Evaluation Engineering - 16

PORTABLE INSTRUMENTS

Keysight Technologies FieldFox analyzer.
Copyright Keysight Technologies.
Reproduced with Permission.

SPECIAL REPORT

COMPACT ANALYZERS
AND SCOPES SERVE
LAB, FIELD, FACTORY,
AND HOME
By Rick Nelson, Contributing Technical Editor
Bench and rackmount instruments
are great for R&D and the production
floor, but products ultimately leave the
lab and factory, and you'll need portable
instruments to follow them. Furthermore,
in the age of COVID-19, you may need an
instrument that fits on your kitchen table.
Vendors offer a variety of scopes and analyzers that are at home anywhere, including handheld instruments with integral
battery packs with touchscreen or knoband-button user interfaces. This includes

EVALUATION ENGINEERING NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2020

USB devices for which a portable PC provides the user interface and power supply.
In addition, some instruments designed
for the benchtop are sufficiently lightweight to carry with you, but you'll need
line power at your destination.

Products
Recently introduced portable instruments
from Keysight Technologies include the
FieldFox B-Series handheld RF and microwave analyzers with 5G over-the-air

(OTA) analysis capabilities, according to
Sarah Gross, FieldFox product marketing
manager.
" The FieldFox B-Series analyzers are
the world's first multifunction handheld
analyzers with 100-MHz real-time bandwidth built for microwave applications
like 5G-all in one 7-lb., portable unit with
approximately 4-hour battery life, " she
said, adding that the instruments feature
a field-swappable battery. She also said
the analyzers can perform more than 20
different measurement functions including spectrum analysis, network analysis,
power measurement, cable and antenna
test, and 5G NR and LTE FDD over-the-air
(OTA) demodulation and analysis.
Keysight also offers handheld oscilloscopes such as the U1620A, which
combines a dual-channel oscilloscope,
DMM, and data logger, according to
Lynnette Reese, oscilloscope product
marketing manager. A unique feature is
its 200-MHz bandwidth with maximum
recording length of 1 Mpts per channel,
she said. Other features include a 5.7-in.
sunlight-viewable VGA TFT LCD screen
with enhanced color intensity and a wide
viewing angle-640x480 pixels-with
dual-window zoom; three viewing modes
(indoor, outdoor, and night-vision); up to
10 selectable languages; and channelto-channel isolation in accordance with
CAT III 300-V safety ratings. In addition,
10 setups and waveforms can be saved and
recalled internally; a field-replaceable LiIon rechargeable battery pack offers up to
three hours of operation; and a desktop
battery charger can charge spare batteries.
" With deep memory of 2 Mpts and
sampling rate of 2 GS/s, non-repeating
signals can be captured over a wider time
base, " Reese said. " The dual-window zoom
feature allows you to work more productively, by simultaneously viewing signals
captured over a period of time and zooming into the most subtle details. "
Rohde & Schwarz offers several handheld instruments focused on usability and
portability while bringing lab-grade features to the field, according to Richard
Markley, distribution product manager.
" In addition, we continue to update these
models with new capabilities to address
changing needs for our customers in

Evaluation Engineering

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