No, the "enable" sets an RF switch on the input that optionally terminates it.
The amplifier and attenuator are always in the chain and neither can be
disabled or bypassed. In horrible ASCII art (view with fixed pitch font), the
chain looks like this:
RF INPUT -.
\.- SPDT RF switch -> attenuator -> amplifier
TERMINATOR -.
Jason
On 27 Feb 2013, at 09:09, Nimish Sane wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> I have a question regarding the fixed 20dB amplifier block in the KATADC RF
> front end. The yellow block for KATADC has a mask parameter to enable this
> block. If this parameter is not selected (box unchecked), then does that mean
> 20dB amplifier is disabled (bypassed)? My understanding was that one could
> disable this 20dB amplifier by unselecting this mask parameter and still be
> able to use the variable attenuator (0 to 31.5dB). But, that does not look
> like the case from my recent tests. So I may be wrong here.
>
> Can someone please clarify this? Specifically, (1) can the 20dB amplifier be
> disabled or bypassed by unselecting the mask parameter that enables it or any
> other manner, (2) if yes, can one still use the attenuation input to insert
> attenuation between 0 to 31.5dB?
>
> Thanks a lot,
>
> Nimish
