PCB Fabrication and Testing
On this page you will find instructions on printing, fabricating and testing your radio.
Setting up your layout for printing
The video below shows how to export and re-import your layout for printing your PCB mask directly from AWR. In addition, if your design is small, it is helpful to place several designs onto a single PCB for fabrication.
PCB Fabrication
We will use a thermal laminate approach for PCB fabrication. Directions can be found here.
Etching maybe done with ferric chloride, as prescribed in the instructions above, or using common household chemicals, as described here.
Testing your radio
To test your radio, you can assemble a simple QAM Tx and RX radio using exiting components. The video below shows you how to setup a 4 QAM radio. After the radio is completed, you can replace an element with one of yours to test, or the whole Tx or Rx radio.