The MARKER menu is only available when the view mode is set to Pulse Viewer (refer to Measurement Setup). Marker parameters are set using the MARKER Menu. Refer to the figure below when working with this section.
Marker Table and Marker Settings Panels (Pulse Viewer Mode)
In Pulse Viewer, markers can be placed on the time domain pulse trace similarly as in a normal spectrum frequency domain trace and all of the typical marker functions are available. The active marker is indicated with a solid green fill, other markers will show with a hollow fill, fixed markers show as a green X. A dashed vertical line is attached to the active marker and facilitates touch operations. Either the marker or the line can be dragged into position, and either can be double tapped to open a number of peak search options.
1. Marker 1 is a normal marker with a hollow fill (not active) and is placed on the trace at the peak of the pulse.
2. Marker 2 is a delta marker relative to Marker 2 and will indicate the difference in time and amplitude from Marker 1. It has a solid fill (active marker) and a dashed blue line that aids in touch drag operation to move it to the desired location.
3. The MARKER menu provides marker controls such as selecting the active marker and on which trace it should be place, their mode (normal, delta, or fixed), selecting marker functions, and accessing marker peak search operations. You can also enable the MARKER table described below.
4. The marker table shows all of the marker parameters and measurement values. You can edit marker parameters from the marker table as well as from the MARKER menu. In this example, the active marker is highlighted and the relative X and Y position values are shown (these values are also shown in the MARKER menu for the currently selected (active) marker.
Placing a Normal Marker
1. Press MARKER to display markers. If markers were off, Marker 1 will automatically be made active at the center of the time display.
2. Select another marker using MARKER > SELECT, then select one of 12 available markers. If the marker was off, the marker will be made active and be placed at the center of the time display. If the marker was on, it will be made the active marker. You can enable all 12 markers and place them separately on traces, cursors, or set them as a fixed marker at a static time and amplitude.
3. Place a marker by first selecting it as the active marker, then do one of the following:
a. Enter a new TIME value from the MARKER menu. The time can be entered manually or adjusted by using the slider or the + and – buttons to move the marker to the left and right.
b. Drag the marker on the trace (note that anywhere on the vertical dashed blue line can be touched to drag a marker’s position).
c. Use the PEAK SEARCH menu and the desired peak search function to automatically find signal peaks (refer to MARKER PEAK SEARCH Menu). Some peak search functions can be accessed by double tapping the marker or the blue marker line.
Placing a Fixed Marker
Fixed markers are set up the same as normal markers above, but are set to Fixed using the MODE button. In addition to setting a fixed time value, you can set a fixed amplitude. Fixed markers are typically used as a reference marker when measuring time and amplitude differences relative to an absolute value.
Placing a Delta Marker
When a delta marker is on, its position data is relative to its reference marker. For example, if Marker 2 is set as a delta marker, the delta reference is set to Marker 1. To set a delta marker and its reference:
1. Activate either a normal or fixed marker and place it in a reference location as described previously.
2. Activate a delta marker using MARKER > SELECT > Marker #, then select MODE > Delta.
3. Place the active delta marker by doing one of the following:
a. Enter a new TIME value.
b. Drag the marker on the trace (note that anywhere on the vertical dashed blue line can be touched to drag a marker’s position.
c. Use the PEAK SEARCH menu and the desired peak search function to automatically find signal peaks (refer to MARKER PEAK SEARCH Menu).
A delta marker is labeled with a green delta symbol between each marker number. For example, delta Marker 2 relative to Marker 1 is displayed as “2Δ1”. If another marker is desired to be the reference marker, select the delta marker as the active marker and then use DELTA REFERENCE > Marker # to select the desired reference marker number.
Turns on the selected marker if it is off or makes it the active marker if it is already turned on. Pressing the MARKER menu button for the first time will turn on Marker 1 as a normal marker at the center of the time display, and open the MARKER menu. Pressing the MARKER menu button thereafter opens the MARKER menu to the current active marker. When a marker is turned on, it is a normal marker positioned at the center of the time display on the active trace.
ENABLED:
Enables the selected marker. When the toggle is off, the marker is disabled and not shown on the screen.
