Atec Agilent-N432A - Manual (Page 3)

3
We Listened to the Industry, Then Delivered a Better and Easier
Replacement Solution for the Legacy 432A Analog Power Meter
As today’s power measurements
become more complex, it is increas-
ingly difficult to make reliable, accu-
rate power measurements. For more
than 40 years, you’ve depended on
Agilent’s 432A analog power meter,
used with temperature compensated
thermistor sensors to provide high
accuracy over a wide temperature
range.
LXI Class-C compliant N432A
The N432A is a single-channel, aver-
age RF power measurement meter
that supports thermistor sensors. The
N432A has the capability to measure
and display average power, RF bridge
voltages (V
RF0
and V
RF1
), compensation
bridge voltages (V
COMP0
and V
COMP1
),
V
0
, and V
1
. It is also provided with a
set of features such as zeroing and a
built-in self-test.
Developed using LXI technology,
the N432A is an LXI Class-C compli-
ant instrument.
1 The N432A basic
configuration consists of two key
sections: bridge and meter logic.
When a compatible thermistor sensor
is connected to the N432A, the RF
and compensation bridge circuits
are formed in the bridge section. V
RF
,
which is the voltage at the top of the
RF bridge, is responsive to both input
RF power and ambient temperature
changes. On the other hand, V
COMP
,
which is the voltage at the top of the
compensation bridge, is responsive
only to ambient temperature changes.
The V
RF
and V
COMP
values are used in
calculating the RF power. Meanwhile,
the meter logic section processes V
RF
and V
COMP
to produce a meter current
proportional to RF power.
In general, the N432A is an
easy-to-use instrument, especially
with the availability of an integrated
Web browser that provides a con-
venient way to view and modify the
instrument network configuration.
Besides the LAN interface, the N432A
also supports industry standard GPIB
and USB interfaces for measurement
automation.
Today, the Agilent N432A digital
thermistor power meter, loaded with
enhancements, including a color
digital display, and intuitive front
panel interface will continue support
your measurement needs with greater
capability and expanded functionality.
Best of all, you can get these extras
at just a fraction of the price of the
legacy 432A.
1. LXI, an acronym for LAN eXtension for Instrumentation, is an instrument standard for devices that use the Ethernet (LAN) as their primary
communication interface.