94-6 (Yel), 7.0 T94-17 (Blu/Yel), 2.9 T80-17 (Blu/Yel), 2.2
Turns, Length & AWG 40T, 45", #22 26T, 29", #20 24T, 28" #21 25T, 29", #20 18T, 20" #18

L3 (µH), F3 (MHz) 53.39, 0.984 19.4, 1.880 16.51, 3.734 11.0, 7.23 2.46, 14.21
XL (Ω) @ F3 (MHz), Qu 330, 170 229, 250 387, 200 500, 140 220, 115
Core (Color) & AL T94-2 (Red), 8.4 T94-2 (Red), 8.4 T94-2 (Red), 8.4 T94-2 (Red), 8.4 T80-6 (Yel), 7.0
Turns, Length & AWG 38.5 Bifilar, 45",#24 47T (2-layer), 56",#20 44T, 49" #23 35T, 41”, #20 22T, 24” #18

C1, C4 (pF) 630 = 620 + 10 202 = 180 + 22 100 80 = 33 + 47 44 = 22 + 22

C2 (pF) 138 = 82 + 56 107 = 68 + 39 27 27 33
C3 (pF) 490 = 470 (+20 interwinding) 370 = 270 + 100 110 = 100 + 10 44 = 22 + 22 51 = 33 + 18

