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Spectrum Analyzer
Spectrum Analyzer
COMMUNICATIONS FUNDAMENTALS
SPRING 2013
Purpose:
Equipment List
1. Agilent N1996A Spectrum Analyzer
2. Agilent 33250A Function Generator.
3. VHF Antenna
4. USB flash drive
5. Laptop computer
6. AM/FM Portable Radio
Background
Spectrum Analyzer Measurements The spectrum analyzer measures power versus frequency.
The spectrum analyzer is capable of some useful measurements such as peak power of a signal and
signal bandwidth. A diagram of a typical spectrum analyzer screen is shown in Figure 1.
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Figure 1. Sample Spectrum Analyzer display
There are 10 divisions on the horizontal scale, so the frequency per division is
Note that there are three main frequencies displayed. We can calculate each as follows:
Noise Floor. The noise floor is the level at which no intelligible information can be obtained. In the
screen shot in Figure 5, the noise floor is about – 40 dBm.
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A diagram of another spectrum analyzer screen is shown in Figure 2.
Notice that there are two traces in Figure 2. The red trace is the maximum power received over
time. This is also called the MAX HOLD trace. The blue trace, which is the lower of the two, is
the instantaneous power received.
This screen show identifies the two FM radios station WCQS and WWCU. Notice that each radio
station has its unique transmission pattern. The START frequency is 89.0 MHz and the STOP
frequency is 91.0 MHz.
There are 10 divisions of grid lines across the horizontal axis, so the freq per division is
FREQ PER DIVISION = SPAN / 10 = 2 MHz / 10 = 0.2 MHZ = 200 kHz
WCQS is centered about 3.5 division to the right of the START frequency. So the center freq of
WCQS is
Figure 2. Placing a Marker on the Hold Trace and Measuring the Occupied Bandwidth.
Red Graph (upper) = Max Hold Power versus Frequency
Blue Graph (lower) = Instantaneous Power versus Frequency
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Operations of the Agilent N1996A Spectrum Analyzer
Performing a peak search of a single frequency
Press the Trace/Detector button, followed by the Max Hold soft key. Wait a few seconds for the
peak to resolve. Then press the Peak Search button.
When finished, press the OK soft key. Make sure you see the desired frequency spectrum screen then
press the Save button, followed by the Save Now soft key. The Screen Capture screen will appear.
After a few seconds, the screen will say “Screen capture was saved successfully” followed by the
name of the PNG file that was saved. Make a note of the filename. Press the OK soft key to return to
the frequency spectrum screen.
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How to measure Bandwidth with the Agilent N1999A Spectrum Analyzer
In Figure 3, we see the frequency spectrum of FM radio stations WCQS 89.7 and WWCU 90.5 as received in
the Belk Building. There are markers positioned at the start and stop of the WWCU FM transmission which
indicate an occupied bandwidth of 130 kHz. This screen was obtained in the following steps:
Step 3. Set up a second trace to capture the Max Hold of the input signal.
Buttons: Trace/Detector, Select Trace, Max Hold.
Step 5. Add a Δ1 marker and place it on the blue Max Hold trace.
Actions: Press the Marker button, followed by the Marker soft key. Select marker # 1. Press the
Delta soft key followed by the More soft key. Press the Marker Trace soft key and select trace #2.
Turn the dial to position the Δ1 marker at the top of the falling edge of the WWCU- FM bandwidth.
Figure 3. Placing a Marker on the Hold Trace and Measuring the Occupied Bandwidth.
Red Graph (upper) = Max Hold Power versus Frequency
Blue Graph (lower) = Instantaneous Power versus Frequency
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Figure 4. Front Panel View of Agilent 33250A Function Generator. From Agilent 33250A 80 MHz Function /
Arbitrary Waveform Generator, page 3, Publication Number 33250-90002, 2nd Edition, © Copyright 2003,
Agilent Technologies, Inc.
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Experiment
(Note : Items in Bold font are button press instructions for the Spectrum Analyzer.)
1. The lab instructor has a collection of radio frequency (RF) connectors. Find the appropriate
connector to connect a VHF telescoping antenna to the RF INPUT of the spectrum analyzer.
