Model 2810 VSA With Spectrum Analyzer Capabilities Fits Many Applications

The Keithley Model 2810 VSA is optimized for automated production testing of wireless devices and transmitter circuits, but is also suited for a wide variety of product R&D applications, such as the frequency-settling measurements described in the article. It features automatic and manual measurements at speeds up to three times faster than competitive instruments in production testing, takes up half the space, and costs half as much. These features are combined with complex signal-analysis capability and unprecedented ease of use with a touchscreen GUI. In addition to decomposing a waveform into constituent frequencies, the Model 2810 can also decompose digitally modulated signals into their I and Q phase components. This performance is made possible with an advanced software-defined radio architecture and a 500-MHz digital signal processor, enabling fast data acquisition and processing. Its speed allows engineers and scientists to significantly reduce the time it takes to acquire large sets of data needed for efficient product development. For example, the Model 2810 can perform a 200-MHz span sweep using a narrow resolution bandwidth of 100 Hz in approximately 15 seconds. A conventional spectrum analyzer takes 1000 times longer. The Model 2810’s wide signal acquisition—greater than 30 MHz of 3-dB measurement bandwidth with 20 MHz of flatness within 1 dB – allows the capture of wide bandwidth signals in one acquisition. This performance exceeds what’s possible with conventional spectrum analyzers and is better than most VSAs in the $30,000 and under price range.