Super-Heterodyne C-Probe Design and Implementation

摘要

Modern advances in chip design and implementation have provided atmosphericscientists with the tools needed to advance the evolution of atmospheric probes, especially the impedance probe. The impedance probe measures the in phase and out of phase components of the antenna's current with respect to the applied sinusoidal steady state voltage. Through the integration of superheterodyne circuitry with previous impedance probe designs, I was able to transfer the in phase and out of phase components of an antenna's impedance in a plasma from 3 MHz to 23.25 KHz. By reducing the frequency of the information signal, it was easier to detect the in phase and out of phase components. The sensitivity of the design was hindered by the inconsistency of the programmable logic chip used to create in phase and out of phase reference signals; however, the overall design concept was proven to work.