Carrier Wave
Communication systems one idea at a time: AM, FM, filters, mixers and the superheterodyne receiver. Follows the GATE communications syllabus.
Episodes
What this series covers
9 episodes made so far. A tick marks the ones already on YouTube.
- 01Your voice would need a 3 km antenna. Why doesn't it?
- 02AM wastes 2/3 of its power. Why is it still on air?
- 03Past 100% AM, your voice plays upside down.
- 04The capacitor in every AM radio has two jobs that fight.
- 05A perfect radio goes silent. The only fault is 90°.
- 06100 Hz off and everyone sounds like a duck. Why?
- 07This radio filter can't be built. So they built two.
- 08Your radio can hear a station you never tuned.
- 09One choice in every radio avoids a 181:1 capacitor.
Watch them on the Electronics 101 YouTube channel. Episodes without a tick are finished and queued for release.
Resources
Material for this series
Notes, formula sheets and guides that stay useful after the episodes.
RF & Microwave Formula Sheet
One page: transmission-line equations, reflection coefficient, VSWR and return loss conversions, cascade noise figure, and the dB identities worth memorising.
Reading the Smith Chart
Where the chart comes from, how to move on it, and worked single-stub and L-network matches with the algebra shown alongside.
ADS — Matching Network Walkthrough
Build a matching network in ADS, verify it on the Smith chart, and check the result against the hand calculation.
Python for RF Engineers
scikit-rf, touchstone files, plotting S-parameters and automating a parameter sweep. Notebook included.
Antenna Project Starter Pack
Templates, a measurement log, a report skeleton and a verification checklist for a first antenna project.
Related Courses
Take it further
Structured programmes covering the same ground in more depth, with a deliverable at the end.
RF & Microwave Engineering
The full RF groundwork: transmission lines, the Smith chart, S-parameters and front-end architecture, each derived rather than quoted.
- Duration
- 8 weeks
- Modules
- 8
- Certificate
- Yes
- Price
- Pricing on registration
Tools used: Keysight ADS · MATLAB · Python
Antenna Design with HFSS
Model, simulate and verify real antennas — and learn to tell a converged result from a pretty one.
- Duration
- 6 weeks
- Modules
- 6
- Certificate
- Yes
- Price
- Pricing on registration
Tools used: Ansys HFSS · MATLAB
PCB Design & Signal Integrity
Stack-ups, return paths and controlled impedance, with the measurements that settle the arguments.
- Duration
- 6 weeks
- Modules
- 6
- Certificate
- Yes
- Price
- Pricing on registration
Tools used: KiCad · Altium · Field solver