Spectrum Analyzer

For many people spectrum analysis...

... seems to be a kind of ‘secret lore’, mastered only by afew specialists. One could gain this impression when reading the available literature on this topic. Integrals, differential calculus and scientific papers as far as the eye can see. Practical focused Engineers however are primarily interested in answering two questions: “How does it work and how can I use it?”

Taking measurements with a spectrum analyser is as easy as working with an oscilloscope. Properly used, applications of the spectrum analyser are manifold in research & development, test facility, service and EMC diagnostics. Spectrum analysers can display signals up to very high frequencies. Due to the superhet receiver principle, the logarithmic analysis and display of data, the spectrum analyser has a thousandfold higher sensitivity and a higher dynamic range (› 80dB) compared to an oscilloscope.

Take care – their very sensitive input is typically designed in 50Ω technology and could be destroyed by heavy overload. The maximum input power should be carefully regarded when analysing higher power signals. In order to protect the sensitive input, it is always good practise to insert an attenuation cell of sufficient power, when measuring unknown signals. When doing measurements with spectrum analysers in the frequency domain, phase information gets lost, as opposed to measurements with oscilloscopes in the time domain. In daily test requirements however, phase data can often be omitted without loss of information.

Performing spectrum analysis with HAMEG spectrum analysers means taking advantage of frequency ranges up to 3GHz, large amplitude ranges, an internal frequency synthesis by phase-synchronous Direct Digital frequency Synthesis (DDS) and much more. Integrated interfaces for high speed data communications with external PC as well as free PC software with EMC Pre-Compliance Measurement functions are provided with the digital spectrum analyzers. Diverse optional accessories such as near-field probes for different measurement applications, make spectrum analysers the ‘tool of choice’ for a broad range of tests like EMC Pre- Compliance Measurements and analysis on radio systems such as UMTS, GSM, TETRA, DVB-T, Bluetooth, WLAN and many more.

LabVIEW driver for our products are available in the download area.

You can also find an overview for the Options for these devices here in PDF Format available for Download.