Proceedings of the 36th European Microwave Conference

A Manual Tuning Method for Coupled Cavity Filters

Anton Lindner¹, Erwin Biebl²

¹SPINNER GmbH, Aiblinger Strasse 30, 83620 Westerham, Germany,

Phone: +49 8063 971 3384, anton.lindner@spinner.de
²Technische Universität München, Fachgebiet Höchstfrequenztechnik,
Arcisstrasse 21, 80333 Munich, Germany

Abstract — These instructions give guidelines how to tune
coupled cavity microwave filters manually. This work was
motivated by the lack of a systematic methodology of manual
filter tuning for training of novice personal. Moreover, we
expected to gain information how humans are tuning filters.
This information will be helpful for development of computer-
aided tuning tools. The method is exemplified by a 6-pole filter
with one cross-coupling, but is also applicable to similar filters
with more or less poles and cross-couplings.
specification. We recorded the tuning actions of different
expert tuners together with the S-parameters of the filters.
The records of the different tuners were analyzed and we
looked for similarities during the tuning processes. We
developed a method that was improved by help of the experts.
To proof the validity of the method it was tested with novice
filter tuners.

Index Terms — cavity resonator filters, filter tuning III. EXPERT FINE-TUNING ALGORITHM
After completing pre-tuning all reflection-poles were
I. INTRODUCTION recognizable as dips on the |S11| plot (Fig. 1). This is a
Manual tuning of filters is considered as an art. Typically a precondition for this method.
skilled person with some experience is tuning prototype Lin S11 S21 dB
filters. Few methods are known to facilitate the tuning 0.2 0
process [1] - [3], but they usually require some manual fine 0.18 -2
tuning to reach the desired specification.
0.16 -4
To our knowledge there are no publications that guide the
not-so-perfect tuner through the process of tuning filters. 0.14 -6
Kowledge about the way how humans are tuning filters could 0.12 -8
as well be useful in a machine learning approach for
0.1 -10
automated filter tuning [8].
0.08 -12

II. HOW DO EXPERTS TUNE FILTERS? 0.06 -14

If an expert tuner is asked how he tunes a filter, the answer
is quite often that some sense for tuning is required.
Unfortunately barely any expert can describe how to get this
sense. There is a problem to explain which tuning element is
tuned at a specific time and why. Although the experts
obviously can tune the filters to the desired specification, they
can not describe their procedure in detail. This problem gave
motivation for different computer-aided tuning methods e.g.
[4] - [7].
For our studies double terminated bandpass filters with 6
and 8 resonators and 1 cross-coupling have been used. We
distinguish input and output couplings, couplings between
adjacent resonators and cross-couplings between non adjacent
resonators. All couplings and resonance frequencies were
adjustable. They were completely untuned as they came from
the production line. The tuning process started with the filters
being pre-tuned by a method proposed in [2]. Then the
experts had to fine-tune the filters so that they met the
0.04 -16
0.02 -18
0 -20
Fig. 1. After pre-tuning all reflection-poles are visible
1) General recommendations
Always take care that none of the dips gets lost during the
tuning process. Try to lower all dips and maxima of |S11|
incrementally and equally. The input- and output-couplings
and the associated resonators interact stronger than the
internal couplings with their associated resonators. Therefore
input- and output-couplings and associated resonators should
be tuned together. Start with weak couplings. Especially
cross-couplings should be made as weak as possible.
2) Setting up the VNA
Display |S11| in linear format. This eases tuning for the

2-9600551-6-0  2006 EuMA 1340 September 2006, Manchester UK

human operator at the beginning of the tuning process. The Lin S11 S21 dB
drastic changes presented by the logarithmic format at this 0.2 0

early tuning stage are misleading to get the right view of the 0.18 -2
sensitivity of the tuning elements. |S21| should be displayed in
0.16 -4
the familiar logarithmic format. Overlaying both curves in a
single display is recommended. 0.14 -6

0.12 -8
3) Tune the dips
0.1 -10
For this tuning stage the filter is divided by its symmetry-
axis. Use only one half of the tuning elements e.g. if the filter 0.08 -12
is an 8 resonator filter, use resonators 1 to 4 and the 0.06 -14
associated couplings including coupling 4_5. Do not tune
0.04 -16
cross-couplings and the second half of the tuning elements at
this early stage. Tune the elements in a way, that the dips are 0.02 -18
lowered equally near the bottom line |S11| [lin] = 0 (Fig. 2). 0 -20

Lin S11 S21 dB Fig. 3. After tuning step 4 the dips are still low and the maxima are
0.2 0 symmetric to the center frequency
0.18 -2

0.16 -4 7) Tune the ripple

0.14 -6 Use the couplings to change the height of the ripple and get
0.12 -8 it even. If you tune the input and output couplings don’t
forget to re-tune the adjacent resonators because these
0.1 -10
couplings have a strong pulling effect on the resonators. The
0.08 -12 filter should now have the desired return-loss, ripple-
0.06 -14
bandwidth and center-frequency (Fig. 4).
0.04 -16

0.02 -18 Lin S11 S21 dB

0.2 0
0 -20
0.18 -2
Fig. 2. After tuning step 3 the dips are as low and equal as possible
0.16 -4

0.14 -6
4) Tune for symmetry
Next step is to tune the |S11| [lin] curve for symmetry to the 0.12 -8

center frequency (Fig. 3). Therefore tune only the resonators 0.1 -10
in a symmetrical fashion. This means for a filter with n
0.08 -12
resonators tune e.g. resonators 1 and n at the same time, by
the same amount and to the same direction. Do not tune any 0.06 -14

couplings at this stage. Operating the resonators in a 0.04 -16

symmetric way prevents the dips from raising. If they come
up, the resonators haven’t been operated symmetrically.
5) Tune to center-frequency
To tune the filter to the desired center-frequency adjust all
resonators by the same amount. The couplings usually are not
too frequency sensitive so that Step 3) does not need to be
repeated.
6) Tune the bandwidth
Use the couplings to tune the filter to the right bandwidth.
The stronger the couplings are, the wider the bandwidth gets.
Start with small increments tuning the couplings by the same
amount and tune the input and output couplings
symmetrically to re-adjust the same return loss and ripple. Do
not tune the cross-couplings at this stage.
0.02 -18
0 -20
Fig. 4. After tuning step 7 return-loss, ripple-bandwith and center-
frequency are within the specification
8) Tune the cross-couplings
At last the cross-couplings should be tuned. Increase the
cross-couplings until the transmission-zeros are at the desired
frequencies. The coupling-factors between non-adjacent
resonators are usually much lower than the couplings
between adjacent resonators. The tuning of the cross-
couplings slightly detunes the adjacent resonators. So these
should be re-tuned after adjusting the cross-couplings. Repeat
steps 3) to 8) if necessary until the specification is met. Fig. 5

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shows the tuned filter. For convenience the display was ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
switched to a wider bandwidth and was formatted in The authors wish to thank J. Kreuzmeir and H. Hammer-
logarithmic format for both |S11| and |S21|. schmidt for support in gaining insights how filter tuning
experts work.
dB S11 S21
0 REFERENCES
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Fig. 5. The filter after the tuning process
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III. CONCLUSION
1137-1145, 2002.
An easy to use step-by-step method for fine-tuning [7] P. Harscher, R. Vahldieck, S. Amari, “Automated filter tuning
resonator filters was introduced. It is suited especially for using generalized low-pass prototype networks and gradient-
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method is not limited to this type of filters. Microwave Symposium Digest, pp. 1605 - 1608, 2005.

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