RayCouplers

RayCouplers

RayCouplers is RF StateSide LLC's directional-coupler project for forward and reflected RF detection, power measurement, SWR monitoring and protection-system experiments.

Public Engineering Reference — AS-IS. The editable designs, population BOMs, manufacturing files and historical measurements support study, independent construction, modification and continued development.

Overview

The project was developed for RF measurement and protection applications using RayPowerMeter and RayRailSwSense. It provides 200 W and 2 kW population configurations on one common PCB. These names identify configurations; they do not establish guaranteed continuous-power capability or measurement accuracy.

The original hardware was fabricated, manually populated with SMT reflow and tested during RF StateSide development. The supplied common PCB incorporates curated source and documentation. Its SOD-123 manufacturing revision has not itself been physically fabricated and validated.

Features and Design

The circuits provide forward/reflected detector signals, an interrupt-selection circuit and a cascaded frequency divider documented as divide by four. J4 carries +3.3 V, FWD, REF, INT and GND. Transformer construction and resistor populations differ between configurations.

See configuration details for component values, interface assignments and the historical jumper settings.

Hardware Configurations

Both configurations use Fair-Rite 5943001401 cores and 21 AWG high-temperature enameled copper wire. Use the matching population BOM; the PCB's default component values describe the 200 W configuration.

Common PCB Design

The two-layer board measures 70 mm × 102 mm. It includes two routed internal openings, four grounded 3.2 mm mounting holes and SOD-123 detector lands.

Open the common KiCad project for the PCB and 200 W schematic. Open the 2 kW project for its population schematic. There is one authoritative editable PCB, not a separate routed board for each population.

KiCad 9 and its stock libraries are required. Project-local custom libraries are included; see library information. For source changes and derived projects, follow the editing workflow.

Transformer Construction

The 200 W configuration uses one toroid for each transformer; the 2 kW configuration uses two taped toroids for each transformer. The construction guide records materials, winding method, schematic connections and an experimental photograph.

Physical lead mapping, winding orientation and insulation details are incomplete in the historical records. Verify them before reproducing an assembly.

Manufacturing and Assembly

The P3-prep-01 manufacturing package supplies one Gerber/drill set for both configurations. Read fabrication requirements and package verification before manufacture. The retained approximately 0.2 mm clearance requires fabricator CAM acceptance; it is not strict 8-mil spacing compliance.

Follow common assembly, then the 200 W or 2 kW instructions. Historical January 2026 fabrication used SOD-323 detector pads and is distinct from the supplied SOD-123 package.

Calibration and Testing

Historical forward measurements contain 19 points through 250 W for the 200 W configuration and 14 points through 1500 W for the 2 kW configuration. Each new system requires its own calibration.

Calibration traceability distinguishes measured data from estimated endpoints and experimental reflected adjustments. The engineering audit records automated CAD checks, manufacturing integrity and separately reported Linux inspection. These checks do not establish physical RF performance of the supplied revision.

Repository Contents

Original measurement workbooks and supplier archives are retained privately. They are not required to open the supplied designs or check the package.

Development Tools

KiCad was used for schematic capture and PCB design. Python utilities support source verification and manufacturing-package integrity checks. Git and GitHub provide version control and access to the engineering source.

ChatGPT by OpenAI and OpenAI Codex assisted with engineering review, documentation, source organization, validation and preparation of the open-hardware reference. RF StateSide LLC performed the original hardware design, assembly and historical RF testing.

Known Limitations

The supplied SOD-123 revision has not received physical fabrication acceptance. Calibration, connector fit, transformer construction and operating suitability require verification for each implementation. Frequency coverage, temperature dependence and complete measurement conditions are not established by the available records. No commercial certification or guaranteed performance is claimed. Read known limitations.

License

Copyright RF StateSide LLC. Original project contributions are provided under CERN-OHL-P v2.0, SPDX CERN-OHL-P-2.0. The official LICENSE is authoritative; retain NOTICE and applicable third-party notices.

See licensing and asset provenance for scope and separately licensed material.

Credits and Acknowledgments

RF StateSide LLC developed the original hardware and contributed the custom CAD work. KiCad library contributors supplied the upstream elements identified in the library notices. Manufacturer documentation supports component identification; candidate parts are distinguished from historically installed parts.

Canonical repository: RFStateSide/RayCouplers.