TIME
Displays the marker time value. For delta markers, the time value is relative to the reference marker. Change the marker time position by dragging it to the desired location. You can also change the marker time value by pressing the TIME button and changing it manually using the keypad controls.
AMPLITUDE
Displays the current marker amplitude. When the marker mode is set to Normal or Delta, the amplitude is set by the trace. In that case, the amplitude is not settable by the user. The button is grayed out, but the value is still updating with every sweep. If the marker is a Fixed marker, the amplitude value can be changed by dragging the marker to the desired location or by directly entering the amplitude using the keypad control.
MODE
Select marker preference:
• Normal: A Normal marker is also known as a tracking marker. The time value is fixed but the amplitude value varies from sweep to sweep.
• Delta (Δ): A Delta (Δ) marker displays the delta time value and amplitude between itself and a reference marker. If Marker 1 is selected to be a Delta marker, then Marker 2 is turned on as a reference marker for Marker 1 and it becomes a Normal marker at the same location. The reference marker can then be switched to a Fixed marker if desired.
• Fixed: A Fixed marker has a fixed amplitude and fixed time, which are defined by the user and not related to the trace or sweep data.
FUNCTION
Sets the function of the currently selected marker to None or Noise. For more information about using marker functions, refer to Marker Functions.
DELTA REFERENCE
Selects the Reference marker for a Delta marker. A Delta marker cannot be its own reference. Only Fixed and Normal markers may be used as a reference for Delta markers.
TRACE
Selects the trace number to which the marker is currently attached.
MARKER TABLE
Toggle on or off the marker table displayed below the screen.
CENTER ON MARKER
Sets the center frequency to the currently active marker’s frequency value.
REF LVL TO MARKER
Sets the reference level to the currently active marker’s amplitude value.
ALL MARKERS OFF
Turns all markers off, but markers will retain their last time position once re-enabled.
PRESET MARKERS:
Presets marker selections to default values.
MARKER PEAK SEARCH Menu
Note
Double tapping a marker opens a quick peak search menu with some of the below features.
PEAK SEARCH Menu
PEAK SEARCH
Returns to the main MARKER menu.
SELECT
If the selected marker is off, it will be turned on and the selected marker positioned at the peak of Trace 1. If the selected marker is on, then it will become the active marker and any subsequent actions in the PEAK SEARCH menu will apply to the selected marker. If no markers are on, pressing the PEAK SEARCH button on the control panel will turn on Marker 1 at the peak of Trace 1.
PEAK SEARCH
Moves the selected marker to the highest peak.
NEXT PEAK
Moves the selected marker to the next highest peak regardless of location.
NEXT PEAK LEFT
Moves the selected marker to the next peak left of its current position.
NEXT PEAK RIGHT
Moves the selected marker to the next peak right of its current position.
NEXT POINT LEFT
Moves the selected marker one display point to the left of its current position. Useful for fine tuning the position of a marker.
NEXT POINT RIGHT
Moves the selected marker one display point to the right of its current position. Useful for fine tuning the position of a marker.
THRESHOLD
If turned on, sets the threshold that a peak has to achieve to be considered a peak.
EXCURSION
If turned on, sets the excursion value that a peak amplitude must rise and fall over the peak threshold to qualify as peak.
Marker Functions
Noise Markers
Noise Markers use an averaging routine applied to multiple data-point groups to calculate the readout, which is typically comparable to using 1 Hz bandwidth filtering. Because the noise marker routine uses groups of data points for the calculation, the noise marker should not be placed in close proximity to measurable signals. You can observe this effect by moving the marker further away from a signal until the marker readout stabilizes to a more consistent value. Noise markers should be used with an RMS/Avg detector type for proper measurement. When a noise marker function is selected, the marker amplitude value is displayed in dBm/Hz, which is the noise level within the resolution bandwidth filter. Delta markers can also be put into a noise function, but the reference marker must also be a noise marker. If they are different functions, one will be updated to match the other. Fixed markers are not allowed to be set to a noise function, so if a noise marker is changed to fixed mode, the function will automatically be set to off.
