Bonn Elektronik RF Components
Directional Couplers, Waveguide Adapters, Attenuators, Terminations, and RF Relays
An RF power amplifier rarely does its job alone — sampling forward and reflected power for protection and monitoring, adapting between coaxial cable and waveguide-fed antennas, conditioning signal levels, and switching a test path between destinations all need dedicated passive hardware around the amplifier itself. Bonn Elektronik's passive RF component range covers exactly this supporting infrastructure, the connective hardware that turns a standalone amplifier into a complete, working test system.
Directional couplers (BDC) sample forward and reflected power without disrupting the main signal path, essential for amplifier protection circuits and power monitoring in any RF test chain. Waveguide-coax adapters (BWCA) bridge coaxial test equipment to waveguide-fed antennas at microwave and mm-wave frequencies, where waveguide becomes the practical transmission medium as frequency climbs. Power attenuators (BCA) and terminations (BCT/BWT) handle signal conditioning and clean, reflection-free termination, and a high-power SPDT relay (BCR) switches an RF path between two destinations without manual cable reconfiguration.
Spanning DC to 50GHz across over 100 standard variants, this range is built to match whatever supporting hardware a given amplifier-driven test chain actually needs, rather than treating the amplifier as a standalone instrument that somehow connects itself to the rest of the system.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does an RF test chain need directional couplers rather than measuring power directly at the amplifier output?
A directional coupler samples a small, known fraction of forward and reflected power without disrupting the main signal path, letting power be monitored continuously during a test — including detecting a reflected power fault — without inserting a full measurement instrument in-line with the main signal.
When is a waveguide-coax adapter needed instead of staying in coaxial cable throughout?
At microwave and millimetre-wave frequencies, coaxial cable loss and mode issues make waveguide the more practical transmission medium, particularly near an antenna — a waveguide-coax adapter bridges coaxial test equipment (amplifiers, sources, measurement instruments) to a waveguide-fed antenna at these higher frequencies.
What's the purpose of a high-power SPDT RF relay in a test setup?
It allows an RF signal path to be switched electronically between two destinations — for example, alternating a test signal between two antennas or two measurement paths — without manually reconnecting cables, which matters for automated or repeated test sequences.
See Bonn Elektronik's technical documentation for their RF components range →
