N7832A Required Test Equipment

The following tables list the equipment required to run the performance verification tests and adjustments. The "Recommended Model" is the preferred equipment.

Not all of the listed test equipment needs to be connected to perform an individual test. To run a test, only the equipment specified for that test needs to be connected.

The validity of the performance verification measurements depends in part on required test equipment measurement accuracy. Verify proper calibration of test equipment before running tests with this software.

Required Test Equipment

Instrument

Recommended Model Number

Alternative Model Number

Analyzers

Network Analyzer

N5247B

N5245B
N5245A
8753E/ES/ET
E5071C
E8361A/C
E8362B/C

E8363B/C
E8364B/C
N3381A
N3382A
N3383A
N5230A/C

Audio Analyzer

U8903B

 

Sources

Function Generator

33622A

33611A
33612A
33621A
33250A

Counters

Universal Frequency Counter

53230A

53132A
53131A

Meters and Sensors

Power Meter1

Requires a special calibration. See footnote 1.

N1914B

N1914A2
E4419B3
E4419A3

Power Sensor4

  • 2 required

8481D

 

Power Sensor4

N8482A

N8482A-CFT
8482A

Digital Multimeter

3458A

34470A

Attenuators

20 dB Fixed Attenuator

8491A Option 020

 

30 dB Fixed Attenuator

  • 2 required

11708A

 

Miscellaneous Devices

Range Calibrator

11683A Option H01

 

Peak Power Meter Adapter

N1915A

 

Calibration Kit, Type-N

85032F

85032B
85032E
85054B

10 MHz Frequency Standard

Microsemi 5071A

10 MHz External Reference5

Pulse/Data Generator

81160A Options 002 and 660

81130A

  • Also required are qty. 2 of either 81131A or 81132A output modules. Do not mix models; use either two of the 81131A or two of the 81132A. Only standard 81131A or 81132A modules are supported. Modules that have options (e.g. 81131-FG) are not supported.

Power Splitter

11667A Option H85 or H866

 

Power Splitter

11667A Option 001

 

Cable, XLR (m) to XLR (f), 2 m

U8903A-103
(U8903-61301)

 

BNC cable

8120-2582

10503A

Calibration Test cable

  • 2 required for N1912A.

N1912-610177

 

Sensor cable

11730A

 

Sensor cable

N1917A
(N1912-61020)

  

Adapter, SMB (f) to BNC (f)

  • 2 required for N8262A.

1250-1236

 

BNC Tee
(BNC  f, m, f)

1250-0781

 

BNC (f) to Dual Banana

1250-2277

 

Table Footnotes

  1. The reference power port of the power meter must be calibrated, traceable to a national standard, to at least ±0.25% accuracy. It is assumed that this represents an end-of-period accuracy. Additionally, it is assumed that this represents a 95% confidence (k=2) coverage factor.

    It is necessary for the laboratory that executes this procedure to maintain this level of end-of-period accuracy. The calibrated reference accuracy drift rate is expected to be 0.005% per 6 months.

    This level of accuracy may only be achievable by a national standards laboratory, such as National Physical Laboratory (NPL) ( http://www.npl.co.uk/) in the United Kingdom, or National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) (http://www.nist.gov/index.html) in the United States.

    The reference output power and uncertainty values from the calibration report must be entered into TME at the start of the 1mW Power Reference Level test and adjustment. See below for more information.

  2. N1914A power meters with serial number prefix prior to MY53040007 require Service Note N1914A-07 which fixes a power supply ground loop. The ground loop injects noise into the measurement circuits which can cause unstable measurements at low (–30 dBm) power levels.

  3. Although allowed as alternative models, E4419A and E4419B power meters are not recommended due to higher than desired maximum measurement uncertainty which may cause failures in the 1 mW Power Reference Level test and adjustment. See Standards Check below for more information.

  4. When ordering a new STD or CFT power sensor from Keysight to be used with the N7800A series applications, order with Option 1A7. The 1A7 option provides an ISO17025 calibration and includes calibration data. When re-calibrating your STD or CFT power sensor for use with the N7800A series applications, we recommend the Keysight ISO17025 calibration.

