Gavin is the founder of GapRF, a producer of online EDA tools focusing on the RF supply chain. When not doing that, he is happiest noodling around in his lab working on audio electronics and RF projects, and restoring vintage equipment.
Gavin Watkins
Gavin Watkins
Areas of interest of the author: Oscillators Radio Antique Supply Beginners Digital High Voltage
Publications on RadioLocman by the author Gavin Watkins:
- Add-on beat frequency oscillator (BFO) for shortwave radioExpensive shortwave radios include beat frequency oscillators, so why not also add one to an inexpensive radio version? Broadcast shortwave (SW) radio use may be declining, but there are still lots of interesting...Aug 25, 2026
- An off-line power supplyOne of my electronics interests is building radios, particularly those featured in older UK electronics magazines such as Practical Wireless, Everyday Electronics, Radio Constructor, and The Maplin Magazine. Most of...Jul 29, 2026
- Drive any electronic clock with a high-precision 10-MHz referenceMost electronic clocks, be they analog or digital, use a crystal oscillator (XO) based on a 32.768 kHz crystal for their reference. In fact, it is same crystal that’s commonly used as a real-time clock for...Oct 7, 2025
- Crystal controlled ramp generatorThis project originated from the need to produce a linear crystal-controlled ramp signal for an HP 8620C RF sweep oscillator. It is inspired by a previously published ramp generator design [1]. That design though...Nov 22, 2021
- Analogue charge pump produces high-frequency, high-voltage pulsesA recent project evaluated the feasibility of a dynamic load modulation (DLM) RF power amplifier for 5G. DLM amplifiers typically use high-voltage varactor diodes in their output network, which need to be driven by...Aug 27, 2020