6. If the noise floor is not clearly visible, then raise the amplitude of the display until you see the
entire noise floor. Record the approximate noise floor below
AMPTD Button ⇒ turn the wheel counter–clockwise
9. You should now have two traces displayed in two different colors: one showing instantaneous
power and the other showing max hold power.
10. You should now have two traces displayed in two different colors: one showing instantaneous
power and the other showing max hold power.
12. If the marker is on the instantaneous power trace, then move it to the Max Hold trace.
Marker Button ⇒ More 1 of 2 soft key ⇒ Marker Trace soft key
17. Save the spectrum analyzer screen shot showing the amplitude spectrum.
Radio
station Low freq High freq Measured
Peak Power Type of
center cutoff in cutoff in Bandwidth
in dBm Bandwidth
frequency MHz MHz in kHz
in MHz
10 dB
99.5
20 dB
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Part 2 - Power Loss Measurement
(a) Turn on the Agilent 33250A – 80MHz Function/Arbitrary Waveform Generator and the
Agilent CSA Spectrum Analyzer
(b) Set the Waveform Generator to generate a 60 MHz sine wave with a peak-to-peak voltage
of 400 mV and a 0 volt DC offset. To do this, refer to Figure 4 and follow these steps:
• Press the Sine button to generate a sine wave,
• Press the Freq soft key, followed by 60, then press the MHz soft key.
• Press the Ampl soft key, followed by 400, then press the mV p-p soft key.
• Press the Utility button of the function generator, then press the Output Setup soft key,
then press the 50 Ω soft key.
• Press the Output button of the function generator to turn on the output signal.
(b) Connect a three foot SMA cable from the output of the Waveform Generator to the RF
Input of the Spectrum Analyzer.
(c) Set the center frequency of the Spectrum Analyzer to 60 MHz. To do this press the FREQ
Channel button, then key in 60 on the number pad, then press the MHz soft key.
(e) Set the frequency span of the Spectrum Analyzer to 1 MHz. To do this press the SPAN X
Scale button, then key in 1 on the number pad, then press the MHz soft key.
(f) Set the Spectrum Analyzer’s amplitude per division to 1 dB. To do this:
• Press the AMPTD Y Scale button,
• then press the Scale/Div soft key
• then enter 1 on the number pad,
• then press the dB soft key.
(g) Press the Peak search button on the spectrum analyzer. Record the power level in dBm and
frequency in Table 2.
(h) Copy the spectrum analyzer screen to your USB flash drive. Record the file name in Table
2.
(i) Connect three more 3 foot BNC cables together, so that you now have a 12 foot section of
SMA cable between the function generator and the spectrum analyzer. Press the Peak
search button on the spectrum analyzer. Record the measured peak power level and
frequency in Table 2.
(j) From these measurements, calculate the cable loss in dB per foot. Record in Table 3.
If 100 feet of cable are connected in this fashion, and 100 watts of power at 60 MHz is
transmitted into one end of the cable, what will be the power out at the other end of the
cable? Show calculations below and record results in Table 2.
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Table 2 – Cable measurements for a 60 MHz, 400 mVpp sine wave.
Signal source is an Agilent Function Generator
12 feet
dB
difference
dB loss
per foot
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Lab report guidelines:
Define the following and explain the equations are used to determine each of the following:
average power of a sine wave
power in dBm
cable loss in Watts
cable loss in dB/foot
Go to the internet and find information about cable loss. What is the typical cable loss per foot
of SMA cable? As frequency increases does cable loss per foot increase or decrease?
Go to the internet and find out what bandwidth is allocated for commercial FM radio stations.
Copy the tables from the Lab 1 MS-Word file found on the course web site and paste them into
the Data analysis / Results section of the report. Fill in the Tables with results measured and
calculated in the lab.
Copy all the screen shots from USB drive and paste them into the Data analysis / Results
section of the report. Be sure to include a figure number and caption for each screen shot. As a
minimum be sure to include the following screen shots:
amplitude spectrum of 99.5 MHz FM
amplitude spectrum of 60 MHz sine wave
oscilloscope display of 60 MHz sine wave versus time
Describe what you did in the lab. Be sure to describe how you generated the results in the
Tables and what is shown in each figure. Are the calculations close to the measured?
Conclusion section
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