Tektronix Boosts Mid-Range Real-Time Spectrum Analysis
January 23, 2013. Tektronix Inc. today announced low-cost real-time spectrum analyzers that offer mid-range performance. Included in the expansion of the RSA5000 Real-Time Spectrum Analyzer Series are new 26.5-GHz and 15-GHz models. In addition, the company said, a recently announced 110-MHz capture-bandwidth option is now available on all Tektronix real-time spectrum analyzers.
Tektronix reported that the growth of digital RF across a crowded wireless spectrum has led to the need for signal analyzers able to capture the briefest of spectrum occurrences to ensure proper operation and to avoid interference issues. At the same time, economic pressures have led customers to require a single instrument that can meet their demanding spectrum analyzer needs and be able to troubleshoot the problems unique to today’s transient, hopping signals. The new 26.5-GHz and 15-GHz RSA5000 Series models meet these needs with a balance of high-end performance and mid-range pricing, the company said.
“Now more than ever, RF engineers need spectrum analyzers with the frequency coverage required for today’s radios,” said Jim McGillivary, general manager of the source analyzer product line at Tektronix. “The RSA5000 Series hits the mark with a significant performance boost, a powerful real-time feature set and new 110-MHz bandwidth options that offer faster time to insight.”
The 110 MHz bandwidth option supports engineers working with wireless communications standards that require them to see a wider frequency range, and the option enables uninterrupted signal monitoring or surveillance of frequency bands of interest.
The DPX spectrum display used in the RSA5000 Series offers an intuitive live color view of signal transients as they change over time in the frequency domain. A number of DPX features—including swept DPX, gap-free DPX spectrograms, and DPX zero span with real-time amplitude, frequency, or phase—make it easy to find troublesome signals under a variety of conditions.
The RSA5000 Series provides a comprehensive set of triggers essential for troubleshooting modern digitally implemented RF systems. These trigger capabilities include time-qualified power, runt, density, frequency, and frequency-mask triggers. Also included are a number of DPX triggers, including the DPX density trigger that works on the measured frequency of occurrence and “trigger on this” function that allows the user to point at the signal of interest on the DPX display.
The RSA5000 Series accelerates troubleshooting and analysis by pinpointing the root cause of problems in multiple domains. Engineers can analyze captured data across domains at any time using correlated markers. Time-correlated measurements can be made across frequency, phase, amplitude, and modulation domains.
For deep troubleshooting and analysis, RSA5000 data captures can be used with SignalVu-PC software for offline analysis helping to free up test resources. Like the RSA5000, SignalVu-PC offers vector-signal-analysis functionality spanning spectrum, spectrogram, and RF measurements, including analog modulation analysis, adjacent channel power, CCDF, occupied bandwidth plus amplitude, and frequency and phase vs. time. Options for more advanced analysis functions are also available including modulation, pulse, settling time, audio, and flexible OFDM measurements.
MSRP starts at $47,900 for the 26.5-GHz model.
Tektronix, www.tektronix.com