Antonio Varacalli

Professor Harding

ECET364

Lab 1: Spectrum Analyzer and RF Generator

1. Changing the impedance of the oscilloscope resulted in our voltage measurement being greater
than what was expected. The RF generator was set up to output 100mv. When the impedance
between the oscilloscope was and RF generator was matched to be 50Ω, the oscilloscope read a
voltage of 91.5Vrms. When the impedance of the oscilloscope was 1MΩ and the RF generator’s
impedance was 50Ω, the oscilloscope read a voltage of 178mVrms. This is because the RF
generator outputs a voltage that is double of what was specified. This is because the impedance
of the RF generator and oscilloscope work as a voltage divider, therefore half of the output
signal will be dropped across the impedance of the RF generator, bringing the voltage level
down to what the user specified, and the other half will be dropped across the impedance of the
oscilloscope. When the impedance is mismatched, instead of the half the voltage being dropped
across the oscilloscope, most of the voltage will be dropped due to its impedance being much
larger than the impedance of the RF generator. This results in a voltage reading that is much
higher than expected.
2. The measurement errors directly subtracted from the signal.
3. The calibration measurement was performed under the assumption that the Tracking Generator
had no errors.
4. The tracking generator outputs a signal at different frequencies at the same time of the sweep
rate of the spectrum analyzer. This allows the used to observe the frequency response of a
system almost instantly.
5. The reference level and the Scale/div options can be adjusted in order to increase the amplitude
measurement accuracy.
6. The accuracy of the frequency measurement can be increased by zooming into the frequencies
that are being observed, as well as adjusting the resolution bandwidth and utilizing the
frequency counter.
7. Decreasing/narrowing the resolution bandwidth of the spectrum analyzer allowed individual
peaks to be more easily visible and lowered the noise floor. If the resolution bandwidth was
wider, several individual peaks may appear as one hump due to not having enough resolution do
distinguish each peak. While a narrow resolution bandwidth allows for a lower noise floor and
more easily visible peak, the sweep rate is much slower.