The top four (4) buttons of the HOLD FUNCTIONS menu provide hold control for the active trace.

The Hold, Continue, Single Sweep & Hold, and Restart Sweep buttons form a four (4) button selection group where the selection of any one button de-selects the other three (3) buttons on a per channel basis.

 

For the active channel, the Hold button pauses the display and stops the channel signal processing. Also, if the Hold All Channels button (described below) is selected, this Hold button is selected.

For the active channel, the Continue button starts signal processing and resumes the active channel display. Also, if the Continuous All Channels button (described below) is selected, this Continue button is selected.

For the active channel, the Single Sweep & Hold button performs a single sweep signal processing, and then holds the display, stops signal processing, and returns the button selection to the Hold button.

For the active channel only, the Restart Sweep button restarts signal processing, resumes the active channel display, and then selects the Continue button. To restart sweeps on all channels, use the Restart All Channels button described below.

The second set of four (4) buttons of the HOLD FUNCTIONS menu provide hold control for instrument on a per-system basis.

The Hold All Channels, Continuous All Channels, Single Sweep & Hold All Channels, and Restart All Channels buttons form a four (4) button selection group where the selection of any one button de-selects the other three (3) buttons on a per-system basis.

For all channels, the Hold All Channels button stops signal processing, holds the display, and then selects the Hold button (above).

For all channels, the Continuous All Channels button starts signal processing, resumes the display on all channels, and then selects the Continue button (above).

For all channels, the Single Sweep & Hold All Channels button performs a single sweep signal processing, and then stops signal processing, holds the display, momentarily selects the Single Sweep & Hold button, and then selects the Hold button (above).

For all channels, the Restart All Channels button restarts signal processing, resumes the active channel display, and then selects the Continue button. To restart only the active channel, use the Restart Sweep button described above.

Select displays the HOLD CONDITIONS menu where toggle settings for Bias Tee, RF, and DUT Protection are available.

 

Select toggles the Bias Tee option off and on during Hold mode. Note that during RF calibration, Bias Tees are turned off.

Select toggles the Radio Frequency (RF) option off and on during Hold mode.

Select toggles the Bias Tee option off and on during Hold mode. Note that during RF calibration, Bias Tees are turned off.

Select toggles the Radio Frequency (RF) option off and on during Hold mode.

Toggles the Device Under Test (DUT) protection off and on. The DUT Protection mode puts the instrument on hold with bias and RF turned off after powering up the instrument. This protects a device that is connected to the VNA. Note that DUT protection only applies after the software is fully loaded and operational. During the boot-up process, every effort has been taken to protect devices, but for full protection, sensitive devices should not be connected to the VNA during power-up.

The availability of the Trigger! button depends on the setting of Trigger Source. If Trigger Source is set to Internal, External, or GPIB, the button is unavailable.

Select displays the Trigger Source menu which allows trigger source choices of Internal, Manual, External, or GPIB. The configuration and settings for each trigger source type are defined by the buttons below.

The Trigger button manually triggers the measurement. Trigger Source (above) must be set to manual.

Select displays the MANUAL TRIGGER menu and sets what measurement will be made when the trigger is manually selected. Measurement options can be based per-point, per-sweep (or per-port), per-channel, or for all channels.

External trigger mode allows a rear panel input to start a measurement based per-point, per-sweep (or per-port), per-channel, or for all channels with configuration options between the external triggering device and the instrument. Select displays the EXT TRIGGER menu.

The GPIB trigger mode allows a GPIB trigger command to start a measurement based per-point, per-sweep (or per-port), per-channel, or for all channels. Select displays the GPIB TRIGGER menu.

Select toggles the Trigger Out mode off and on.

Note: Trigger Out functionality is enabled or disabled under the conditions and application usage indicated in Table: Trigger Out Blocking.

This toggle allows the user to have Trigger Out functionality for internal and manual trigger modes (in external triggering, the handshake control enables this trigger out feature). For example, if the user toggles Trigger Out to On while in internal triggering mode, the VectorStar will control measurement timing with its internal trigger and the trigger out BNC connector will become active. A positive going pulse will appear at this connector at the time of the measurement (with some finite latency) at each point.

Select toggles feature On/Off. When toggled ON, the transfer of data is prohibited until end of sweep to minimize point to point triggering time. This feature is useful for optimizing speed in a rapid triggering environment.

Select toggles the Automatic Intermediate Frequency Calibration (Automatic IF Cal) calibration mode off and on.

