RF SWITCH SPST ?

Have you read "Modern Definition of Terms" in ? I guess that you will understand better "your switch"

From the way that you worded your post I am assuming that you are reading a mini circuits catalog. Half of practical RF engineering is being able to decode the way manufacturers write the specs for their parts. 1 dB compression is a common term. I think JBE's suggestion is a good one. Although Minicircuits does not really make anything (they purchase is bulk and sell in low quantities) they have some good basic tutorials.

That being said, I will try and help though. 1db compression is most commonly used in the description of amplifiers. In the linear nominal state of an amp, a increase in the input power causes a increase in the output power. The ratio of output power to input power is the gain. Put a -10 dBm signal in an amp with 5 db gain and you get -10dBm + 5dB = -5 dBm out. Pretty simple. Well that is good for the linear region but everything has its limits. There will be a point at which for a given input power you will not get the same gain. For example, if you put a -5 dB signal into the same 5 dB gain amp as stated above you might only get 4db of gain for an output power of -5 dBm + 4dB = -1dBm. The gain has dropped off 1dB. So instead of getting 0dB out you only get -1db. This is referred to as the 1dB compression point because your gain has been "compressed" 1 db from the nominal linear gain.

What the hell does this have to do with a switch you might ask? The 1 dB compression point is a way of specifying the maximum input power that of a device. Rather than saying our 5dB gain amp has a maximum input level of -6 dBm they say the 1 dB compression point is -1dBm (usually referred to the output) For your switch app what Mini Circuits is trying to say is...if you keep your input power below the levels listed..+7dBm for 1 to 10 MHz etc... you will not experience any insertion loss due to gain suppression.

Thanks for all the info JBE and alva. It helped me to get a better understanding of an RF Switch.