Aspen – Cost-effective ceramic filters for telecomms and test equipment

A comprehensive range of highly cost-effective ceramic filters, designed for use in telecommunications and test equipment applications, is now available in the UK, exclusively from Aspen Electronics. The devices are manufactured by Lorch Commercial & wireless (LCW), a division of the US-based, Lorch Microwave, a renowned vendor of high-quality RF and Microwave.

The LCW ceramic filters are available to cover the frequency band from 40MHz to 5GHz, making them particularly suitable for high volume applications such as cellular infrastructure equipment and wireless LANs. They will also appeal to manufacturers of wireless base stations and high speed telecoms systems, and will be useful in test equipment and systems components such as synthesisers.

“This LCW range of ceramic filters is highly cost-effective in production volumes, but makes no compromise in terms of build quality and specification,” said Howard Venning, managing director, Aspen Electronics. “Specialising in supplying the needs of the industrial and commercial marketplace, LCW offers a fast turnaround on prototypes, and rapid follow through on high volume production deliveries.”

There are two principal design styles, array and monoblock. Both designs offer very small sized cavity filters that can be surface mounted. The filters are fitted with High Q ceramic resonators ranging in size from 3mm to 6mm square. Various size combinations are offered featuring from 2 to 6 poles. Typical VSWR is 1 to 5:1, while power handling is quoted at 1W. Operating temperature range is an extended -40C to 85C.

The devices are designed for PCB mounting, being considerably smaller than conventional cavity designs. Yet the filters offer similar insertion loss and rejection characteristics as traditional components, says the company.