The microwave industry lacks a suitable coaxial switch for frequencies above 30 GHz. Commercially available coaxial switches are not powerful enough: they are very lossy at high frequencies and cannot transmit high power levels. To overcome this shortcoming, Sector Microwave Industries has developed a new innovative technology that combines the advantages of coaxial and waveguide switches in a hybrid „cowave“ switch. The cowave switch is capable of handling high power levels and its design allows it to be tuned to a wide band of waveguide frequencies up to 50 GHz.

The innovative aspect of this new switch is that it works without contact. The device utilises a miniature waveguide rotor and waveguide channels that enable the transfer of power within the cowave housing. The switch is compact and miniaturised compared to the use of coaxial-to-waveguide adapters in a typical waveguide switch. The Cowave switch is also modular and can be configured to have different combinations of coaxial and waveguide connections on the inputs and outputs to form DPDT, SPDT and other options. Within the waveguide bandwidth, the switches typically measure 0.5 dB insertion loss, 1.25:1 VSWR and 45 dB isolation....

RUPPtronik_Sector_COWAVE BROCHURE