Setting Stimulus Conditions

You can set the stimulus condition for each channel independently.

• Setting the Sweep Type

• Setting the Sweep Range

• Enable Stimulus Signal Output

• Setting power level

• Setting fixed frequency at power sweep

• Setting CW Time Sweep

• Setting Power Level with Auto Power Range

• Setting the Number of Points

• Setting the Sweep Time

Other topics about Setting Measurement Conditions

Setting the Sweep Type

You can select the sweep type from the following four types.

The procedure for selecting the sweep type is as follows:

1. Press Channel Next/Channel Prev keys to select the channel for which you want to set the sweep type.

2. Press Sweep Setup > Sweep Type.

3. Press the desired softkey to select the sweep type.

4. To use the E5071C in CW Time sweep, refer to Setting CW Time Sweep

Setting the Sweep Range

There are two ways to set the sweep range: by specifying the lowest and the highest values and by specifying the center value and a span. Once the sweep range is set, it is possible to change the range by substituting the lowest value, the highest value, or the center value with a value (stimulus value) represented by a marker on the trace.

Setting the Sweep Range with the Lowest and Highest Values

1. Press Channel Next/Channel Prev keys to select the channel whose sweep range will be set.

2. Click Start, then input the lowest value.

3. Click Stop, then input the highest value.

Setting the Sweep Range with the Center Value and a Span

1. Press Channel Next/Channel Prev keys to select the channel whose sweep range will be set.

2. Click Center, then input the center value.

3. Click Span, then input the span value.

Setting the Sweep Range Using the Marker

1. In the channel window whose range must be set, place the active marker The marker on a trace that can be repositioned either by front panel controls or by programming commands on the active trace to a position that corresponds to the new range (to the lowest, highest, or center value).

2. Press Marker Fctn key.

3. Click the softkey that corresponds to each value.
    

   SoftKey	Function
   Marker -> Start	Sets the lowest value to the stimulus value of the active marker on the currently active trace.
   Marker -> Stop	Sets the highest value to the stimulus value of the active marker on the currently active trace.
   Marker -> Center	Sets the center value to the stimulus value of the active marker on the currently active trace.

4. If the reference marker is on and the stimulus value of the active marker is expressed by a value relative to the reference marker, the absolute stimulus value will be used to set the new sweep rang.
   
   

Enable Stimulus Signal Output

You can turn on/off the stimulus signal output, but this will prevent you from performing measurement. Therefore, you will not normally use this feature. This is mainly used to turn the output back to on after it has been turned off by the power trip feature.

Follow these steps to turn the stimulus signal output on/off:

1. Press Sweep Setup key.

2. Click Power > RF Out (Each press toggles between on/off).

When set to off, "RF OFF" is displayed in Instrument Status Bar.

Power trip

The power trip is a feature that the instrument uses to automatically turn off the output of the stimulus signal to protect the instrument when a signal whose level exceeds the upper limit is inputted to the test port.

If the power output is automatically turned off by the power trip feature, remove the cause of the over-input and turn on the power output according to the above steps to restart the measurement.

Setting power level

1. Press Channel Next/Channel Prev keys to select the desired channel.

2. Press Sweep Setup key.

3. Click Power > Port Couple, then select the on/off setting of the level coupling for all ports.
    

   ON	The same power level is outputted to all ports.
   OFF	A specific power level is outputted to each port independently.

4. The power level of port 1 is coupled with the power level for all ports.

5. If you change the on/off setting of the level coupling, all ports are automatically changed to the same level value as that of port 1.

4. Follows the following procedure according to Port Couple.

• When setting level for all ports (Port Couple ON)

• 1. Click Power, then enter the power level.

• When setting level for each port (Port Couple OFF)

• 1. Press Port Power, then click the softkey corresponding to each port (Port 1 Power to Port 4 Power).

  2. Enter the power level.

Correcting attenuation of power level (using power slope feature)

You can use the power slope feature to correct the attenuation of a power level so that it is simply proportional to the frequency (attenuation due to cables and so on), which improves the accuracy of the level actually applied to the DUT.

Turning power slope feature on/off

1. Press Channel Next/Channel Prev keys to select the desired channel.

2. Press Sweep Setup key.

3. Click Power > Slope [OFF] (Slope [ON]). Each press toggles between on/off.

Setting correction coefficient (correction amount per 1 GHz)

1. Press Channel Next/Channel Prev keys to select the desired channel.

2. Press Sweep Setup key.

3. Click Power > Slope [xxx dB/GHz] ("xxx" represents the current set value.).

4. Enter the correction coefficient using the ENTRY block keys on the front panel.

Setting fixed frequency at power sweep

The procedure for setting the fixed frequency (CW frequency) at the power sweep is as follows:

1. Press Channel Next/Channel Prev keys to select the desired channel.

2. Press Sweep Setup key.

3. Click Power > CW Freq, then enter the fixed frequency.

Setting CW Time Sweep

The E5071C supports sweep type of CW Time where the E5071C is set to a single frequency, and the data is displayed versus time. To use the E5071C in CW time, follow the procedure explained below:

1. Press Channel Next/Channel Prev keys to select the channel whose sweep range will be set.

2. Press Sweep Setup > Sweep Time, then input the duration of the sweep which is displayed on X-axis.

3. Click Span, then input the span value as 0 Hz (zero span).

4. Press Center, then input the center value.

5. Press Marker to display the marker 1. The marker position shows the time for its measurement point.

Setting Power Level with Auto Power Range (options 2D5, 4D5, 2K5 and 4K5 only)

• Auto Power range function works only with the E5071C options 2D5, 4D5, 2K5 and 4K5 having a mechanical source attenuator. Auto power range functionality is neither required nor available in other E5071C options which are having electrical source attenuator.

