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Re: Return Loss


Dr. David Kirkby from Kirkby Microwave Ltd
 

Oops,
This was not meant to be sent to the list, but privately to someone who
emailed me on the subject.

Anyway, I stand by what I said
1) Return loss should be positive for passive components.
2) I have no desire to try to convince others to my way of thinking.

Dave

On Fri, 4 Oct 2019 at 20:55, Dr. David Kirkby <
drkirkby@...> wrote:

Yes, I am G8WRB.

The problem is return loss is *often* used as a negative number in
professional academic publications. This one from an IEEE, has a
particularly amusing title;

Low-Return-Loss Printed Log-Periodic Dipole Antenna

Published in
IEEE Antennas and Wireless Propagation Letters
<>
( Volume: 13 )
Page(s)
503 - 506
ISSN Information
INSPEC Accession Number
14195004
DOI
10.1109/LAWP.2014.2310057 <>
Publisher:
IEEE
Sponsored by
IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society <>




and another, not published by the IEEE,


and another



As such, whilst I will continue to use a positive for all passive and most
active components, I really have no appetite for changing the mind of
others.



On Fri, 4 Oct 2019 at 20:26, Reinier Gerritsen <r.gerritsen@...>
wrote:

return loss is (almost always) a positive number. If one insists on
negative numbers, just call it s11 (or s22). In essence the same
property, but negative.

Op 4-10-2019 om 17:20 schreef Ron Spencer via Groups.Io:
I read a recent post that said that, among hams, its become the
consensus that return loss is a negative number. I respectfully disagree.



Regarding return loss, I understand some think its a negative number,
some a positive. I am in the later camp. Why? When I was a young engineer I
had the great fortune, in the early 1980s, to work for HP. Arguably the
premier test and measurement company of its time. And equally arguably a
leading if not THE leading microwave and rf company.



As new sales people, we were sent to 3, 3 week training sessions to
learn the technology and the products so we might interact with our
engineering customers in a technically sound way.



One thing HP taught, as I've said in a much earlier post, was that
return loss was always a positive number. As someone on this list pointed
out, negative loss is gain. And we KNOW that no return loss measurement, of
a passive device, can exhibit gain.



With respect, there is no gray area here. Return loss, is always a
positive (or, perhaps better said, a non- signed) number.


Even if you are at a hobby level of involvement, why not use the
proper, and correct, terminology? If you're a private pilot, you are
expected/ required to use the proper terminology. Same if you are an
amateur road racer. Or "fill in your favorite" hobby.













Sent using





--
Dr. David Kirkby,
Kirkby Microwave Ltd,
drkirkby@...

Telephone 01621-680100./ +44 1621 680100

Registered in England & Wales, company number 08914892.
Registered office:
Stokes Hall Lodge, Burnham Rd, Althorne, Chelmsford, Essex, CM3 6DT,
United Kingdom
--
Dr. David Kirkby,
Kirkby Microwave Ltd,
drkirkby@...

Telephone 01621-680100./ +44 1621 680100

Registered in England & Wales, company number 08914892.
Registered office:
Stokes Hall Lodge, Burnham Rd, Althorne, Chelmsford, Essex, CM3 6DT, United
Kingdom

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