Best Priced 8GHz IQ Modulating RF Signal Generator?

Yes!  PicoSource™ AS108 Agile Synthesizer: a full-function USB-controlled vector (IQ) modulating signal synthesizer. PC-based signal generator with an output from 300kHz to 8GHz. Fast settling time and programmable phase, frequency and amplitude capabilities, static and parameter-varying applications. Its speed, external clock referencing, trigger capabilities and user-programmable power-up mode make it suitable for system integration in automated test, unmanned installations and multi-signal stimulus.

• 300 kHz to 8 GHz operation
• –15 dBm to +15 dBm dynamic range
• Fast 55 μs frequency settling time to 10 ppm
• Fast amplitude settling: < 25 μs to 1 dB and < 200 μs to 0.1 dB
• Sweep, hop and list of frequency and level or phase and level
• −100 dBc/Hz phase noise typical at 1 GHz and 10 kHz offset
• FM, ØM and AM modulation, internal sine or external input
• Configurable stand-alone operation mode
• External reference clock I/O and trigger I/O
• Use sweep lists to emulate schemes such as QPSK, QAM, ASK, FSK
• Adjustable dwell and trigger sweep or trigger next point modes
• Work in and convert units of measure to suit application
• Programming examples for LabVIEW, C, C#, Python, MATLAB
• Suited to bench, field and system integration applications
• USB-controlled from Windows PC and display or tablet
• Touch, mouse, keyboard or remote interface software (API included)
• Multi-unit operation with synchronized modulation, sweeps, hops and lists

The PicoSource AS108 is ideal for developers, scientists, educators, students, and service and installation technicians in both benchtop and integrated module applications.

http://www.saelig.com/pico-rf-sg/as108.htm

Did you see our BONUS Newsletter?

  ......... It's a rebroadcast of an interesting one from Nuts&Volts Magazine (with permission)! It includes my article "How to Choose an Oscilloscope".

http://www.saelig.com/news/newsletters/saelig-072721-newsletter.pdf

Strange and Ingenious Uses for WD40 in this article ...

What can you do with a can of WD40? Lubricate M-16s, catch bigger fish, de-ice rod guides, clean turtles, repel pigeons, remove dog poo, make a flame-thrower, and much, much more. The WD40 website promotes dozens of uses for their product, as well as a list of 2,000 uses submitted by actual users. Some are genius. Some are just plain wacky. We have sprinkled our favorite 20 throughout this article, both from that list and from the body of popular lore that has arisen around the miracle spray. 

https://snip.ly/wlqu3z

Like a benchtop oscilloscope, only smaller and better ...

Powerful, portable, and versatile 

Looking for a USB scope? Pico Technology’s 2204A USB oscilloscope is our best-selling low-cost PC-scope.   The PicoScope 2204A is a 2-channel PC-based oscilloscope (PP906 supplied with two probes) - a compact, passport-sized alternative to big benchtop instruments.  Now you can have a 10 MHz, 100MS/s instrument that fits in your laptop bag! Perfect for engineers’ traveling toolkits, they are also suited to a wide range of benchtop needs including design, test, education, service, monitoring, fault finding, and repair.  http://www.saelig.com/picoscope-2200a/picoscope-2204a.htm

Very high speed performance in the 4 analog channel, 16 digital channel oscilloscope world!

 The PicoScope 6000E 4-channel oscilloscope series has grown to include 750MHz and 1GHz versions with active probe capability, bringing very high speed performance to the 4 analog channel, 16 digital channel oscilloscope world, with up to 5GSa/s real-time sampling and 4GSa deep memory!

 8, 10, or 12 bits ‘FlexRes’ resolution. The screen update rate is a remarkable 300,000 waveforms per second. An active probe interface on these scopes allows the use of optional matching 750MHz or 1.3GHz Active Probes. Pico ‘FlexRes’ flexible-resolution oscilloscopes allows the scope hardware to be configured to optimize either the sampling rate or the resolution: a fast (5GSa/s) 8-bit oscilloscope for looking at digital signals, a 10-bit oscilloscope for general-purpose use, or a high-resolution 12-bit oscilloscope for audio work and other sensitive analog applications.  All models can operate with an extra 4 bits of resolution with the enhanced vertical resolution software feature — a digital signal processing technique built into PicoScope 6, the complementary software.  Additionally, these oscilloscopes offer 8 or 16 optional digital channels when using the plug-in TA369 MSO pods, enabling accurate time-correlation of both analog and digital channels.   

