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EVAL-ADF4372 Oscillator Not Outputting Anything

Thread Summary

The user encountered no output when generating a 5GHz RF carrier signal with the EVAL-ADF4372, despite correct settings and connections. The solution involved turning the board's power off and on, pressing 'Software Defaults' (ignoring the error), and then 'Write All Registers / Initialize'. This resolved the issue, allowing the VCO to output the desired frequency.
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Category: Hardware
Product Number: ADF4372

We have been trying to generate a 5GHz RF carrier signal with the EVAL-ADF4372, but we haven't been able to get any output. Our setup is almost exactly like the one in the manual: There's an SDP-S board connected to the main board, a laptop running ACE connected to the SDP-S, a 6V DC power supply connected to the banana connectors, a 50 Ohm terminator on RF16P, and a DSOS604A oscilloscope (rated for 6GHz 20GSa/s) connected to RF16N. The only difference is there's no external reference, but R19 and R20 are still connected, so it should be using the on-board 100 MHz reference anyway.


The software settings are also exactly the same. We've also tried turning on x2 Enable and turning the frequency down to 2.5 GHz.

 
Reading the current VCO frequency back via ACE shows that it's outputting 5GHz, and the power supply is showing a current draw of 0.3-0.4A, yet we see nothing on the oscilloscope. It's exactly the same with 1GHz, 2GHz, 6GHz, and a separate pair of oscillator/SDP-S boards.

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  • Update: We got it working. The solution was

    1. Turn the board's power off and on using the switch (may be optional)
    2. Press "Software Defaults". This will show an error that you can ignore
    3. Press "Write All Registers / Initialize"

    From here we were able to change the frequency to 6 GHz with no problem. I don't know why using the defaults button was different because it appears to be the all same settings, but the important thing is that it works.

Reply
  • Update: We got it working. The solution was

    1. Turn the board's power off and on using the switch (may be optional)
    2. Press "Software Defaults". This will show an error that you can ignore
    3. Press "Write All Registers / Initialize"

    From here we were able to change the frequency to 6 GHz with no problem. I don't know why using the defaults button was different because it appears to be the all same settings, but the important thing is that it works.

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