Derek: I LOVE my R&S SMG generator; it is ideal for all of my RS needs. The range is 100 kHz to 1000 MHz, but it will go down to 10 kHz without too much digital noise. In a sweep, it shows the actual excitation frequency being generated. You can stop at any point, use the knob to move up or down in internally calculated frequency hops, and then resume the scan from wherever you have moved to. During a scan, you can change step size or dwell time on the fly. It does internal AM & FM, but needs a simple function generator for pulse modulation. About the only PITA is the rather Teutonic mindset of multiple unlabeled functions for buttons. For instance, to turn on the pulse modulation, you push: SHIFT SPECIAL FUNCTION 3 1 MHZ and to turn it off: SHIFT SPECIAL FUNCTION 3 2 MHZ A little less than obvious. You will need the pair of big, pull-out reference trays. It also has an internal audio frequency synthesizer that has a front-panel output, a little harder to use from the panel controls, but it will give you a sweep from a few Hz to about 100 kHz. Together, this generator could handle all your RS & CS sweeper needs. True, for pulse modulation, you need an external pulse generator. I bought a well-used Datron unit off of eBay for $19. If you wanted to be fanatical about eliminating the pulse generator, then you could use a line from the COM port on your computer. Just connect it to the R&S's pulse mod input port & toggle the line high & low from the computer. After all, most of our pulse requirements are pretty rudimentary, like 200 H or 1 kHz 50% duty cycle. OTOH, last month, I had to use a decent arbitrary waveform generator to create a 13 millisecond pulse at a 1/4 Hz PRR. An external pulse capability that's DC coupled can handle every weird thing. And if you are accustomed to the weight of something like an HP-8341B, you'll swear that the R&S case must be empty. And the really nice part is that these are going for $2000 to $2500 on eBay now. I used two of these at General Dynamics, and I made sure I got one of these for my lab here at Cubic. I got mine used in 1996, and it hasn't had a single problem the whole time. I was so impressed that when I finally got capital budget this year, I bought a R&S SMP sweeper, covering 2 GHz to 20 GHz. I paid $11k (I actually bought two units, one for my lab and another for our engineering guys) for it on eBay. I'm sending my almost-new SMP back to R&S to have a $5k factory B11 option installed, giving me a 10 MHz to 20 GHz capability. R&S has an SMR(?) model that's cheaper, because it's only about 3" high (1) and has a very limited LCD panel display. This model is intended for computer control with a virtual instrument interface. I like being able to run completely off the front panel, so this didn't appeal to me. Ed Ed Price [email protected] WB6WSN NARTE Certified EMC Engineer & Technician Electromagnetic Compatibility Lab Cubic Defense Applications San Diego, CA USA 858-505-2780 (Voice) 858-505-1583 (Fax) Military & Avionics EMC Is Our Specialty
_____ From: Derek Walton [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Friday, December 17, 2004 1:57 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Sig generator opinions Hi Folks, I'm looking to set up a dedicated test station for Conducted Immunity testing. I want the station to perform CS114, DO 160 Section 20 and also EN 61000-4-6 I'm looking for a sig gen that can source a signal from 10 kHz to 400 MHz, and be capable of both AM and Pulse modulation. Anyone care to share their opinion on makes and models. Off line is fine. Right now, I'm tending to an R&S SMY02, but with a 2 GHz top end, it seems overkill. Thanks, and seasons greetings to all! Derek Walton, L F Research ---------------------------------------------------------------- This message is from the IEEE Product Safety Engineering Society emc-pstc discussion list. Website: http://www.ieee-pses.org/ To post a message to the list, send your e-mail to [email protected] Instructions: http://listserv.ieee.org/listserv/request/user-guide.html List rules: http://www.ieee-pses.org/listrules.html For help, send mail to the list administrators: Scott Douglas [email protected] For policy questions, send mail to: Richard Nute: [email protected] Jim Bacher: [email protected] All emc-pstc postings are archived and searchable on the web at: http://www.ieeecommunities.org/emc-pstc
