RF & systems engineering · Huntsville, AL

RF, antenna and simulation engineering for small space and defense teams.

Fixed scope, fixed price, delivered in weeks. You get fab-ready designs, reproducible simulations and tested SDR systems, with every requirement traced to a verified result.

Book a discovery call See what we build

Core competencies

What we build

01

RF & Antenna Design

Antennas and RF front ends designed to your written requirements and verified, requirement by requirement, in full-wave simulation. You receive a package your board house can build from.

  • Patch arrays
  • Circular polarization
  • Monopulse comparators & hybrids
  • LNA & filter chains
  • Noise figure & G/T budgets
  • Full-wave EM simulation

What you get

  • Fab-ready Gerbers and bills of materials
  • Requirement-by-requirement verification against simulation
  • Noise figure and G/T budgets for the full chain
  • Design documentation and the complete iteration record

Offered as fixed-price design packages.

02

Space, PNT & EW Modeling and Simulation

Link budgets, constellation coverage, jamming tolerance and navigation-filter performance, answered with simulations you can rerun and cross-checked against the reference tools your reviewers already trust.

  • Link budgets
  • Jamming tolerance
  • Constellation coverage
  • Orbit propagation
  • Navigation filtering
  • Trade studies

What you get

  • Trade studies with quantified results, not opinions
  • Reproducible simulations with logged runs
  • Cross-checks against reference tools, with the evidence
  • Briefing-ready reports and data products
03

Private On-Prem AI for Sensitive Engineering

Local AI infrastructure for engineering teams that cannot send their data to public AI services. We can size it, set it up on your premises, lock down egress, benchmark it, and show your engineers how to run it without us.

  • Hardware sizing
  • Locked-down local AI servers
  • Egress controls
  • Benchmarking
  • Team enablement

What you get

  • An on-prem AI server sized for your workload, set up and benchmarked on your site
  • Scripted, repeatable egress-control verification
  • Administrator runbook and documentation
  • Hands-on enablement for your engineers
04

SDR & RF Sensing Systems

Software-defined radio systems that capture, detect, classify and locate signals, tested hardware-in-the-loop with recorded results before they reach the field. Includes receive-chain and ground-station tooling for smallsat operators.

  • SDR integration
  • Hardware-in-the-loop test
  • Signal detection & classification
  • Geolocation
  • Satellite ground-station tooling

What you get

  • An integrated, tested SDR signal chain
  • Hardware-in-the-loop test setups with recorded results
  • Detection, classification and geolocation software
  • Ground-station tooling with documentation
05

Engineering Acceleration Advisory

For teams that have engineers but not enough of them: ongoing RF and systems design review, requirements and traceability set-up, and documentation produced with the work rather than after it.

  • Design review
  • Requirements & traceability
  • Documentation
  • Security posture

What you get

  • A second set of experienced eyes on your designs, on a schedule
  • Requirements traceable end to end
  • Documentation produced with the work, not after it
  • A security posture that keeps your data on your site

Offered as a monthly retainer.

Results

Case studies

Selected results we can discuss publicly.

25 days from first simulation sweep to fab-ready design package

S-band LHCP monopulse tracking feed

  • All requirements met in simulation, requirement by requirement
  • Axial ratio ≤ 2 dB across 2.2–2.4 GHz
  • 1.67 dB system noise figure, antenna through front end

Delivered Gerbers, bill of materials, verification matrix and the full iteration record.

Status Design package complete; first article not yet fabricated.

Zero-knowledge encrypted messenger shipped on five platforms

VAULTEX secure messaging (vaultexchat.org)

  • One cryptographic core shared by Windows, Linux, macOS, Android and iOS clients
  • Server stores only encrypted data; it never holds plaintext or private keys
  • Works with no internet over local network, Bluetooth and mesh relay

Delivered Desktop installers and a mobile app, a relay server, and the design and test documentation behind them.

Status Live at vaultexchat.org; independent security audit not yet performed.

