Agilent Technologies E3632A manual General Measurement Techniques

Chapter 3 Calibration Procedures

Measurement Techniques

General Measurement Techniques

To achieve best results when measuring load regulation, peak to peak voltage, and transient response time of the power supply, measuring devices must be connected through the hole in the neck of the binding post at (A) while the load resistor is plugged into the front of the output terminals at (B). A measurement made across the load includes the impedance of the leads to the load. The impedance of the load leads can easily be several orders of the magnitude greater than the power supply impedance and thus invalidate the measurement. To avoid mutual coupling effects, each measuring device must be connected directly to the output terminals by separate pairs of leads.

Front Panel Terminal Connections (Side View)

Current-Monitoring Resistor

To eliminate output current measurement error caused by the voltage drops in the leads and connections, connect the current monitoring resistor between the (-) output terminal and the load as a four-terminal device. Connect the current-monitoring leads inside the load-lead connections directly at the monitoring points on the resistor element (see RM in Figure 3-1).

Programming

Most performance tests can be performed only from the front panel. However, an GPIB or RS-232 controller is required to perform the voltage and current programming accuracy and readback accuracy tests.

The test procedures are written assuming that you know how to program the power supply either from the front panel or from an GPIB or RS-232 controller. Complete instructions on front panel and remote programming are given in the Agilent E3632A User's Guide.

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