9010F Fast 15-2115.3.3.4 TrackinggeneratorThe tracking generator is an internal, high stability and accuracy, 50 OhmRF generator ranging from 10 Hz to 50 MHz.Activating the Tracking On function the generator is always tuned at thesame PMM 9010F measurement frequency and scans the range togetherwith the receiver. This is the standard way a tracking generator works in allspectrum analyzers.If the Tracking On function is disabled, the generator becomes a CW signalsource tuned at the frequency set under the RF OUT Freq window.As usual, to set a given frequency it is therefore enough to edit the valuewith the soft keys and the left and right arrows, confirming the selectionsentering the units value (kHz, MHz or GHz).Pressing 0 as the first figure the decimal dot appears automatically.In both operating modes (tracking or fixed frequency) the output level canbe set between 60,0 and 90,0 dBμV with 0,1dB steps using the RF OUTLevel button.If a higher or lower level is needed, the User shall adopt either an externalamplifier or an external attenuator.The tracking generator is extremely useful for several applications: first ofall it is essential to calibrate the receiver itself thanks to the automaticinternal routines specifically developed to this extent, then it can also beused to transform the PMM 9010F in a scalar network analyzer, helping alot in designing and testing RF filters, active stages and a lot of othercircuits.15.3.3.5 Detector This menu allows the Operator to select the most appropriate detector forthe test.In Analyzer mode the Peak, Average and RMS (Root Mean Square)detectors are available and can be selected via the appropriate button.Hold timeThe Hold Time (expressed in milliseconds) represents the time the receiveruses to “take a snapshot” of the incoming signal and to measure it with thechosen detector. When selecting a detector, the default hold time value isautomatically loaded, but in some cases this time is not appropriate, e.g.when the interference signals have a low repetition rate. In this case thePMM 9010F sees a high input signal and therefore tries to set the properattenuation automatically increasing the value or the input attenuators.However, when the input attenuation is set the signal is gone, so thereceiver lowers the attenuation, but then a new peak arrives, and so onand so forth..On the other hand, if the Hold Time is too high the PMM 9010F cannotproperly follow the signals.In this situation the Hold Time value should be manually set to find acorrect compromise.To set the Hold Time to the lowest possible value (this value dynamicallydepends from the measurement conditions), enter the figure 0; if a valuelower than the allowed is entered, the lowest possible value isautomatically selected.The max. Hold Time that can be set is 120 sec.