Is this a fit

Who we work best with

A good fit

  • A small space or defense team that needs an antenna, RF chain, simulation study or SDR system on a short calendar and a fixed budget.
  • A team with written requirements, or one willing to spend a short paid discovery getting them written.
  • A team that handles controlled or sensitive data and needs the work done inside its own boundary.

How we engage

From first call to verified deliverables

  1. 01

    Discovery

    We learn your mission, constraints and data-handling needs, and agree in writing what success looks like.

  2. 02

    Defined requirements

    Your needs become testable requirements you approve before design starts. Every later deliverable traces back to this list.

  3. 03

    Rapid, independently reviewed development

    We build on a short calendar. Every result is reviewed by someone other than whoever produced it before it reaches you.

  4. 04

    Verified deliverables

    You receive the deliverables, the verification evidence against each requirement, and complete documentation under a release record.

Traceability

Every requirement links to the design, the test and the evidence.

Your data stays on your site

We work inside your security boundary when your data has to stay there.

Signed, documented deliverables

Every delivery ships with complete documentation and a release record.

Fixed-price scopes

Defined scope, defined price, no surprises.

Engagement options

Paid discovery

A short engagement to define scope, requirements and a quoted calendar. Credited toward the project.

Request a quote

Fixed-price design packages

Defined deliverables for a fixed price: antennas and RF chains, simulation studies, SDR systems, on-prem AI builds.

Request a quote

Monthly support retainers

Ongoing design review, support and follow-on work at a predictable monthly rate.

Request a quote

Why we exist

Small teams. Extraordinary capability.

Everything we sell, from design packages to on-prem AI, serves one aim: small teams doing work that used to need a much larger organization.

Our Vision

A world where small businesses have the freedom and capability to compete, innovate, and grow, and people can master skills across disciplines to bring ambitious ideas to life.

Our Mission

We help small hardware and RF engineering teams accomplish more through practical AI automation and hands-on training. We simplify engineering workflows, expand human expertise, and equip teams to build with greater confidence and independence.

Our Values

01

Freedom & Independence

We help people take ownership of their tools, knowledge, and workflows, giving them the ability to adapt and grow on their own terms.

02

Opportunity Through Innovation

We make advanced engineering capabilities more accessible to small teams, helping good ideas compete and succeed.

03

Lifelong Mastery

We embrace curiosity, learning, and hands-on practice across disciplines. We use AI to deepen understanding and help people take on increasingly ambitious work.

04

Human Ingenuity

We build technology that extends human creativity and judgment. People remain responsible for the decisions that shape their work.

05

Engineering Integrity

We test assumptions, validate results, protect entrusted information, and communicate limitations honestly. Trust grows from evidence and accountability.

06

Practical Impact

We focus on real engineering problems and measurable improvements: time saved, less rework, and lasting capabilities that carry into the next project.

About

Small is deliberate.

ArcanTx is an RF and systems engineering firm in Huntsville, Alabama. The engineering is done by a US person who holds a personnel security clearance. We work with small defense and space contractors, SBIR/STTR teams, smallsat and ground-station companies, university CubeSat programs, and teams that handle controlled or sensitive data.

Scope is fixed before design starts, and everything we deliver is documented well enough that any competent engineer can pick it up after us.

Our internal methodology is proprietary. The evidence is not: you receive the requirements, the verification results against each one, and the full iteration record. We test assumptions, validate results, protect entrusted information, and say plainly what we have not verified.

Also from ArcanTx: Vaultex, end-to-end encrypted messaging built on the same principle that your data stays with you. Visit vaultexchat.org

Also from ArcanTx: SatPass, a satellite and ISS pass predictor for ham radio operators with pass times, sky plot, live tracker and Doppler calculator. It works offline. Open SatPass

Contact

Book a discovery call

A paragraph on the project, your timeline and any data-handling constraints is enough to start. We reply with questions, not a pitch.