6. Dual ARB Marker Utilities

The following figure is a composite of all supported instruments, so some parameters may not apply to your instrument.

Pulse/RF Blanking

Choice: None | Marker 1−4

Default: None

Double-click or use the drop-down menu to select an RF blanking function. Pulse/RF Blanking turns off the RF output signal during specific conditions determined by the marker.

None − disables RF blanking.
Marker 1 through 4 − selects a marker to activate RF blanking.

RF blanking incorporates ALC hold, so there is no need to select ALC hold when using RF blanking.

Do not blank longer than 100 ms due to ALC hold limit.

ALC Hold

Choice: None | Marker 1−4

Default: None

Double-click or use the drop-down menu to select a marker for ALC hold. Use ALC hold when you have a waveform signal that has idle periods, or when the increased dynamic range with RF blanking is not desired.

None − disables ALC hold.
Marker 1 through 4 − assigns a marker for the ALC hold function.

When the specified marker polarity is positive and the marker signal is low (no marker points), ALC hold is on, and output power leveling does not respond to changes to the signal amplitude. When the marker signal is high, the ALC samples the waveform points and averages the waveform amplitudes to set the ALC circuitry for the next ALC hold period.

RF blanking incorporates ALC hold, so there is no need to select ALC hold when using RF blanking.

Limit ALC Hold to no more than 100 ms, as the ALC Level may degrade.

Alternate Amplitude

Choice: None | Marker 1−4

Default: None

Double-click or use the drop-down menu to select a marker for enabling the alternate amplitude function.

When using the Alternate Amplitude function, do not attempt to use the timeslot power in the Timeslot node, to adjust the timeslot's power. The Alternate Amplitude feature has priority over the Timeslot node's Power parameter.

It is not recommended that the Alternate Amplitude function be used with waveform sequences. If the Alternate Amplitude function is used with waveform sequences, the last waveform in the sequence's result is used to calculate the Alternate Amplitude settings and is then applied to all of the other waveforms in the sequence. This behavior may or may not be correct for all the other waveforms in the sequence.

The alternate amplitude function is available on the EXG N5172B, MXG N5182B, and the ESG E4438C with standard electronic attenuator (not compatible with Option UNB mechanical attenuator or Option 506). Refer to the instrument's Data Sheet and the User's Guide.

The Alternate Amplitude function is not compatible with the N5182A MXG.

Marker 2 is not available on the MXG N5182B and MXG N5172B.

None − disables the alternate amplitude function.
Marker 1 through 4 − assigns a marker for the alternate amplitude function.

Marker 3 and Marker 4 settings are overridden if Parameter Optimization is enabled.

When the specified marker polarity is positive and the marker signal is low (no marker points), alternate amplitude is off. When the marker signal is high, the alternate amplitude function is on.

Configure the alternate amplitude parameters from the Amplitude hardkey menu of the signal generator.

For more information about alternate amplitude and marker settings, refer to the signal generator's user's guide.

This parameter is not available with all instrument model numbers and may be grayed out.

Marker 1-4 Polarity

Choice: Positive | Negative

Default: Positive

Double-click or use the drop-down menu to select the active polarity for Marker 1-4.

Positive − the marker signal is high during the marker points.
Negative − the marker signal is high during the period of no marker points.