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Choosing A Power Meter: Benchtop Vs. USB
1/8/2016
A common dilemma in power measurement is determining whether a benchtop power meter or a USB power meter is most suitable for your needs. This article will address that question and provide some clarification as to which meter is most appropriate for your application(s).
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Understanding Measurement Uncertainty in Power Measurement
10/22/2015
No test instrument is 100 percent accurate and no measurement is without some uncertainty.This article will better define the different factors that cause measurement uncertainty, discuss ways to minimize their impact, and give tips on how to factor measurement uncertainty into the selection process when choosing a power meter and/or sensor.
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Basics Of Power Measurement — Average Or Peak?
7/27/2015
When setting up a test system, it’s critical to know the types of measurements you want to perform in order to select the right equipment. In the world of power measurement, one can easily be confused by the different types of sensors and their varying measurement capabilities. Parsing through some of the terminology can help make the selection process easier.
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Pulsed VNA Measurements: When And Why Do I Need To Re-Calibrate?
4/16/2014
This is the final installment of a guest series written by Walt Strickler of Anritsu Company.
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Testing Modern Radar System Signals: A Primer
8/28/2013
The demands placed on modern radars create challenges for both the radar designer and test engineer. Advanced radar systems require greater precision to measure narrower pulse widths and/or to examine intra-pulse behavior with finer resolution, including rise/fall edge effects or the profile within a pulse compression signal. In order to best understand the complexity of testing today’s radar designs, it is good to first review some basic applications of radar systems and the fundamentals of pulse measurements. By Walt Strickler, senior product manager, Anritsu Company
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VNA Advances Meet Challenges Of Advanced Radar Systems
1/9/2014
This column focuses on improvements made to VNA architectures and their importance in testing today’s more advanced radar systems.
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Guest Column: VNA Applications
7/12/2011
VNAs are used to characterize a wide range of devices, ranging from 2-port passive devices such as filters to complex subsystems consisting of a combination of passive and active components. Moreover, the device under test (DUT) can vary from a connectorized and packaged format to on-wafer, even to raw materials and free-space antenna measurements. Today’s modern VNAs have developed over time to address the wide and growing range of applications that extend from aerospace/defense and astronomy to high-speed serial data and homeland security.
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Guest Column: Calibration Techniques Help Ensure Accurate VNA Measurements
5/17/2011
In this installment, we focus on a critical element in making accurate S-parameter measurements with a VNA — calibration. While the VNA is a highly linear receiver that has sufficient spectral purity in its sources to make accurate measurements, imperfections exist that limit measurements done without calibrations. By Bob Buxton, Anritsu Company
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Guest Column: Fundamentals Of VNAs
3/31/2011
In our first column on vector network analyzers (VNAs), we discussed the importance of the instrument in today's RF/microwave designs. Today, we will review VNA fundamentals and how they have helped the analyzer become the instrument of choice in so many applications. By Bob Buxton, Anritsu Company
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Guest Column: The Rise Of VNAs
3/1/2011
The vector network analyzer (VNA) has been around for many years. For much of that time, it has been considered complicated and expensive. However, with today’s high-frequency complex designs, the microwave VNA may be perhaps the single most important measurement tool in the RF/microwave industry. Why? Because a microwave VNA is a precise, multichannel measurement system capable of measuring minute differences of amplitude and phase over multi-octave frequency ranges. By Bob Buxton, Anritsu Company
