Equivalent Sweep Time

Equivalent Sweep Time sets the requested equivalent sweep time for power spectrum measurements or acquisition length for zero span measurements.

This parameter is available only when using zero span or Power Spectrum Measurements.

For Power Spectrum measurements, Equivalent Sweep Time is the time duration that would result in measurement results with equivalent variance as that of a measurement made using swept hardware with the sweep time set to this value. It is not the time it takes for the overall measurement sweep -- the actual acquisition and measurement time is typically much shorter than this value. Use Gate Length if a specific acquisition time is needed.
For Zero Span measurements, Equivalent Sweep Time is the time from the middle of the first point to the middle of the last point. if the number of points is 1, then it is the width of the point.
When Auto is checked, the VSA Software automatically selects a minimum equivalent sweep time that yields the best measurement results. Auto is disabled for zero-span measurements. Auto is enabled (checked) on preset.

The Spectrum Rate indicator shows how fast the overall sweep is (including measurement overhead).