Technical data

114 Agilent N8201A Performance Downconverter Synthetic Instrument Module, 250 kHz to 26.5 GHz
5 Det/Demod
Sample
The sample detector displays the instantaneous level of the signal at the center of the
interval (bucket) represented by each trace point.
Sample detection is primarily used to display noise or noise-like signals.
Sample detection is not best for amplitude measurements of CW-like signals for two
reasons. First, the peak response to a signal can occur between samples, so unless the
Span to RBW ratio is lower than usual, the highest sample can be well below the peak
signal amplitude. Second, for the high sweep rates normally used, the peak response of the
RBW filters is up to –0.5 dB. This sweeping error is compensated when using the peak and
normal detectors by changing the overall gain. But the gain is not changed when in the
sample detector, because to do so would cause errors in the response to noise.
When Sample is selected, Samp appears on the left side of the display.
Key Path: Det/Demod, Detector
Remote Command:
See“Detector Auto Manual" on page 106.
Example:
DET SAMP