  5. When using the 10 MHz External Reference, be sure to update the Additional Properties in TME to the correct Frequency Accuracy in parts per million (ppm). For example, if overall accuracy is 9e-12, the equivalent is 9e-6 ppm. Refer to the Additional Properties section in the N7800A TME Help for instructions.

  6. H85 or H86 for 11667A provides effective reflection coefficient and reflection phase for output port 2. The ports will be clearly identified as part of the calibration.

  7. When using this cable with the 81160A pulse generator, use short BNC cables and adapters to extend the white and green cable leads for the length necessary to make the connections.

Calibration Data Validation

To ensure data integrity for measurements carried out with the Test Management Environment (TME), the following verification checks are carried out at the beginning of each test run. The checks are only performed on devices that require calibration data which directly affect the test results. If you are unable to meet the calibration requirements for these devices contributing to the measurement uncertainty only, you may still produce valid reports using the standard report format option which does not contain any measurement uncertainty information.

You are still required to enter calibration factors other than the default, but uncertainty related data is not required to produce standard format reports.

The following table lists the standard checks performed by default:

Device

Parameter Name and Description      

Limits

A Failure Affects:
Power Sensor CalFactor (%)

The calibration factor, as a percentage

 Must be ≥10% and ≤150% at all points


Must not be 100% (the default) at all points

 All tests that require a power sensor
Uncertainty (%)a

The uncertainty of the calibration factor, as a percentage

 Must be >0 and ≤10% at all points Tests that require a power sensor are also guard-banded by measurement uncertainty
Reflection Coefficient Magnitude

The magnitude of the reflection coefficient

 Must be >0 and <0.5 at all points Tests that require a power sensor are also guard-banded by measurement uncertainty

Power Splitter

(with H85 or H86 cal Port 2)

 Source Match

The magnitude of the equivalent source match

 Must be > 0 and ≤ 0.01 at 50 MHz VSWR Calibration utility

  1. TME expects the power sensor calibration factor uncertainty to be absolute uncertainty.

  • Failure to comply with the Calibration Factor (%), Reflection Coefficient, Reflection Coefficient Phase (Degree), Source Match, or Source Match Phase (Degree) limits will result in the test data being labeled Invalid in both the TME interface and any report format produced from the data.

  • Failure to comply with the Cal Factor Uncertainty (%), Reflection Coefficient Uncertainty, Reflection Coefficient Phase Uncertainty (Degree), Source Match Uncertainty, or Source Match Phase Uncertainty (Degree) limits will result in the data being labeled Invalid in the TME interface if Guard-banding is On, and in any report format, other than standard, produced from the data.

Standards Check

The following standard checks are performed at the beginning of the 1 mW Power Reference Level Performance Test and 1 mW Power Reference Adjustment. Note that although allowed as alternative models, E4419A and E4419B power meters are not recommended as test equipment due to higher than desired maximum measurement uncertainty levels. These power meters can have a maximum uncertainty of 0.3%. The desired maximum uncertainty of the reference power meter used in the 1 mW Power Reference Level test and adjustment should be ≤ 0.25%.

Device

Parameter Name and Description      

Limits

A Failure Affects:
Power Meter Output Power (mW)

The 1 mW reference output power

 Must be ≥0.99 mW and ≤1.01 mW


1 mW Power Reference Level Performance Test and 1 mW Power Reference Adjustment
Uncertainty (+/-) (mW)

The uncertainty of the output power, in absolute value

 Must be ≥0.0015 mW and ≤0.0035 mW 1 mW Power Reference Level Performance Test and 1 mW Power Reference Adjustment

 

1 mW Reference Output Power Calibration Data

Prior to running the 1 mW Power Reference Level Performance Test and 1 mW Power Reference Adjustment, you are required to enter the 1 mW reference output power and the calibration uncertainty of the power meter used as the test equipment in the performance test and adjustment mentioned. This calibration information is required rather than the default information to be able to proceed with this test and adjustment.

Below is a sample of a measurement report from a Keysight lab. Note that these are sample values and reports may look different from calibration labs other than Keysight.

When the 1 mW Power Reference Level test and adjustment starts, TME will show the Enter Calibration Information dialog. Enter the reference output power and uncertainty values from the report into the dialog.