All 6000E models include a 14-bit 200MSa/s 50MHz arbitrary waveform generator (AWG). Its variable sample clock avoids the jitter on waveform edges seen with some fixed-clock generators and allows the generation of accurate frequencies down to 100μHz.  AWG waveforms can be created or edited using the built-in editor, imported from oscilloscope traces, loaded from a spreadsheet or exported to a .csv file.  The SuperSpeed USB 3.0 interface and hardware acceleration ensure that the display is smooth and responsive, even with long captures.  The free PicoScope 6 software includes decoders for over 20 serial protocols, which other scope manufacturers CHARGE for!

http://www.saelig.com/category/picoscope-6000.htm

The Future of RF Power Measurement ...

PMX40 – The Future of RF Power Measurement

The Boonton PMX40 provides design engineers and technicians the utility of traditional benchtop instrument, the flexibility and performance of modern USB RF power sensors, and the simplicity of a multi-touch display built with Boonton award-winning technology. As a benchtop meter, the PMX40 provides a standalone solution for capturing, displaying, and analyzing peak and average RF power in both the time and statistical domains.  

      

Component Shortages and Counterfeit Components. HELP!!

 Recent worldwide IC shortages have opened the door for bad characters to exploit the starving electronic component marketplace with fake or counterfeit chips. Counterfeit chips are aimed at procurement officers whose production lines in danger of shutting down. A counterfeit chip might be a knock-off designed inexpensively from scratch as a drop-in replacement, or it might be a genuine-but-scavenged part, desoldered from an old PCB. Another trick is to repaint a similar size device with “authentic” markings. Some of these chips may even appear to work at first but then fail in service, perhaps when under a load or environment with which the original would have had no problem. 

In this video, Angela discusses this topic, covered in our latest Newsletter: dealing with the headache of Counterfeit Components - a real danger in these days of component shortage! 

https://youtu.be/NNNgT1u6K1Y

Comparing Conducted Emissions From LED Lamps

 EMC-guru Ken Wyatt penned an interesting article on this emissions topic, interestingly using equipment we sell!  HE says: "Radio frequency interference (RFI) to frequencies in the AM and shortwave broadcast bands has been on the increase in the last two decades, due primarily to switch-mode power supplies being used for environmental reasons. This affects reception not only in these bands, but military and amateur radio communications in the 1.8 to 30 MHz frequency bands as well. These emission sources produce interference that can affect radio reception from 100s of feet to a mile away, or more."

Read on here:  https://www.edn.com/comparing-conducted-emissions-from-led-lamps/

Evaluation Engineering Posts SAF Release!

Saelig's SAF Tehnika J0SSAP52 6GHz-20GHz Spectrum Compact Analyzer is an extremely portable handheld microwave spectrum analyzer that supports frequencies from 6GHz to 20GHz, with a sensitivity of -110dBm and a resolution bandwidth of 30kHz. Offering instant-on functionality, the rugged, IP54-rated, 5.31” x 3.27” x 1.34” lightweight (20oz) device has an internal battery for up to 4 hours of continuous use, and also has a USB-C port. SMA connectors integrate with commonly available antennas or waveguide systems.

https://www.evaluationengineering.com/applications/communications-test/press-release/21229858/saelig-handheld-spectrum-analyzer-enables-quick-rf-troubleshooting

http://www.saelig.com/category/saf-tehnika.htm

Top 5 Benefits of Mobile Devices in Healthcare

 In modern medicine, it is routine for doctors and nurses on the frontline to use hand-held devices to simplify and improve clinical practices. These include: Clinical decision-making, Health record maintenance, Communication, Time management, Education and training, Remote monitoring, Information management. Here are 5 top benefits of mobile deployment in healthcare.

