Precision loads - low intermodulation and best performance
Nowadays, no development, production, testing, or quality control department that deals with RF signals on coaxial lines can afford to dispense with state-of-the-art high-precision equipment. It’s essential to use vector network analyzers (VNAs) in particular with high-precision connectors, terminations, and adapters.
Systematic errors can be fixed by calibrating the VNA. Different calibration standards with defined and known electrical characteristics are applied and compared to identify error coefficients. A technique called vector error correction is used to characterize error terms while applying known standards in order to remove errors from actual measurements and increase the accuracy of the results.
A VNA can be calibrated in different ways depending on the required degree of accuracy. The methods used differ in both the number and the type of the calibration standards applied.
The most commonly used calibration approaches are OSL (which stands for open-short-load) for single-port measurements and OSLT (for open-short-load-through) for multiple-port measurements. The order of the standards can vary in the designation; for example, the abbreviation SOLT is occasionally used synonymously.
Test setups or systems terminated with a load ideally should be free of intermodulation to avoid distorting the test results. A 0.25 W precision load DC-40 GHz 2.92 mm female load is boasting outstanding Passive Intermodulation values and is suitable for terminating a 50 Ω coaxial system over the frequency range of DC to 40 GHz. It has been developed for indoor use in laboratories and is made of lead-free and BeO-free materials.
This product has gold-plated connections and is based on the better quality classes of the IEEE, ICE standards with regard to lower tolerances. SPINNER also uses the term ‘precision’ here to emphasize the suitability for exceptionally high-precision measurements.
The 2.92 mm coaxial connector is a reliable connector system that works up to approx. 40 GHz and is used in RF measurement laboratories, on high power components, calibration and verification standards. It is also known as a Type-K connector. A 2.92 mm coax interface can be mechanically mated with 3.5 mm and SMA connector systems, but the connection creates a signal reflection that must be considered. It was the predecessor of the 1.85 mm connector size. Compared to the 3.5 mm connector system, the 2.92 mm interface has a shorter inner conductor pin that allows the outer conductor to be aligned before the inner conductor makes contact. Therefore, the 2.92 mm connector is less susceptible to damage in industrial use.
SPINNER RF measurement components meet highest standards
SPINNER has set new standards of accuracy with this product line, which includes a large family of coaxial test equipment with outstanding electrical and mechanical attributes for use in laboratory and production environments.
For the production SPINNER applies extremely high standards regarding quality, engineering, materials and manufacturing e.g. DIN EN ISO 9001 - Quality Management, DIN EN ISO 14001 - Environmental Management and ISO 50001:2011 - Energy Management. This enables us to offer precision loads with the best possible performance and lowest possible intermodulation (Low PIM).
