Agilent 5991-0422EN English 2013-11-17 PDF 123 KB c20140728 [12] free download

File name 5991-0422EN English _ 2013-11-17 _ PDF 123 KB c20140728 [12].pdf

Keysight Technologies Correlating Microwave Measurements between Handheld and Benchtop Analyzers Using FieldFox Handheld Analyzers up to 26.5 GHz Application Note Abstract For the first time, technology breakthroughs have enabled high-performance measurement capabilities in a handheld analyzer. High-accuracy microwave measurements of network, spectrum, power and frequency can quickly be made using modern all-in-one analyzers with results that correlate to benchtop instruments to within hundredths of a db. This application note discusses the powerful capabilities of modern-day handheld analyzers and includes measurement comparisons between FieldFox handheld analyzers and several benchtop instruments including signal analyzers, power meters and vector network analyzers. Introduction For the first time, technology breakthroughs have enabled high-performance measurement capabilities in a handheld analyzer. High-accuracy microwave measurements of network, spectrum, power and frequency can quickly be made using modern all-in-one analyzers with results that correlate to benchtop instruments often to within hundredths of a dB. For example, Figure 1 shows the S-parameters of a 10 GHz bandpass filter measured using a benchtop Keysight Technologies, Inc. PNA-X vector network analyzer (VNA) overlaid with measurements using a Keysight FieldFox handheld analyzer. As shown on the figure, the measured parameters are nearly identical between the two instruments. Markers are placed in the passband and rejection portions of the response. The relative difference in the S11 markers between the two instruments is less than 0.02 dB. The relative marker difference in S21 is 0.02 dB in the passband and 0.52 dB in the filter skirt at a level of 78 dB down from the peak. For this example, there is excellent correlation between measurements using the high- performance benchtop instrument and the modern all-in-one handheld. When working to compare the performance between two instruments, there is no substitution for examining the specifications found on the vendor's datasheets but it may be difficult to directly compare the two as the specifications are often listed under unique operating conditions. For example, the total amplitude accuracy listed on the datasheet for the Keysight MXA signal analyzer is specified over a temperature range of 20