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Spinoff story
Power Amplifiers Boost Radar, Communications, Defense Systems
A real-world story of NASA technology finding a life beyond the mission.
About this technology
Overview
As a subcontractor under an SBIR contract from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, QuinStar Technology Inc. of Torrance, California, developed a solid-state power amplifier of unprecedented efficiency. While most comparable devices lose 20 percent of their amplified energy when their signals recombine, QuinStar_s lose 8 percent. The solid-state technology requires lower voltage and is lighter, more compact, and more reliable than its tube-based predecessors, making it ideal for radars, communications equipment on spacecraft, and unmanned aerial vehicles.