TABLE NOTES:
1. The first two rows list ELSIE parameters of center frequency, ripple bandwidth, bandwidth between upper and lower stop-band frequencies, attenuation depth in
the stop band, minimum passband return loss and the impedance level of resonators 1 and 4, respectively. See the article text for explanation of the 160 meter C3
capacitance value of 490 pF.
2. Most of the capacitors are obtained from the PHILIPS 680 Series because of its low K (high Q), 2% tolerance and 100-V dc rating. See the FARNELL/NEWARK
electronic components catalog (March/September 1998, p 62). The 630-pF value of C1 and C4 in the 160-meter BPF design is realized with a paralleled 620-pF
dipped silver-mica cap and a Philips ceramic cap, both selected to realize the design value within one percent. The 620-pF, 5% mica capacitor is available from
Hosfelt Electronics, 2700 Sunset Blvd, Steubenville, OH 43952; tel 800-524-6464, fax 800-524-5414; [email protected]; http://www.hosfelt.com/.
3. MICROMETALS cores (for RF applications) are used in all the BPFs.
4. The odd-numbered wire sizes are AWG equivalents of SWG wire sizes obtained from FARNELL/NEWARK. See the March/September 1998 FARNELL catalog, p 865.
5. The minimum return-loss values listed above were obtained from the computer-generated data of the ELSIE filter design/analysis software. The return loss of the
assembled BPF as measured with a network analyzer may be different.
6. For frequencies less than 3 MHz, resistive considerations outweigh capacitive considerations; consequently, multiple-layer windings are acceptable to reduce
resistive losses and improve Q. Above 3 MHz, single-layer windings provide maximum Q.
July/Aug 1999 29
with toroidal powdered-iron cores. If The attenuation peaks should fall in above the passband are identical.
these resonators had been connected the center of the 80 and 20-meter However, after the modifications, the
to the tops of resonators 1 and 4, the bands, and the minimum passband lower and upper-frequency minimum-
reactances would have been impracti- return loss should be 30 dB. attenuation levels are no longer iden-
cal at 25 times greater; that is, at The BPF designs may also be con- tical, thus showing that the design is
10.3 kΩ and 9.7 kΩ. firmed by letting ELSIE assist you in no longer a legitimate Cauer. For this
If resonators 1 and 4 had been de- designing a BPF. At the ELSIE reason, these modified Cauer designs
signed for an impedance of 50 Ω at the prompts, enter the width of the pass- cannot be duplicated using the pub-
start, this would have eliminated the band, the center frequency, the stop- lished Zverev tables. For our pur-
need for taps, but then the inductance band width, the depth of the stop-band poses, this is of no concern as long as
and reactance of L1 and L4 would have attenuation and the impedance. the attenuation peaks are in the cen-
been much too low at 0.197 µH and ELSIE will then design a BPF to meet ter of the adjacent ham bands, and the
8.88 Ω to realize these inductance val- these requirements. The design val- computer-calculated minimum pass-
ues with acceptable Q. The procedure ues to use are listed in the first two band return loss is greater than 20 dB.
to obtain optimum component values rows of each column in Table 1, except By using ELSIE to design these third-
for all resonators is to design resona- for the passband return loss, which is order Cauers, what before was impos-
tors 1 and 4 for an impedance equal to not needed by ELSIE, and is included sible now becomes simple!
the square of 2, 3, 4 or 5 times 50 Ω, only for reference.
and then to connect the center resona- After reviewing the attenuation and BPF Assembly and Tuning
tors between 50-Ω taps on L1 and L4. return-loss response plots, you then Fig 3 shows the 40-meter BPF as-
Whether a quadrifilar or quintifilar manually tune the design so the at- sembled on a piece of perfboard in-
winding is used for L1 and L4 depends tenuation peaks fall at the center of stalled in an LMB 873 aluminum
on the BPF percentage bandwidth. For the bands adjacent to the passband. Minibox. The toroidal inductors are
example, the percentage bandwidth of This is done by varying the C and L secured to the perfboard by passing
the 80-meter BPF is (100 × BW )/ F c = values of resonators 2 and 3 while their leads through the holes in the
82.385 / 3.74 = 22%. This is a relatively maintaining a passband return loss perfboard, then sharply bending the
broad bandwidth, and a quadrifilar greater than 20 dB. Additional minor leads sideways. All capacitors are con-
winding is satisfactory. In comparison, adjustments can be made to the center nected to the inductor leads under the
the percentage bandwidths of the 40, frequency so that the values of C1 and perfboard. A cardboard strip insulates
20 and 15-meter BPFs are 11.3%, 5.0% C4 are convenient. For example, the the capacitor and inductor leads (un-
and 6.8%, and quintifilar windings are center frequency of the 40-meter BPF der the perfboard) from the bottom of
more appropriate. The 160-meter BPF was increased slightly from 7.15 MHz the aluminum box. The #18 wire leads
has a relative percentage bandwidth of to 7.17 MHz so C1 and C4 would be- of L1 and L4 connect at each end of the
11.7%, and either quadrifilar or quin- come exactly 100 pF instead of the assembly to the center pins and
tifilar windings could be used. original nonstandard value. ground lugs of the phono connectors.
The BPF designs listed in Table 1 When you are satisfied with the These four #18 leads provide sufficient
may be confirmed in two ways. The tuned design, the impractical compo- support to hold the assembly in place.
simplest way is to use the analysis nent values of resonators 2 and 3 are The other BPFs are assembled in a
option of ELSIE wherein the listed scaled from the design impedance to similar manner.
component values are entered at the 50 Ω. The 50-Ω taps on resonators 1 The assembly of the BPF components
ELSIE prompts, and the insertion loss and 4 serve as the BPF input and out- is greatly simplified by the omission of
and return-loss response plots are put connections. Fig 1 shows the sche- shielding partitions between stages.
viewed to confirm that the design is matic diagram of the completed design The lack of any shielding apparently
satisfactory. However, a minor correc- of the 40-meter BPF. had no effect on the BPF stop-band
tion to the tabular data for resonators The third-order BPFs designed by performance, since attenuation levels
2 and 3 must be made before entering ELSIE originated as classic Cauer greater than 80 dB were noted in the
their component values at the ELSIE designs, where the minimum stop- upper frequencies in all the BPF tests.
prompts because ELSIE is not capable band attenuation both below and Because resonators 1 and 4 must be
of evaluating tapped inductors. Con-
sequently, the two series-connected
resonators 2 and 3 must be moved to
the tops of resonators 1 and 4, and the
component values of resonators 2 and
3 corrected to account for the change
in impedance level. This is accom-
plished by multiplying and dividing
the tabular inductance and capaci-
tance values, respectively, of resona-
tors 2 and 3 by a factor equal to the
impedance of resonators 1 and 4 di-
vided by 50, or 1250 / 50 = 25. Fig 2 C1, 4 = 100 pF L1, 4 = 4.926 µH F1,4 = 7.17 MHz Z = 1250 Ω
shows the schematic diagram and C2 = 1.08 pF L2 = 114.90 µH F2 = 14.29 MHz
component values of the 40-meter BPF C3 = 4.40 pF L3 = 412.80 µH F3 = 3.734 MHz
in a corrected form suitable for ELSIE
Fig 2—Schematic diagram of the prototype third-order Cauer 40-meter BPF before
to analyze the design and plot the at- resonators 2 and 3 are moved to the 50-Ω taps on L1 and L4. Use these component
tenuation and return-loss responses. values if you want ELSIE to analyze the BPF performance.

