Inside Frequency Control

RF and Microwave Design can be ENJOYABLE...

Don't believe me? Many of us already know how designing can easily become extremely long, boring, and tedious. This is especially true for all you RF and Microwave Design Engineers!

Spending hours upon hours designing, finding problems, fixing problems, then repeating the process all over again...It all can become so mentally draining.

Am I bringing back bad memories? Sorry, time for the good news...

So how can you make the long and tedious design process easy (and possibly even enjoyable)? 

You guessed it... Automation and design tools are key. 

Having some great CAD tools on your side can release a significant burden off your back. These tools can save you time and dramatically increase your productivity. Our Top 4 Productivity and collaboration tools will help skyrocket your productivity even further.

Today, we thought we'd help you out by sharing these 18 CAD design tools that can lead to a more simple & enjoyable design session.

**Related Post: Check out our picks for the 5 best laptops for engineers.**

One of the most common pieces of test equipment for any electronics lab is oscilloscopes.  Oscilloscopes, or o-scopes for short, are versatile pieces of test equipment that can be used in a multitude of different critical measurements.  While oscilloscopes are standard in almost every electronics lab, they come in many different shapes, sizes, and price points.

When trying to select the best oscilloscope for your electronics lab, it's important to understand which features drive the cost of the o-scope the most.  For example, one of the biggest cost drivers for oscilloscopes is the device's measurement bandwidth.  An o-scope that has a narrow bandwidth of 200 MHz can go for a few hundred dollars; however, a top-of-the-line oscilloscope with a measurement bandwidth of 1 GHz can go for almost $30,000!

We have done all the research and read all the reviews for more oscilloscopes than we'd be willing to admit.  We've done all this leg-work so you don't have to.  So without further ado, here is our list of the 3 best digital oscilloscopes for any budget.

If you’re reading this, you’re about to discover 10 of the best productivity tools that we either use here at Bliley, or that we might use in the future! We feel these tools will help keep you organized, improve communication among your coworkers, and of course, make you the most productive worker possible.

Want even more productivity tools? Check out our previous article on our favorite productivity and collaboration tools.

I have a feeling you're in need of some new test equipment... a new signal generator to be exact. If so, you've come to the right place. Maybe your current signal generator is outdated. Or maybe you're looking for your first one (in which case we'd be honored). 

No matter the reason, we wanted to share with you the best selection of waveform signal generators on the market today to help you make the best purchase based on your needs.

Is your electronics lab in need of an upgrade? It's important to keep your equipment up to date with the latest and greatest technology to keep getting the best results (and therefore a more effective product). In this post, we're going to look at 6 spectrum analyzers that will work (and look) great in your lab. 

Hi there! You must be looking to upgrade your engineering electronics lab with the latest and greatest test equipment on the market today. Well good news...this is the place to be! Cool engineers only please...meaning all of you.

One of the key things you need to know before purchasing a crystal oscillator is the expected cost. There are many specifications that can quickly drive up (or down) the costs of OCXOs and other crystal oscillators. In this post, you'll learn the top eight cost drivers for crystal oscillators ranked from most to least impactful.

By the end of this post, you'll have a much better idea of where to focus your cost-cutting efforts and how to save the most in the long term. Much of it depends on the needs of your specific application and where you're able to be more flexible.

Do you find it difficult to identify what RF connector type you're going to use in an application? If so, don’t worry. In this article, you will learn about the different types of RF connectors and what applications they are commonly used for. 

RF (radio frequency) connectors are connectors that are designed to work at radio frequencies for signal transmission of products like radios, antennas, coaxial cables, etc. However, these connectors have a variety of types. 

Here are 5 of the most commonly used types of RF connectors.

Bliley Technologies online store is the newest, most powerful tool to quickly shop high-performance OCXO oscillators at amazing prices.

In this post, I'm going to show you 7 powerful features on the online store that will help you

• Quickly find the best OCXO oscillator for your needs
• Find the best cost/performance ratio on the market
• Get lightning fast lead times on all in-stock parts (receive your order within days!)
• Get the most cost savings possible (access real-time price breaks)
• And more

Go into any electronics lab and you will undoubtably see a bench top multimeter.  The humble benchtop digital multimeter is a staple of any lane and is one of the most fundamental and highly used pieces of test equipment for electronic design. 

**Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links at no additional cost to you.

As the name implies, the digital multimeter is useful for a wide range of measurements and tests.  Bench top digital multimeters, or DMMs, can be used to to make the basic (Ohm’s Law) measurements:

• Measure resistance
• Measure voltage
• Measure current