Jeff,
Perhaps mention at the start what you assume the reader already knows,
and perhaps give pointers of where to learn about it.
I'd say this would be Ohm's law, complex number arithmetic, and complex impedance.
I find Python very handy for playing with complex numbers.
I had said:
I'd say it's more useful because it is bounded to a magnitude of 1.0 for passive devices, with points of primary interest at high resolution near the center of the chart.
And that the rather wild curves you get from plotting raw impedance become well behaved circles when plotting the reflection coefficient.
As you know, constant resistance and constant reactance are horizontal and vertical lines, respectively, in the raw impedance plot.
However, the Smith Chart's constant SWR circles would be harder to deal with in the impedance plot.
And since SWR remains constant regardless of the length of series transmission line added, the Smith Chart repeats itself
for every half wavelength of transmission line added by going around that constant SWR circle.
Somebody who makes it through your tutorial might want a pointer to instructions on how to use it.
Here's a possibility:
The companion piece on transmission line theory:
is reasonably good, except it tries to be (somewhat) complete by including a bunch of
higher math (equations with e to the power j times something) on pages 2, 3, and 4
to derive the equations we actually use. Those new to this material should skim that math,
waking up when he gives equations for "voltage reflection coefficient" and "VSWR" on page 3
and the equation for Zin(L) on page 4. Everything after the Zin(L) equation is
well worth thorough study, and uses only secondary school algebra.
Jerry, KE7ER
