Been meaning to receive signals from weather sattelites, so I bought a HackRF and an appropriate yagi. However, I now realise...the yagi has a a receive power of 25db, and the HackRF is only rated for 5db. So I need an attenuator.
I'm quite new to RF, but attenuators just involve a setup of resistors, right? So would making a variable one be as simple as just incorporating a potentiometer? or is it a little more complicated than that
@mightyspaceman decibels have been covered, but I doubt your Yagi actually has 25 "dB" gain, sounds like inflated specifications (it would be an exceptional Yagi if it was a true figure).
You're asking some great questions.
You could probably make a crude attenuator with a potentiometer and it would sorta work.
For an attenuator to work nicely you need a "Pi" or "Tee" resistor network so that the impedance looking into each end is correct, and the attenuation on the way through is what you want.
I just realised, not that it's a bad thing...but #projecthailmary is basically Interstellar, Arrival and The Martian all wrapped together into one. And I love it