1. Communication

2. Health Record Maintenance 

3. Clinical Decision Making

4. Efficiency 

5. Cost Reduction 

More:  https://snip.ly/veyxv4

Overcome the Complexity of RF Spectrum Monitoring

The solution? High Performance Spectrum Monitoring Solutions from thinkRF. Overcome the complexity of spectrum monitoring, detecting and analyzing complex and wideband signals with the best price-performance ratio available on the market. 

 http://www.saelig.com/category/think-rf.htm

#thinkRF #5g #5gnetworks #SIs #systemintegrators #iot #iotconnectivity #iiot #privatenetworks #missioncritical #RTSA #SIGINT #EW

Multi-mode Tracker in ID Card Format With Embedded Sensors

The Abeeway Smart Badge is a portable multi-mode tracker in ID card format with embedded sensors combining GPS, Low-power GPS, Wi-Fi Sniffer, BLE and LoRaWAN TDoA geolocation technologies, supporting accurate and continuous outdoor and indoor geolocation. Ideal for tracking, zone notification and monitoring of workforce safety and security. Simple to use, a single button gives access to numerous functions to personalize for your needs, e.g. as a Panic/SOS Button. A local zoning feature is able to signal danger zones with a 80db buzzer.   

https://snip.ly/t03mnq

FREE EMC SEMINAR by Consultant/Guru Kenneth Wyatt

 FREE SEMINAR by EMC consultant Kenneth Wyatt, who has seen many PCBs with EMC compliance failures. will explain how to design a proper stack-up and correct circuit routing for lowest EMI issues. Highly recommended!

• How energy moves and travels in a circuit board

• PCB design basics for low EMI

• How to create an optimal PCB stack-up for low EMI

• Common problems such as discontinuous signals

• Guidelines for bypass cap placement

• How to reduce ESL

• Why common rules of thumb no longer apply

http://snip.ly/4m8rzn

Blocking 5G and Preventing Car Theft!

 This video shows that Disklabs Faraday Bags blocks 5G signals. Here, we are using the TS2, (Tablet Shield Lab Edition), to demonstrate the effectiveness of these police-approved Faraday Bags are.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKcOO5Akjhk

This video shows how Disklabs pouches can prevent #cartheft: https://lnkd.in/gfry46R

#safety #automobile

http://www.saelig.com/category/disklabs.htm

Challenged in Testing Obsolete PCBs?

Obsolete PCBs or boards lacking circuit schematic diagrams present a conundrum when there’s a need for repair. Online searches for old datasheets may not be productive. What happens when obsolete boards must be fixed but there is only one “golden board” left?

The scenario often arises in the military sector where equipment has a long operational life but the original manufacturer may be long gone, and the relevant documentation is unobtainable. The military must maintain its equipment no matter how long ago a product was designed and assembled. The ability to repair or replace legacy components is essential for military readiness, but it can also be costly.

When systems have an operational life of upwards of 25 years, the support strategy for spares and repairs is critical. Product support often evaporates when companies are taken over, restructured, or closed. Rapidly changing technology also makes support problematic. Consumer products, for example, often lose support long before the end of their operating life. But obsolescence is unacceptable for a product lacking a physically and functionally identical (form/fit/function) replacement that is also part of a validated system having a long life. A change to a new component in critical equipment such as military gear or medical diagnostic machines may be enormously costly and could require recertifying the whole system.

See this article for the solution:  https://www.testandmeasurementtips.com/the-challenge-of-testing-obsolete-pcbs-faq/

Instant-on Ultra-portable Handheld 6-20GHz Microwave Spectrum Analyzer

The newly-introduced SAF Tehnika 6-20GHz Spectrum Analyzer J0SSAP52 is an innovative, low-cost, pocketable RF signal analyzer, providing best-in-class price/performance, and high durability at an attractive price, for quick troubleshooting of RF signals and wireless networks.  This instant-on, ultra-portable handheld microwave spectrum analyzer detects exceptionally weak signals with its high sensitivity of -110dBm and an functionality for quick start-up and operation. Measurements include channel power (total power in a specified bandwidth), adjacent channel power, signal bandwidth, center frequency, interference detection, mask measurements, and many more. Spectrum traces can be saved in the integrated 8GB memory, for offline analysis, investigation, and reporting using the free Spectrum Manager PC software supplied.  

http://www.saelig.com/pr/saf-spectrum-compact.html