The Advantage Of Using Multiple Modes; Scalar-The Big Picture; Vector-The Important Details; Analog Demodulation-Another View Of The Details - Agilent Technologies 89410A Operator's Manual

Choosing an Instrument Mode

The Advantage of Using Multiple Modes

You can often take advantage of the analyzer's flexibility by using more than one
instrument mode in a measurement scenario.
Scalar—the big picture
Use Scalar Mode to identify signals present in a wide span and to evaluate small
signals very close to the noise floor. For example, in evaluating an oscillator you
can use Scalar Mode to identify spurs and harmonic distortion products and
evaluate them with very narrow resolution bandwidths.
Vector—the important details
After you have identified signals in a wide-span Scalar measurement, use Vector
Mode to quantify and analyze the important signals with phase and time data
capabilities. In the oscillator example above you could use Vector Mode to
measure oscillator sidebands.
Analog Demodulation—another view of the details
Analog demodulation provides another way to look at signals by characterizing
amplitude, frequency, and phase relationships. In the oscillator characterization
example above, you can demodulate the sidebands to determine whether the noise
is amplitude modulated or phase modulated.
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