Re that amplifier calibration... you may find that if you can demonstrate an ability to do what the cal lab does, as well as they do it, you may be able to calibrate it yourself. The problem is, do you have standards which are accurate enough to be able to say this, and prove it? In an atmosphere where even test equipment manufacturers are presumed not certified to calibrate their products, will your ability to do so be accepted?
Since an 8447D can be had for not all that much more than the cost of keeping it calibrated, you may wish to economize and do without. A sufficiently low-loss coax is an extremely good substitute for a preamp. Because a really good coax has no IMD to speak of, using it instead of an amplifier can lower the noise floor so you can often see weaker signals without an amplifier than with one! Cheers, Cortland ====================== Original Message Follows ==================== >> Date: 04-Dec-98 20:11:05 MsgID: 1065-75365 ToID: 72146,373 From: Jim Eichner >INTERNET:jeich...@statpower.com Subj: Two un-related questions... Chrg: $0.00 Imp: Norm Sens: Std Receipt: No Parts: 1 1. Preamp Calibration: We are being quoted $400 - $500 CDN (say $260-$330 US) to "calibrate" an HP8447D RF preamp. The quote tells us that what we are getting for our money is a check of the return loss, gain, and VSWR. This seems a little involved and a little pricey to me, but it's the first RF preamp I've dealt with, so what do I know? I intend to use the preamp between a wideband antenna (a bicon, log periodic, or combo) and our spectrum analyzer, and I assume the preamp isn't flat, so I need to enter correction factors vs. frequency for it. That's all I was really after: a chart or graph of gain vs. frequency, so that I can set up the antenna-preamp-analyzer combo properly for pre-compliance testing. Does anyone have any comments on what I really need to do here, and whether the price I'm being quoted is typical or not? --------- This message is coming from the emc-pstc discussion list. To cancel your subscription, send mail to majord...@ieee.org with the single line: "unsubscribe emc-pstc" (without the quotes). For help, send mail to ed.pr...@cubic.com, j...@gwmail.monarch.com, ri...@sdd.hp.com, or roger.volgst...@compaq.com (the list administrators).