30 QEX
tuned to the same center frequency, BPF could be duplicated with an The actual value of C3 is 20 pF
successful tuning depends on using ELSIE analysis only when C3 was greater than the 470-pF capacitor in-
precisely matched capacitors, prefer- made equal to 490 pF instead of the stalled on the perfboard because of
ably both having the same value, and 470-pF value, and F3 was 0.984 MHz. the inter-winding capacity of L3. Con-
within one percent of the design value.
For the 40-meter BPF, this frequency
was 7.17 MHz, so C1 and C4 could be
standard values of 100 pF. Capacitors
2 and 3 can be within two percent of
the design values. Sufficient room
should be left on the T94 cores so the
windings can be squeezed or spread to
fine tune each resonator. This is im-
portant so that all resonators can be
tuned either to the center of the BPF
passband, or to the center frequency
of the adjacent amateur bands.
Initially, tune each resonator before
installation on the perfboard. First,
pass a single-turn wire loop from a
signal generator through the center of
the inductor. Then put a second loop
through the inductor, and connect it to
a sensitive wide-band detector. Vary
the signal-generator frequency until
you see a voltage peak on the detector
output meter; that indicates circuit
resonance. Measure the generator fre-
quency with a frequency counter, then
Fig 3—The photo shows the 40-meter BPF assembled in an aluminum Minibox
squeeze or spread the inductor turns 31/2×21/8×1 5/8 inches (LMB 873). The T94 cores are installed on the top of a piece of
until a resonance peak is obtained at perfboard (1×2.6 inches) with the prepunched holes on a 0.1-inch grid. All
the design frequency. After this, in- capacitors are mounted under the perfboard. A strip of cardboard glued to the
stall the resonator on the perfboard inside of the box bottom provides insulation between the BPF leads and the
aluminum box. The BPF input and output leads that are connected at each end to
without disturbing the turns on the the phono-connector center pins and ground lugs are stiff enough to hold the
core. A final check on the BPF tuning assembly in place.
is made with the return-loss response
test as explained in the referent of
Note 4. After the final check, the in-
ductor turns may be secured with a
coating of polystyrene Q-dope.9

Special Tuning Considerations

To find the optimum parameters for
the 160-meter BPF, I used ELSIE’s
“tune” mode to find convenient capaci-
tance values while keeping the upper-
frequency attenuation peak in the cen-
ter of the 80-meter band and while
keeping the minimum passband re-
turn loss greater than 20 dB. The
placement of the lower-frequency at-
tenuation peak, established by reso-
nator #3, was not critical, and the C3
and L3 values were varied until a con-
venient C3 value of 470 pF was ob-
tained with a computer-calculated
minimum return loss of more than
20 dB. However, when the design was
assembled and final tuning adjusted
by observing the measured return-loss
response as seen on an oscilloscope, I
discovered that the optimum return-
loss response occurred when resonator
#3 was tuned to 0.984 MHz, not to the Fig 4—The plot shows the insertion-loss response of the 40-meter BPF as
measured with a network analyzer. The attenuation of signals in the adjacent 80
original frequency. The measured re- and 20-meter bands is greater than 58 and 85 dB, respectively. The passband loss
turn-loss response of the assembled is about 0.5 dB and the passband return loss (not shown) is greater than 20 dB.

