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Products: RF Test Instruments

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Overview
Selection Guide
Glossary of Terms

B&K Precision offers a variety of instruments to test and characterize RF and microwave devices operating from DC to 8.5 GHz.

Field Strength Meters

RF Field Strength Meters detect the electric field of radio and microwave signals and measure the electric field strength. Field strength meters provide field technicians and engineers with a cost-effective measurement tool for basic signal investigations at only a fraction of the cost of a full-featured conventional spectrum analyzer.

Handheld RF Field Strength Analyzers are ideal tools for field testing, installing and maintaining Mobile Telecommunications systems such as Cellular and Cordless Phone, CB Paging, Paging, Cable and Satellite TV Systems and performing antenna site measurements and maintenance.

Spectrum Analyzers

Spectrum analyzers are essential tools for observing the frequency domain of a signal. A spectrum analyzer displays the spectral composition of a signal over a given frequency range in real time.

Key specifications of spectrum analyzers are dynamic range, phase noise, level accuracy, and resolution bandwidth. These parameters determine how well the analyzer performs common measurement tasks such as frequency, power, modulation, distortion, and noise measurements.

B&K Precision offers bench top and handheld/battery operated instruments. Some models also offer a tracking generator option useful for frequency response measurements of passive components such as RF cables, filters, and attenuators

Handheld Spectrum Analyzer guide
The new 2650A Handheld Spectrum Analyzer series look and feel just like their predecessors, the popular 2650 series, yet offer many new features and performance enhancements in response to customer requirements.

Comparison between the 2650A series and its predecessor
Features/Specifications	2650 series	2650A series	Benefits
LCD	monochrome, 4.7 inch	color, 5.7 inch	Improved readability, better resolution
LCD	320 x 240 dots	640 x 480 dots	Improved readability, better resolution
Battery operation (display off)	100 min, Ni-MH	4 hours, Li-Ion	Much improved battery life
charging indicator	No	Yes, 5 levels	Indicates amount of charge left
charge status LED	No	Yes	Informs user when battery is fully charged
Computer interface	RS-232C	USB 1.1	Connectivity to laptops, which typically offers a USB interface only
USB host interface (for USB flash drive)	No	Yes	Conveniently save CSV data or screen shots in BMP format directly to USB flash drive
Display dynamic range	80 dB/8div	100 dB/10 div	View complete signals with a large dynamic range
Display data resolution (# of onscreen data points)	251(H) x 201(V)	501(H) x 381(V)	Better amplitude and frequency resolution, improved measurement accuracy
Input damage level	+ 20 dBm (CW average power)	+ 27 dBm (CW average power)	Improved protection of the RF input against excessive RF signals
Display scale	2, 10 dB/div	2, 5, 10 dB/div	More flexibility displaying a great variety of signals
Average noise level	-117 dBm	-127 dBm	Increased ability to detect small signals
Frequency setting resolution	100 kHz	20 kHz	Set center frequency more accurately
External trigger	No	Yes	Perform zero span measurements
RF input connector	SMA (J)	N (J)	Added convenience and robustness
User configurable file names	No	Yes, 16 characters	More convenient file management
Protection bumper	No	Yes	More rugged
Battery replacement	Requires hand tool	by hand	Easier and quicker battery exchange
PC Software and communication cable included	No	Yes	More cost effective

Term	Definition
ADJACENT CHANNEL LEAKAGE POWER	The ratio of power in the range specified by offset frequency and bandwidth to carrier power.
AM	Amplitude Modulation, often used to broadcast audio signals to consumer radios.
BLUETOOTH	A wireless technology often used for close range wireless communication. They are widely used in wireless devices such as cellular phones, computer peripherals, and electronic music players.
BPF	Band pass filter.
CDMA	Code Division Multiple Access, a wireless communication transmission system often implemented in cellular phones.
CHANNEL POWER	The sum of power in the band specified by bandwidth and band center.
dBc	A unit of measure that indicates the power ratio of a signal to the carrier signal. It is often used to indicate phase noise, along with a frequency offset from the carrier frequency.
DELTA MARKER	Used for measuring the difference of frequency and level between two marker points on a frequency spectrum.
E-FIELD	Electric field
EMI	Electromagnetic Interference
FM	Frequency Modulation, often used for broadcasting audio signals to consumer radios.
GSM	Global System for Mobile communications
H-FIELD	Magnetic field
INPUT DAMAGE LEVEL	Often defined for spectrum analyzers, it defines the limit of the level (usually measured in dBm) of a signal that can input into the instrument.
OCCUPIED BANDWIDTH	Defined by the width of points that have a certain dB level, defined by user, lower than the peak level of a frequency spectrum.
PLL	Phase lock loop
RBW	Resolution Bandwidth
RF	Radio frequency, which is also generally used to specify high frequency electronics and applications such as wireless devices and radio communications.
SMA	A Connection type generally used for RF or high frequency transmission.
SPECTRUM	Usually represented as a graph displaying information on the voltage levels of a range of frequencies. This is also called frequency spectrum.
SSB	Single side band
Sweep	The motion from left to right that causes a trace to appear. For example, a sweep time of 0.1mS/div means that the trace moves from left to right across one division in 0.1mS.
TDMA	Time division multiple access, a system widely implemented in cellular phones for wireless communication to a network.
TRACKING GENERATOR	A signal source that generates sine waves that are synchronized with the sweep of a spectrum analyzer.
VBW	Video Bandwidth
VSWR	The device most often used to measure return loss when using tracking generator to observe amplitude frequency characteristics.