Astronics Adds Vector Channel Analyzer to Digital Suite

June 26, 2023

The VCA has been added as a virtual instrument in the arsenal of Astronics' ATS-3100 radio test set for mission-critical RF testing.

David Maliniak

This video appeared in Microwaves & RF and has been published here with permission.

This video is part of Microwaves & RF's IMS 2023 coverage.

We spent some time at IMS 2023 with Tom Costello, Senior Signal Processing Engineer at Astronics Test Systems, to get an up-close look at the new vector channel analyzer (VCA) capability that the company added to its ATS-3100 radio test set. The ATS-3100 is a PXIe-based, benchtop, software-defined test platform with a chameleon-like facility to take on the roles of multiple instruments for test of legacy and modern radios, both airborne and ground, from multiple OEMs.

The VCA software now available on the ATS-3100 joins a roster of other virtual instruments that perform many of the measurements typically made on general-purpose benchtop test instruments. The VCA takes S₂₁ S-parameter measurements of transfer function in a standard format of gain, phase, and group delay. In the demo shown in the video above, the VCA is used to characterize a typical RF bandpass filter.

For more information, visit the company's website

About the Author

David Maliniak | MWRF Executive Editor

In his long career in the B2B electronics-industry media, David Maliniak has held editorial roles as both generalist and specialist. As Components Editor and, later, as Editor in Chief of EE Product News, David gained breadth of experience in covering the industry at large. In serving as EDA/Test and Measurement Technology Editor at Electronic Design, he developed deep insight into those complex areas of technology. Most recently, David worked in technical marketing communications at Teledyne LeCroy. David earned a B.A. in journalism at New York University.