July/Aug 1999 31
sequently, when assembling the monics of the VCO from distorting the 80-meter BPFs, the minimum return
160-meter BPF, use a 470-pF capacitor waveform of the return-loss response. loss was a decibel or so below the
for C3; when analyzing the design with If the VCO harmonics are not suffi- 20-dB reference level.
ELSIE, use a 490-pF value. The addi- ciently attenuated, the sharp peaks of The 40-meter passband width can be
tional 20 pF caused by the L3 winding the return-loss response may be com- measured from the return-loss response
capacitance is indicated by the designa- pletely missing, and it may be difficult by subtracting the lower frequency from
tion “+20 interwinding” in the 160- to determine when the BPF is cor- the upper frequency on the return-loss
meter BPF column for C3 in Table 1. rectly tuned. BPF tuning is accom- response curve where the curve crosses
Because of the unknown effects of plished by squeezing or spreading the the minimum return-loss level. In the
stray variables associated with these turns on inductors L2 and L3 until the case of the 40-meter BPF, the measured
BPFs, it is important to final tune each three peaks are obtained on the re- passband width was about 0.79 MHz,
BPF using the return-loss-measure- turn-loss response and the minimum which closely approximates the design
ment procedure so you have assurance return-loss levels are identical. Some- value listed in Table 1.
that the BPF is correctly tuned. times it may be necessary to remove or As viewed on a network analyzer or
add a turn to L2 or L3. You can see in the ELSIE plot of return loss, the
Insertion Loss and whether this is necessary by the effect return-loss response increases in a
Return-Loss Performance on the return-loss response when downward direction. However, I pre-
Figs 4 and 5 show the measured re- squeezing or spreading the turns of L2 fer to see return loss increasing
sponses of the 40-meter BPF insertion and L3. Do not touch the turns on L1 upward.I accomplished this reversal
loss and return loss after the BPF tun- and L4 since they need no adjustment. of return-loss direction by using
ing was completed. The insertion-loss Correct tuning of the BPF is indi- the scope INVERT switch on the
response, obtained with a network cated when you get three distinct Y-channel input.
analyzer and plotter by Tim Duffy, peaks in the return-loss response and
K3LR, shows that the stop-band at- the two minimum return-loss levels 160-meter BPF Performance
tenuation is maximum at 75 and 85 dB between the peaks are identical. In the Under Operating Conditions
at the centers of the 80 and 20-meter 40-meter BPF, the measured mini- An indication of the usefulness of
bands, respectively. The passband mum return-loss level was a few deci- these receiver BPFs under actual op-
loss is about 0.5 dB. The stop-band and bels above 20. A 20-dB reference level erating conditions was provided by
passband losses of the other BPFs are was established on the oscilloscope Tony Kazmakites, N2TK/V26AK. He
similar to those of the 40-meter BPF, screen by replacing the 50-Ω termi- used both the transmit and receive
with the greatest passband loss being nated BPF with a 61-Ω resistive load. BPFs in the operation of V26B during
0.55 dB in the 15-meter BPF. A 61-Ω load on the return-loss-bridge the 1998 CQ Worldwide Sideband
The decrease in insertion loss above “load” port produces a straight line on Contest, in the multi-multi category.
15 MHz is attributed to imperfect cou- the display that is equivalent to an Tony reports that originally, with the
pling in the windings of L1 and L4, and SWR of 61/50 = 1.22, which is equal to old-style three-resonator capacitive-
this same anomaly was noted in the a return loss of 20 dB. For the 160 and coupled BPF on the 160-meter re-
transmitter BPFs described in the ref-
erent of Note 1. Although the inser-
tion loss decreases above 15 MHz, this
should cause no problem because the
attenuation in the 15-meter band is
still substantial, at more than 55 dB.
The return-loss response of the
40-meter BPF is shown in Fig 5. This
figure is a photograph of the scope
waveform obtained with the return-loss
test setup described in the referent of
Note 1. Two important additions to the
equipment shown in Note 1’s Fig A3
should be noted, however. (1) A seven-
element, 50-Ω low-pass filter with a
cutoff frequency equal to about 1.3
times the upper cut-off frequency of the
BPF being tested should be connected
directly to the 50-Ω output of the volt-
age-controlled oscillator (VCO). (2) A
50-Ω, 6-to-10-dB pad should be con-
nected between the low-pass filter
output and the RF-IN port of the re-
turn-loss bridge.
The 50-Ω pad provides a well-
defined 50-Ω source impedance for the Fig 5—The photo shows the return-loss response of the 40-meter BPF obtained
return-loss bridge and eliminates any with the test equipment described in the text. The center peak of the return-loss
response is at 7.17 MHz, which is the center frequency of the tuned 40-meter BPF.
minor impedance variations that The frequencies at the beginning and end of the 40-meter passband (7.0 and
might be present at the filter output 7.3 MHz) are to the left and right of the center peak in the valleys of the response
port. The low-pass filter prevents har- curve. The BPF minimum return-loss level is greater than 20 dB.

