RF Signal Level 101: Learning the Basics with Brady Volpe and Ron Hranac

Signal Level 101: Learning the Basics with Brady Volpe and Ron Hranac

Welcome to our YouTube show where we are joined by two renowned experts, Brady Volpe and Ron Hranac, as we explore the fascinating world of signal level, current and voltage, and power!

I am your host, Brady Volpe, and together with Ron Hranac, we will start by answering the question "What is signal level?" Ron will explain how signal level is measured and how it relates to the strength of the signal being transmitted. He will also discuss the relationship between current and voltage and how they impact the overall power of a signal.

Moving on, we will dive into the concept of peak vs RMS and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each measurement method. Ron will also explain how signal level is often expressed in decibel millivolts (dBmV) and why this is an important metric for signal analysis.

Together, we will explore amplitude modulation and how it affects signal level. Ron will also discuss peak power and peak to peak amplitude and their relevance to signal analysis.

Next, we will compare the frequency domain vs time domain and how each perspective provides a different way of analyzing signals. Ron will explain the concept of QAM signal power and how it is used in digital communication systems.

So join us as we learn from Ron's vast knowledge and expertise on signal level, current and voltage, and power! Don't forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more exciting content like this!

00:00 Intro
02:27 What is Signal Level?
14:02 Example of Measuring Signals in Cable Plant
15:39 Using the Decibel to Measure Power
18:18 Signal Level of Carrier Waves
24:20 Signal Level of Modulated Signals
35:25 Signal Level of SC-QAM
40:30 Wrapping up Signal Level
44:04 Cable Math SCTE 270
49:07 Wrap up

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Ron's Bio:
Ron Hranac, a 50 year veteran of the cable industry, who has worked for cable operators and vendors during his career. He is a Fellow Member of the SCTE and co-founder and Assistant Board Member of the organization’s Rocky Mountain Chapter, Ron was inducted into the Society’s Hall of Fame in 2010, is a co-recipient of the Chairman’s Award, an SCTE Member of the Year, and is a member of the Cable TV Pioneers Class of 1997. He received the Society’s Excellence in Standards award at Cable-Tec Expo 2016. He was recipient of the European Society for Broadband Professionals’ 2016 Tom Hall Award for Outstanding Services to Broadband Engineering, and was named winner of the 2017 David Hall Award for Best Presentation. He has published hundreds of articles and papers, and has been a speaker at numerous international, national, regional, and local conferences and seminars.
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[fixmypcinc]

Awesome podcast series with the legends keep it up

[RFPHYber]

Great segment! All this talk of billionths of watts i never knew or considered, makes me wonder about its correlation to BER which the baseline of good I'm familiar with is 1e-9 (1 billionth) and goes down from there it. Got me thinking about it as some kind of voltage jitter...or maybe my mind is going way off track.

[jdmlong]

It can't be a coincidence that .707 is an approximation of sqrt(2)/2, which is both the cosine and sine of pi/4.

[bnaivar]

Another reason RMS is important in Cable TV is because the AC power supplies output Quasi-square wave AC. If you read it as Peak-toPeak instead of RMS you will get a false, higher value.

[phillp]

do u do WiFi ? anything w checking rf for wifi ?
What is Docsis ?
thx

[vitocaragiulo]

always wondered what the time domain representation of a QAM signal might look like....

[timcat]

I just retired after 41 years in the industry.