Agilent Technologies 53152A, 53150A, 53151A manual Using Power Correction

2

Chapter 2 Operating Your Frequency Counter

Using Power Correction

Using Power Correction

The Power Correction function in the main Menu allows you to set the Counter to automatically compensate for power loss (or gain) that occurs in the test configuration, such as attenuation resulting from cable impedance. You can choose from nine power-correction profiles that are stored in nonvolatile memory, and you can modify the contents of these profiles.

Each profile is defined by two to ten data points (a data point consists of a loss value and a frequency value). When Power Correction is enabled, the Counter automatically adds a correction to the power reading (determined from the data points in the profile) that compensates for the loss (or gain) at the frequency being measured. When a measured frequency does not match any of the frequency values defined in the currently selected profile, the Counter interpolates for the measured frequency to determine the appropriate loss value to add to the power measurement.

A minimum of two valid data points is required for Power Correction; you can enter up to ten data points in each power-correction profile. Each of the power-correction profiles initially contains two valid data points—

0.0dB loss at 1 GHz, and 0.0 dB loss at the highest frequency the Counter can measure (20 GHz for the 53150A, 26.5 GHz for the 53151A, or 46 GHz for the 53152A). The remaining eight data points contain values of 0.0 dB loss at 0.0 GHz. When entering data, you can change the values in an existing data point or enter new values in a data point that currently has zero values. The data points are automatically sorted into order by frequency as you finish entering each one.

2-30 Operating Guide