Essential Guide to RF and Wireless, The

DETECTORS

Block Diagram

Figure 4-22. Block diagram of a detector.

The Detector's Function

A block diagram of a detector is shown in Figure 4-22, and if you think a detector looks like a cross between a coupler and attenuator, you're right, but that won't help you much. A detector is essentially a power-to-voltage converter. RF power enters at point A and what comes out at point B is a voltage which is proportional to the RF power.

The reason a detector is used, in place of a coupler, is that there are certain pieces of test equipment and non-RF components (like microprocessors) which cannot handle RF power directly, but can handle an electrical ...