User Manual

RF Explorer User Manual page 28
Protecting your instrument from damage
RF Explorer is a very sensitive device. It can detect signals as low as -120dBm, which is 10E-12mW or 9nA
over a 50ohm load.
This extreme sensitivity comes at the price of some fragility; your device needs care handling and protection
in order to run for many years without problems.
Most RF technicians know the RF instruments have to be protected in order to survive the high Electro
Magnetic (EM) fields that may be in the environment.
Expensive instruments like $50,000 full sized Spectrum Analyzers and Signal Analyzers comes with a long list
of handling procedures the operator must observe in order to limit any chance of damage.
The first and most obvious precaution is to make sure the input RF power is not beyond the acceptable
levels of the instrument.
RF Explorer 3G Combo and RFEMWSUB3G models are well protected up to +30dBm (1Watt) input power,
which is plenty to play safe in pretty much any environment. No extra protection is needed for this model.
However, other RF Explorer models have a maximum safe input power of +5dBm, which is 3mW in the RF
SMA port. As a reference, that is the power captured by the RF antenna from a cell phone a distance of
10cm, or from a Microwave oven at about 1 meter distance. Not all the ovens or cell phones work the same,
so take this as an indication only.
What may not be obvious to all users is this is a limit in any RF frequency band, even if the RF Explorer is
powered off.
As an example, the RF Explorer WSUB1G -with a frequency range of 240-960MHz- will not detect a
microwave oven (2.4GHz) on the screen but can be very well damaged by it. Similarly, a strong 2m HAM or
FM high power transmit station won’t be detected by this model, but still induces enough RF power to kill
the RF circuitry with ease. And that doesn’t depend on RF Explorer being ON or OFF because the antenna will
receive that powerful signal and will inject it into the spectrum analyzer, with serious risk of damage.