Power Meter Measurement Guide : Inline Peak Power Sensor MA24105A : General Measurement Setup
 
General Measurement Setup
Please refer to the User Guide for your instrument for directions about selecting the High Accuracy Power Meter mode and about file management.
Changing the Display Units
The power reading can be displayed in dBm or Watts. Use the following procedure to change the displayed units:
1. Press the Amplitude main menu key.
2. Press the Units submenu key and select the display units (press either dBm or Watt).
3. Press the Back submenu key to return to the Amplitude menu.
Zero and Calibrate
The zeroing feature improves accuracy by removing measured system noise.The power range in which accuracy is improved is from + 3 dBm to + 13 dBm. Calibration factors can be used to correct both efficiency and mismatch loss.
1. Press the Zero/Cal main menu key and then press the Cal Factor submenu key. Enter the Center Frequency. The calibration factors are derived for the center frequency.
Alternatively, press the Signal Standard submenu key and then the Up/Down arrow keys to select a particular standard and band. Because most standard bands are less than 500 MHz wide, and because calibration factor frequencies are rounded to the nearest 500 MHz, a specific channel number is not required. The calibration factors are derived for the corresponding signal standard frequency.
The Cal Factor message in the Instrument Settings Summary of the display window shows Cal Factor ON if the Cal Factor command has been successfully sent to the sensor.
2. With no power applied to the sensor, press the Zero submenu key to zero the sensor. This step is recommended when making power measurements below + 13 dBm.
Changing the Scale of the Analog Display
1. Press the Amplitude main menu key.
2. Press the Auto Scale submenu key to align the power meter needle in the middle of the analog display. The maximum and minimum values align accordingly.
3. Press the Max submenu key and use the arrow keys, rotary knob, or numeric keypad to manually set the maximum value of the analog display.
4. Press the Min submenu key and use the arrow keys, rotary knob, or numeric keypad to manually set the minimum value of the analog display.
Using Attenuators
1. Press the Amplitude main menu key, and then press the Enter Offset submenu key.
2. Enter an offset value from + 100 dB to 0 to – 100 dB (gain or loss) for the attenuator at the frequency of operation.
Selecting Measurements
1. Press the Display main menu key, and then press Forward, Reverse, or Summary. Refer to Figure: Forward and Reverse Average Power. Summary displays both forward and reverse measurements in table format, as shown in Figure: Power Meter Summary Display.
2. When selecting Forward or Reverse, refer to Menus for additional information regarding the submenu measurement keys for Forward and Reverse measurements.