The Trigger IF Cal button starts the IF calibration and displays the IF CALIBRATION dialog box with a completion progress bar.

In the TRIGGER SOURCE menu, the Automatic Internal, Manual Internal, External, and GPIB buttons are members of a four (4) button selection group. Selection of any one button de-selects the other three buttons and automatically returns to the TRIGGER menu.

 

Select sets triggering to be automatically created within the instrument. Internal triggering mode is an automatically triggered point-by-point measurement that is controlled by the instrument internal software.

Select sets triggering to be manually triggered by the user. The default setting is on a per-channel basis. The maximum setting is for all channels.

Select sets triggering to be created externally by another instrument and sensed through an external port/connector.

Select sets triggering to be through an external General Purpose Interface Bus (GPIB) device and communicated to the instrument via a GPIB network.

In the MANUAL TRIGGER menu, the Trig. All Chan., Trig. One Chan., Trig. One Port, and Trig. One Point buttons are members of a four (4) button selection group. Selection of any one button de-selects the other three buttons. After making a selection, click Back to return to the TRIGGER menu.

 

The Trigger All Channels button sets the trigger to measure values for all channels.

The Trigger One Channel button sets the trigger to measure value for the active channel only.

The Trigger One Sweep button sets the trigger to measure values for one sweep only.

The Trigger One Point button sets the trigger to measure values for one point only.

In the Ext. Trigger menu, the Trig. All Chan., Trig. One Chan., Trig. One Port, and Trig. One Point buttons are members of a four (4) button selection group where selection of any one button de-selects the other three.

 

The Trigger All Channels button sets the external trigger to measure values for all channels.

The Trigger One Channel button sets the external trigger to measure values for one channel only.

The Trigger One Sweep button sets the external trigger to measure values for one sweep only.

The Trigger One Point sets the external trigger to measure values for one point only.

Trigger delay sets the time interval between when the instrument received the trigger signal and when the triggered measurement starts.

Select toggles the triggering point to be on either the positive edge or negative edge of the triggering signal. The default value is positive edge.

If triggering handshaking is on, the instrument provides a Ready for Trigger and an Output Trigger signal from the rear panel.

Select toggles whether the trigger handshake is off or on. The default value is OFF.

The four (4) buttons below are members of a button selection group where the selection of any one button de-selects the other three buttons:

 

The Trig. All Chan. button triggers a measurement for all channels.

The Trig. One Chan. button triggers a measurement for the active channel only.

The Trig. One Sweep button triggers a measurement for one sweep only.

The Trig. One Point button triggers a measurement for one point only.

 

If toggled to Manual, the Sweep Time button is available. If toggled to Auto, the button is unavailable.

Select toggles the display of the sweep time ON and OFF.

Select displays the SWEEP DELAY menu where the delay can be set as OFF, or as begin sweep, phase locked, or load pulse. In addition, the sweep delay time value can be set.

The top four (4) buttons on the SWEEP DELAY menu form an auto-return button selection group. Selecting the either the Off, Begin Swp, Phase Locked, or Load Pulse button de-selects the other three (3) buttons and auto-returns to the SWP TIME SETUP menu.

The fifth button, Sweep Delay, displays the Sweep Delay field toolbar allowing input of sweep delays in units of seconds (s), milliseconds (ms), microseconds (us), and nanoseconds (ns).

Select turns the sweep delay off and auto-returns to the SWP TIME SETUP menu. The sweep delay status of OFF is displayed in the Sweep Delay Type button.

Select sets the sweep delay to Beginning Sweep and auto-returns to the SWP TIME SETUP menu. At the beginning of each sweep, the first point is phase locked, and then the user-defined delay time period occurs. After the delay time, the sweep is completed. On the SWP TIME SETUP menu, the Sweep Delay Type is shown as BeginningSwp.

Select sets the sweep delay to Phase Locked and auto-returns to the SWP TIME SETUP menu. The sweep starts, the hardware phase locks at each frequency, and the user-defined delay time period occurs. The sweep continues until the sweep is completed. On the SWP TIME SETUP menu, the Sweep Delay Type is shown as PhaseLocked.

Select sets the sweep to Load Pulse and auto-returns to the SWP TIME SETUP menu. The sweep starts, and while sweeping, the VNA digital signal processor sends a command to load the programming for the next frequency. At this point, the user-defined delay time period occurs. The sweep-load-delay cycle repeats for every point in the sweep.

After setting the sweep delay time, select the Back button to return to the SWP TIME SETUP menu.