When the Auto Power Range set function is effective, the proper source attenuator and power range are selected automatically according to the output power setting of each channel.

Under the following conditions, turn OFF the Auto Power Range set function and set the power range and power level manually:

• When different power ranges are selected in multiple channel measurement settings. In this case, an error message is displayed to avoid source attenuator damage. For example, if Channel 1 power is at -35 dBm with the power range of -35 dBm to 0 dBm, and Channel 2 power is set at -5 dBm with the power range of -25 dBm to +10 dBm, this will causes an error because each selected power range is different. In such a case , turn OFF the Auto Range on Channel 2 and set the range as -35 to 0 manually, to set the same power range as of Channel 1.

• Continuous switching may damage source attenuator.

Setting the level

1. Press Channel Prev/Channel Next to select the channel for which you want to set the power level.

2. Press Sweep Setup key, then click Power > Port Couple and select the ON/OFF setting of the level coupling for all ports.

1. The power level of port 1 is coupled with the power level for all ports when Port Couple is set to ON.

2. If you change the on/off setting of the level coupling, all ports are automatically changed to the same level value as that of port 1.

3. When setting level for all ports (Port Couple ON), click Power input the power level using the ENTRY block keys on the front panel.

When setting level for each port (Port Couple OFF), click Port Power and select the softkey corresponding to each port (Port 1 Power to Port 4 Power).

The table below describes the relation between source power level and step attenuation:

For Auto Power Range setting, the minimum value of step attenuation is selected according to the available source power level. The table below describes the step attenuation selection based on the setting source power level:

When Power Sweep is selected as sweep type, Step attenuation is selected with the start power condition and the maximum value of the Stop power (>= Start Power) is selected with the step ATT value.

For example:

• Case of Start Power= -26 dBm

• • Step ATT = 10 dB, Stop Power = -26 dBm ~ 0 dBm

• Case of Start Power = -25 dBm

• • Step ATT = 0 dB, Stop Power = -25 dBm ~ + 10 dBm

• If the source power range (start/stop) is located on the two ranges, the Step ATT is set with the latest condition as:

• • After setting Start = -26 dBm, set stop = + 10 dBm, then start is reset with - 25 dBm value.

• Available power differs according to the measurement frequency. For example, at 0 dBm Attenuator range, the specified maximum available power level is as follows and reduces in proportion to inserted Attenuator range:

  Frequency	Power Level
  300 kHz to 1 MHz	+8 dBm
  1MHz to 6 GHz	+10 dBm
  6GHz to 8 GHz	+9 dBm
  8GHz to 10.5 GHz	+7 dBm
  10.5GHz to 15 GHz	+3 dBm
  15 GHz to 20 GHz	0 dBm

Correcting attenuation of power level (using power slope feature)

You can use the power slope feature to correct the attenuation of a power level so that it is simply proportional to the frequency (attenuation due to cables and so on), which improves the accuracy of the level actually applied to the DUT.

Turning power slope feature on/off

1. Press Channel Prev/Channel Next to select the channel for which the power slope feature will be turned OFF.

2. Press Sweep Setup key, then click Power > Slope and select the ON/OFF setting of the power level.

Setting correction coefficient (correction amount for 1 GHz)

1. Press Channel Prev/Channel Next to select the channel for which you want to set the correction coefficient.

2. Press Sweep Setup key, then click Power > Slope [xxx dB/GHz] where “xxx” represents the current set value and input the correction coefficient using the ENTRY block keys on the front panel.

Setting the Number of Points

The number of points is the number of data items collected in one sweep. It can be set to any number from 2 to 1601 for each channel independently.

• To obtain a higher trace resolution against the stimulus value, choose a larger value for number of points.

• To obtain higher throughput, keep the number of points to a smaller value within an allowable trace resolution.

• To obtain higher measurement accuracy after calibration, perform calibration using the same number of points as in actual measurements.

• When the upper limit of the number of channels and traces is set to 1Ch / 4 Tr 20001 Points, the maximum number of measurement points will be 20001.

Setting the number of points

1. Press Channel Next/Channel Prev keys to select the desired channel.

2. Press Sweep Setup key.

3. Click Points, then input the desired number of points.

Setting the Sweep Time

Sweep time is the time it takes to complete a sweep for each stimulus (source) port. Two modes are available for setting the sweep time: manual sweep time mode and automatic sweep time mode.

The following figure shows the definitions of the sweep time and the sweep delay time.

Sweep delay is time before starting a sweep for each stimulus (source) port

Setting Up the Sweep Time (Manual Sweep Time Mode)

1. Press Channel Next/Channel Prev keys to select the desired channel.

2. Press Sweep Setup key, then Click Sweep Time.

3. Using the ENTRY block keys on the front panel, input the desired sweep time (in seconds).

If the previous operation mode was automatic sweep time mode, entering a new sweep time forces the analyzer to switch to manual sweep time mode.

Switching to Automatic Sweep Time Mode

1. Press Channel Next/Channel Prev keys to select the desired channel.

2. Press Sweep Setup key, then click Sweep Time, press  0 > x1.

By entering zero (seconds), automatic sweep time becomes effective.