32 QEX
 7L.Gordon, K4VX, “Band-Pass Filters for HF
ceiver, nothing on the 160-meter band explanation was included for those who
could be heard because of noise from wish to confirm the tabulated designs Transceivers,” QST Sep 1988, pp 17-28.
8TrinitySoftware, 7801 Rice Dr, Rowlett, TX
the 75-meter station. After the old- or design BPFs having different param-
75088, Jim Tonne, WB6BLD, President,
style BPF was replaced with the new eters. Those wishing to obtain any of tel 972-475-7132.
third-order Cauer 160-meter receive the assembled and tested BPFs should 9Q-dope, 2 oz bottle with brush, part #10-
BPF, the entire problem on 160 meters send an SASE (business-sized enve- 3702, $3.75; Ocean State Electronics, PO
was solved. The 160-meter operator lope) to the author for details. Box 1458, 6 Industrial Dr, Westerly, RI
wanted to buy the filter on the spot! Radio amateurs now have access to 02891; tel 1-800-866-6626, 401-596-
Tony further reports that “...the free LC filter software that allows 3080, fax 401-596-3590; http://www
.oselectronics.com/.
W3NQN transmit and receive filters them to design and analyze any type
have taken us to another level of im- of third-order passive LC filter. This
provement in multi-transmitter op- new and powerful capability should Ed Wetherhold received a degree in
erations.” Tony says he will be using help to advance the state-of-the-art in Radio Engineering from Tri-State
these BPFs again at V26B for the 1999 Amateur Radio filter design. University, Angola, Indiana, in 1956.
CQ Worldwide Sideband Contest. From 1962 to 1992, he was employed
Acknowledgements at the Annapolis Signal Analysis Cen-
Summary The author is grateful to Jim Tonne, ter of Alliant Techsystems, Inc (Alliant
The deficiencies of LC BPFs cur- WB6BLD, for making his ELSIE filter- Techsystems was formerly the Defense
rently being used to prevent receiver design and analysis software available Division of Honeywell, Inc), as a com-
overload were discussed. A previously for use in this project. Thanks also to munication systems test engineer and
unused BPF type—the third-order Tim Duffy, K3LR, for his comments on as a certified TEMPEST Professional
Cauer—was introduced. The Cauer is the receiver BPF performance and for Level II.
easier to assemble and tune than other plotting the insertion and return-loss Ed has written many articles on sim-
filter types, and it provides maximum responses using a network analyzer. plified filter design that have been
attenuation in the adjacent amateur The report provided by Tony published in the electronics trade and
bands. This filter type was not previ- Kazmakites, N2TK, on his experiences Amateur Radio journals, such as
ously considered because it was im- in using the receiver BPFs is gratefully Interference Technology Engineers’
possible to calculate the component acknowledged. Master (ITEM), QST, QEX, CQ and
values for the special stop-band re- Notes Practical Wireless, and in professional
sponse that was desired. However, 1E. Wetherhold, W3NQN, “Clean Up Your EMC journals and Amateur Radio
free filter-design and analysis soft- Signals with Band-Pass Filters,” QST, Handbooks. For example, The 1998
ware makes it possible for anyone with 1998, Part 1 May , pp 44-48 and Part 2 ARRL Handbook contains Ed’s SVC
a computer to design and analyze any Jun, pp 39-42. filter design tables and an explanation
2J. Perkins, N6AW, “Band-pass Filters for
type of third-order passive LC filter. of how to design passive LC filters.
the Serious Multi-Operator Station,” CQ
Those interested in only building new Contest, Jan 1996, pp 14-17. Ed obtained his Amateur Radio li-
third-order Cauer BPFs, can do so from 3A. I. Zverev, Handbook of Filter Synthesis cense in 1947, while serving in the Air
a table of values for the 160, 80, 40, 20 (New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1967). Force as a radio mechanic instructor
4See Note 1: Appendix of Part 2, pp 41, 42
or 15-meter bands and the tuning pro- at Scott AFB, in Illinois. Since 1977 he
cedure described. To demonstrate the and Fig A3. has been a Technical Advisor to the
5A. Bloom, N1AL, “Inexpensive Interference
performance typical of all the BPFs, the ARRL on passive LC filters. He may be
Filters,” QST, Jun 1994, pp 32-36.
insertion and return loss of a 40-meter 6Description of W3LPL receiver band-pass contacted at his home at 1426 Catlyn
BPF was evaluated and its response filters from notes of K3ND, provided to the Pl, Annapolis, MD 21401, or by tele-
curves are shown in two figures. An author by Tony Kazmakites, N2TK. phone at 410-268-0916.

July/Aug 1999 33