Expanding Bandwidth
I saw the January 2009 issue of Microwaves & RF and the first installment of the magazine's new section, RF Primer. We appreciate Tektronix being included in the inaugural article on spectrum analyzers and the use of the photograph for the RSA6114A real-time spectrum analyzer that appears on p. 40 of the article. In general, the article was well done and quite informative, especially for readers needing a tutorial introduction to these instruments.
Unfortunately, the RSA6114A real-time spectrum analyzer is described in the article in such a way that may lead readers to think that the instrument can span across capture bandwidths wider than 110 MHz. The real-time spectrum analyzer, which makes measurements from 9 kHz to 14 GHz with the characteristics of a spectrum analyzer and an oscilloscope, does operate at capture bandwidths as wide as 40 MHz in standard instruments and to 110 GHz as an option. But it is also capable of making stepped-frequency measurements for spans that exceed the instrument's real-time bandwidth. The stepped sweeps of the RSA6114A can be orders of magnitude faster than traditional swept analyzersespecially for wide sweeps with narrow resolution bandwidths.
Amy Higgins
Americas Region PR Manager
Tektronix, Inc.
Editor's Note:
Our apologies to Ms. Higgins and Tektronix for any misleading information presented on the RSA6114A real-time spectrum analyzer. Due to the limited space of last month's RF Primer on spectrum analyzers, an attempt was made to include as much information on spectrum analysis in general and on representative commercial products in particular while providing unbiased coverage of these instruments. Such short summaries of the instruments sometimes fail to do justice to the high performance levels and measurement capabilities of an impressive instrument such as the RSA6114A real-time spectrum analyzer. For this instrument, as well as any of the spectrum analyzers or companies mentioned in the report, readers are encouraged to learn more by visiting company web sites using the links provided in the article.
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