Changing the settings in Continuous Mode requires that the Apply Above Settings Button to be selected to activate any changed settings.
Measurement – CW/Channel Power
The CW/Channel mode pull down lets you select between Channel Power and CW Max mode. In Channel Power mode, the sensor will calculate the average integrated power across the entire user-defined span. Channel Power mode should be used when measuring average power of modulated signals.
In CW Max mode, the sensor will return the highest CW “peak” amplitude value within the user-defined channel. Note that the “peak” amplitude returned by the sensor is not necessarily at the user-defined center frequency. It is the highest average CW amplitude within the range of center frequency ± span/2.
There are two measurement ranges in the Power Master: upper and lower. The range can be set manually to either the range via PowerXpert or remote commands.
Power Master Operating Power Range
det range
MA245xxA Power Master
Upper
High power (> –10 dBm)
Lower
Low power (≤ –10 dBm)
Center Freq and Span
Center frequency and span combine to define the frequency channel in which power will be measured. The channel will begin at Center freq - Span/2 and end at Center freq + Span/2. Center freq can be any value as long as Center freq - Span/2 ≥ 9 kHz and Center freq + Span/2 ≤ 70 GHz for the MA24507A and Center freq - Span/2 ≥ 9 kHz and Center freq + Span/2 ≤ 110 GHz for the MA24510A. In Channel Power mode, span is limited to 2 GHz, but can be as wide as full span in CW Max mode.
Relative
Relative measurements power changes with respect to the displayed power when relative mode is turned on. To reset the power reference, turn relative mode Off, and then back On. This mode is particularly useful to study drift or measure (loss of) attenuator and (gain of) amplifiers.
Note
Relative measurement is a feature of PowerXpert and does not apply to Crest Factor, CCDF, Reflection Coefficient, Return Loss, and VSWR.
Units
Displays units of power in linear or log scale (dBm, nW, µW, mW, W).
Resolution
Resolution is available when measurement setting is set to CW max. Resolution allows the user to choose between optimizing speed or lowering the noise floor. When Resolution is set to “Low”, the sensor will make more readings per second, but have a higher noise floor. Conversely, setting Resolution to “High” will lower the noise floor, but the sensor will make fewer readings per second.
Measurement Hold
When set to On, the measurement holds the last sensor readings. When set to Off, the sensor continues to sample measurements.