1024 results found for Test & Measurement, displaying items 1 - 20
July 25, 2008
[TechView: Test] Handheld Real-Time Spectrum Analyzers Nail Interfering Wireless Signals Fast
Complex wireless technologies make measurement a real challenge with their short bursts and non-deterministic timing. Furthermore, identifying and locating interfering RF emitters that are misusing the radio spectrum has become more of a challenge. Yet Tektronix’s SA2600 and H600 Hawk Real-Time Spectrum Analyzers can meet both of these measurement challenges.
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Louis E. Frenzel
July 25, 2008
[TechView: Test] Software Options Make Good Spectrum Analyzers Even Better
New options are available for Anritsu’s popular MS271xB economy microwave spectrum analyzers. The three available models have upper frequency limits of 7.1, 13, and 20 GHz. They also have a 10-MHz demodulation bandwidth and support the most common 3G cell-phone and WiMAX standards.
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Louis E. Frenzel
July 24, 2008[Engineering Feature] The 2008 Technolympics
Everyone expects a good political demonstration or two at next month’s Olympic Games in Beijing. Maybe even a drug or doping scandal. There may also be complaints about the environment. And, you can count on some controversy surrounding all the advanced technology at the Games. Yeah, technology. Much of the attention—and tension—is expected to center on the “White Cube.” The drama in this spectacular swimming venue, which was designed and built for...
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Ron Schneiderman
June 26, 2008[Engineering Essentials] DDS Basics
Most newer signal generators, such as arbitrary waveform generators (AWGs), lower-frequency RF generators, and vector signal generators (VSGs), use direct digital synthesis (DDS) instead of fractional-N phase-locked-loop (PLL) synthesizers, which are common in older instruments and higher-frequency RF generators. Though not new, DDS has improved significantly over the past few years thanks to the arrival of faster, single-chip DDS synthesizer chips like those from Analog...
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Louis E. Frenzel
June 26, 2008[Engineering Essentials] Signal Generators Step Up And Deliver Come Test Time
All electronic circuits and equipment receive input signals and process them into new and different output signals. When you’re designing and testing circuits and equipment, where do you get those input signals? You could build your own signal source for a specific application, but that isn’t necessary. That’s because there’s a signal generator available for any type of signal, no matter what type of equipment is being designed or under test....
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Louis E. Frenzel
June 12, 2008[Technology Report] Complex Wireless Standards Put Instruments To The Test
Once upon a time, RF testing was relatively simple. You would measure power output in a transmitter and look for spurious signals with a spectrum analyzer. At the receiver, you measured noise and sensitivity. Unfortunately, those halcyon days are gone forever. Radio complexity has intensified dramatically with advanced digital modulation schemes, softwaredefined radio architectures featuring digital signal processing, I/Q signal chains,...
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Louis E. Frenzel
June 12, 2008[Engineering Feature] Agilent Puts Its Products To The Test
Agilent, the world leader in the test and measurement (T&M) market, saw about $5 billion in sales last year. Spun off from Hewlett-Packard in 1999, this company offers the broadest and most diversified portfolio, leaving competitors like Tektronix, National Instruments, Lakeshore, and Keithley Instruments to succeed by focusing on niche markets. Tektronix, the largest of these rivals, tallied around $1 billion in sales for 2007 as of November. As a subsidiary of Danaher...
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Lou Sosa
June 12, 2008[Engineering Feature] The Top 50 Employers In Electronic Design
Careers in the electronics industry often mix opportunities and pitfalls. The opportunities are endless, perhaps even including the chance to create and lead a world-class technology organization. But the cyclical nature of the industry creates many pitfalls, including being laid off from your favorite job and not being able to find another like it. One way to avoid the pitfalls and prepare for the opportunities is to work for a company that’s...
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Joseph Desposito
June 6, 2008
[TechView: Test] MELs Make Power-Source Testing Faster And Easier
How do you test a very high-current and/or high-voltage power source? You measure the voltage, current, and power, but you need to test the source under typical and maximum load conditions. So what do you use for a load, especially if it must dissipate up to tens of kilowatts? The MEL series of modular electronic loads from PPM Inc. can handle up to 60 kW in one 8-ft rack.
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Louis E. Frenzel
June 6, 2008
[TechView: Test] GPS Satellite Signal Generation Simplifies Nav Receiver Testing
The GPS Toolkit from National Instruments is a software accessory for the company’s popular LabVIEW program. In conjunction with NI’s PXIe-5672 or PXI-5671 RF vector signal generators, it can simulate up to 12 simultaneous GPS satellite signals with varying conditions.
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Louis E. Frenzel
June 6, 2008
[TechView: Test] Solar-Array Simulator Imitates Satellite Environmental Conditions
Some things are really tough to test. For example, how do you simulate the solar panels on a satellite under varying light and orientation conditions? Well, Agilent’s E4360 Solar Array Simulator accurately simulates the I-V curve of a solar panel’s array under various environmental conditions.
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Louis E. Frenzel
June 6, 2008
[TechView: Test] Handbook Provides The Fundamentals Of Switching In Test Systems
Most test systems today require switching to reconfigure the test setup to make multiple different tests and measurements. This isn’t something you learn in school. Fortunately, Keithley Instruments’ Switching Handbook: A Guide to Signal Switching in Automated Test Systems consists of up to 180 pages of practical tutorial information on how to set up and optimize switching test systems.
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Louis E. Frenzel
April 25, 2008
[ESC 2008] LeCroy Expands M-Type Scope Line
LeCroy Corp. has added six new models ranging from 200 MHz to 2 GHz to its M-Type oscilloscope line. The WaveRunner MXi and WaveSurfer MXs scopes come standard with a full set of analysis tools including WaveScan, an advanced search and analysis feature. This technology also has WaveStream, a fast viewing mode, and LabNotebook, a tool for documentation and report generation.
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ED News Staff
April 25, 2008
[Technology In The News] Johns Hopkins Provost Wins Top Engineering Award
The American Association of Engineering Societies has awarded the John Fritz Medal to Kristina M. Johnson, provost and senior vice president for academic affairs at The Johns Hopkins University. Previous winners of the award, widely considered to be the highest in the engineering profession, include Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell, George Westinghouse, and Orville Wright.
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Staff
April 24, 2008[POV: Point Of View] High-Speed Serial Data And RF Wireless Dominate Today's T&M
Two key areas of electronics are driving the development of new test and measurement (T&M) instruments—high-speed serial buses and wireless test. Both require very high-frequency capability as well as the ability to support the many standards that are being developed. CIRCUITS AND PACKETS There is a movement in digital design, from parallel bus structures to serial buses at microwave frequencies, with the growing set of T&M...
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Carla Feldman
April 24, 2008[TechView: Analog & Power] Single Chip Digitizes High-Side Power Measurements
Single Chip Digitizes High-Side Power Measurements In-circuit power measurements frequently involve a currentsense amplifier or a hot-swap controller and an analog-todigital converter (ADC). Optimally, the current sensing is done on the high side of the load to avoid false grounds. But one problem with that approach is the presence of a high common-mode voltage on the amplifier input. Another is the typical ADC’s limited input voltage range. In addition, the cost of...
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Don Tuite
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