Agilent Technologies 8753ET User Manual page 70

Making Measurements
Measuring Amplifiers
To show the second harmonic's power level relative to the fundamental power in dBc, press
and select . This display mode lets you see the
MORE D2/D1 toD2 ON
Chan 2 Display
relationship between the fundamental and second or third harmonic in dBc. (Refer to
Figure 1-46.)
Figure 1-46 2nd Harmonic Power Level in dBc
Additional Harmonic Measurements
Vector network analyzers are commonly used to characterize amplifier gain compression
versus frequency and power level. This is essentially linear characterization since only the
relative level of the fundamental input to the fundamental output is measured. The
narrowband receiver is tuned to a precise frequency and, as a result, is immune from
harmonic distortion. You may want to quantify the harmonic distortion itself. Figure 1-47
illustrates a simultaneous measurement of fundamental gain compression and second
harmonic power as a function of input power.
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