Touch-Screen Convenience in The Race for Affordable S-Parameters—Winner: VNA Master
Modern RF/Microwave systems are increasingly pushing their performance to the limits of technology. Designers write tighter specifications on components and define more rigid signal parameters. All of which leaves field maintenance personnel scrambling to find more accurate and higher performance handheld test equipment. Anritsu delivers the industry’s most affordable, comprehensive solution — the VNA Master MS2034B handheld vector network analyzer (VNA) with high-performance spectrum analyzer. The 2-port, 1-path VNA provides coverage from 500 kHz to 4/6 GHz, while its spectrum analyzer covers from 9 kHz to 4/6 GHz. The VNA Master MS2034B solution features error-corrected VNA technology that delivers modern accuracy to field S-parameters, external power sensors that measure transmit power accurately, and the Vector Voltmeter option phase matches cables with great precision. The solution enables field technicians to reduce the number of tools needed to precisely and quickly test and verify the installation and commissioning of base stations, as well as maintain and troubleshoot existing wireless network infrastructures, including broadband and microwave backhaul systems.
RF engineers and technicians in the field provide installation and maintenance support for aerospace, defense, and general purpose communication systems around the world. These might typically include radars on Navy ships, communications on Army vehicles, flight-line test on Air Force and commercial jets. They support VHF Omni-directional Range (VOR) antennas in radio navigational systems globally. They will be routinely faced with a wide variety of system elements that can cause failures in the overall system: antennas, cables, filters, multiplexers, amplifiers, isolators, circulators, switches, and other sophisticated elements. The Compact VNA Master, with its new touch-screen display provides the best intuitive measurement control in field diagnostic conditions.
VNA Master, now with standard distance domain (requires firmware version 1.20 or greater), also serves in new high technology applications such as a novel application is the age-old problem of fault location in aircraft and shipboard wire cable bundles that snake through bulkheads and compartments.
+Spectrum Analyzer (9 kHz to 4 GHz)
At the test site, the systems contain sophisticated transmitters and receivers, which require characterization of their complex transmitter and receiver (LO) signals for proper performance. These comprehensive signal tests increase the job complexity for the maintenance technician, on top of the VNA tests already needed. A field-friendly spectrum analyzer can greatly simplify this task. Spectrum analysis data are especially critical in microwave systems such as radars, defense electronics and communication systems up to 4 GHz).
The MS2034B VNA Master + Spectrum Analyzer adds a powerful spectrum diagnostic capability in the field to the already powerful VNA Master! Don’t let the small footprint fool you; this combined instrument powerhouse offers performance and features that rival bench-top alternatives for simplifying spectrum monitoring, interference analysis, and other general purpose signal measurements in the field.
This combined spectrum analyzer offers significant new features such as an internal routine which optimizes sweeps at the fastest possible speed for the most accurate data displays. It also offers broad spectrum analysis frequency coverage, impressive dynamic range, and excellent phase noise performance from 9 kHz to 4 GHz.
The new PIM Hunting mode in the Spectrum Analyzer is used for locating external IM products in conjunction with the MW82119B PIM Master.
The VNA Master + Spectrum Analysis includes many standard measurement sequences, including field strength, occupied bandwidth, channel power, adjacent channel power ratio, and carrier to interference (C/I) ratio. In addition, the built-in AM/FM/SSB demodulator allows users to listen to the signal which simplifies the task of identifying interfering signals. Option 0509, AM/FM/PM Demodulation Analysis, provides powerful computation functions for displaying RF modulation spectrum and audio characterizations. Option 0025, Interference Analyzer simplifies the task of locating troublesome interferers. Overall, the VNA Master + Spectrum Analyzer is a powerful handheld tool for general purpose spectrum analysis anywhere, anytime.