Operating Precautions; Preventing Electrostatic Discharge Damage - Agilent Technologies PNA Series Installation And Quick Start Manual

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Operating Precautions

IMPORTANT Most causes of instrument failure can be avoided if you will apply the
information in this section. PLEASE READ!

Preventing Electrostatic Discharge Damage

Protection against electrostatic discharge (ESD) is essential while removing assemblies
from or connecting cables and assemblies (DUT) to the network analyzer. Static electricity
can build up on your body and can easily damage sensitive internal circuit elements when
discharged. Static discharges too small to be felt can cause permanent damage. To prevent
damage to the instrument:
• always have a grounded, conductive table mat in front of your test equipment.
• always wear a grounded wrist strap, connected to a grounded conductive table mat,
having a 1 MΩ resistor in series with it, when handling components and assemblies or
when making connections.
• always wear a heel strap when working in an area with a conductive floor. If you are
uncertain about the conductivity of your floor, wear a heel strap.
• always ground yourself before you clean, inspect, or make a connection to a
static-sensitive device or test port. You can, for example, grasp the grounded outer shell
of the test port or cable connector briefly.
• always ground the center conductor of a test cable and DUT before making a connection
to the analyzer test port or other static-sensitive device. This can be done as follows:
1. Connect a short (from your calibration kit) to one end of the cable and DUT to short
the center conductor to the outer conductor.
2. While wearing a grounded wrist strap, grasp the outer shell of the cable and DUT
connector.
3. Connect the other end of the cable and DUT to the test port and remove the short
from the cable.
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