Michael Ossmann: Simple RF Circuit Design

This workshop on Simple RF Circuit Design was presented by Michael Ossmann at the 2015 Hackaday Superconference. It sold out almost immediately and for good reason. He has designed numerous popular tools like the the HackRF One and YARD Stick One. Michael's depth of knowledge and experience make him a leader in a field that is often called a dark art. There is no reason to fear RF design. Follow his recommendations and remove some of the mystery from the topic.

Read the accompanying Hackaday article:

Visit Michael Ossmann's Website:

[tayyabnouman]

I love your attitude. With most of the internet and people everywhere calling it extremely complicated and difficult etc, your attitude is really helpful for amateurs and self learners.

[richardranson]

As an experienced RF design engineer, I recommend this and agree with the key points. The wavelength guidance is however out by about a factor of 10. To reduce the importance of the signal path length, it needs to be less than lambda/4. Then on a PCB the dielectric slows the velocity by about 2.

[Calm_Energy]

I love how Ossmann says in the beginning of the video "my qualifications are.. I've made some rf circuits, " right on man. Learning and teaching doesn't need to be confined to the classroom or a corporate position! Ossmann's delivery is perfect for a layman like myself. I want an Ubertooth and/or YARD stick. My students would enjoy playing around with these!

[diggleboy]

That was one of the best RF design lessons I've ever had, all summed up in 1 hour! Great work Michael Ossmann! Thank you for putting this together and sharing with everyone. Really great notes came out of this presentation and I look forward to implementing them into my own designs going forward.

[puneethprahalad]

I’m an experienced RF engineer and I watched the whole video. You have some very good and intuitive ways of coming up with RF solutions. All the best.

[castirondude]

What a great talk! I really like the emphasis on just being smart, reading the documentation, re-using things that have already been figured out. People are often very quick to deem something "too complicated" before even really trying. Not just with RF but with all electronics.

[muriukified]

You saved me a lot of time. I was struggling with calculations for 50 ohm characteristic impedance with a 2-layer board. The main point and trick I found that saved me is moving to 4-layer board because it adjusts the dielectric thickness between the top copper and the inner copper to a very convenient value of around 0.2mm for most fab houses. Thanks.

[SKMatoBB]

Thank you, Michael!
It's amazing just how much _useful information_ you can gather from this presentation.
Keep up the good work!

[MAVNX]

Follow the rules and design recommendations until you know enough to break the rules. Great presentation.

[audiodiwhy]

Fantastic presentation. I wouldn't have dreamed of trying to design an RF board until i heard this presentation, now I might give it a shot. Thanks!

[circuitsandcigars]

I used to work in production making thin film resistor and microwave/rf networks but have to say this video explained alot of the reasons why things were laid out

[mohammedmansour]

delivery of complex information in a simple way is a talent which a very few people have

[kirkhamandy]

Regarding the over 90-degree trace angles. back in the 1980s when I learn PCB design with red and blue tape on a drawing board (!!) it was the PCB manufacturers that told us not to use 90-degree or more acute angles to avoid ferric chloride build up in tight corners that could dissolve into your trace. Wide angles helped prevent the acid eating too much trace copper around corners. And it looks better too :)

[jaredschwarz]

After I finished my undergrad I applied at a laser manufacturer and got thrown into a entry level RF engineering position with no training whatsoever from the company. I learned so much on my own and was able to learn everything you've talked about on my own and I just wished I had seen this so much earlier. Their biggest issue was being cheap and constantly switching components for cheaper ones and manufacturers causing each batch of boards to be different from the next, it was extremely frustrating and I'd be pressed to make them work

[subhajit]

A great video demystifying practical RF circuit design. A minor correction 1-dB point (P-1dB) is 10-dB lower than third-order intermodulation (P-IP3) point. Thanking HACKADAY for posting this video.

[abcdefg]

The best explanation i've ever encountered on PCB design. Finally something that i can understand

[liquidusblue]

Thanks for uplaoding, YouTube is so amazing as a resource because of channels like yours!

[Willam_J]

His repeated advice to refer to the manufacturer’s datasheets is very useful. Manufacturers have done the hard work for you and provide you with proven designs. This is done to make their product easier to use and when their product is easier to use, you’re more likely to implement it into your design instead of something from one of their competitors. If you need to deviate or add to the design, you at least have a proven starting point. This also works in reverse, as well. Many times, over many years, I have been diagnosing circuits (especially, consumer grade equipment) where I didn’t have a schematic. I will often look up the datasheet for the IC in the section of the circuit which is malfunctioning. More times than not, the manufacturer copied the circuit right from the datasheet and you now have a schematic for that section.

[markfire]

wow this was one of great presentation on RF circuit design

[fjs]

Thank you Michael, I've owed one of your HackRF One's since it was pretty much first offered and love it. You are absolutely an expert engineer on this, far more than most university-educated engineers.