8504 OPERATOR'S MANUAL – SECTION 1
1 Introduction
Congratulations on your purchase of the 8504
digital power amplifier. 8500 Series amplifiers are
the first wide-bandwidth, high-power digital amplifi-
ers available from any manufacturer. They are fast
enough for DC automotive dropout testing and ca-
pable of AC voltages required for ISO 61000 and
Aviation testing. Plus, they have low enough noise
and distortion specifications to be the reference
power source in power quality measurements.
1.1 Features
Wide Bandwidth and Flexible
The 8504 amplifier is capable of reproducing AC,
DC and AC+DC waveforms into loads from a dead
short to high impedance. It can be used to simu-
late a battery at 13.5 VDC or be an AC source with
a L-N potential of up to 250 VAC. Rated current,
for a given voltage, is available for all waveform
types (AC, DC or AC+DC) at frequencies from DC
to 50 kHz. Voltages from 0 to 250 VRMS are avail-
able with no changes in configuration.
Reuses Energy from Reactive Loads
The 8504 excels when it comes to driving reac-
tive loads. As frequencies increase, the effective-
impedance of the load becomes a much larger
part of the total load to be driven (especially with
inductive loads like coils).
However, when driving reactive loads, the 8504 is
capable of receiving, reprocessing and returning
to the load up to 5X its rated power. The result is a
bench top system capable of 20 kVA+ output while
drawing less than 4 kW of AC mains power!
96-8005353_8-12-2020
Figure 1.1 – 8504 Front Panel
Bandwidth
Voltage
Current
Distortion
Power
Apparent Power
1.2 Configuration Options
A key to everyday product usability is quick and
easy product (re)configuration. The 8504 provides
all key configuration controls on either the front
or back panels of the unit. Configuration options
available include:
•
Gain: Fixed or variable gain (0 to 40)
•
Current Limit: From 5% to rated limit (to
protect fragile DUTs or where specified in the
Standard)
DC Control: DC enabled or DC blocked and
•
DC Servo (for driving transformer-coupled
loads, coils)
Input: Balanced and/or unbalanced
•
•
Mode: Voltage source or current source
•
Output Impedance: Variable from 0 to 1 ohm
(Voltage mode)
Sense: Sense line with correction of up to 4
•
volts
Information subject to change
Performance Overview
DC - 50 kHz
0 to 350 VDC
0 to 250 V
RMS;
100 A
RMS
0.1%
4 kW
20 kVA
5