Posted to News on 9th Jan 2008, 16:55
True RMS RF power meter is powered by USB cable
National Instruments is launching the company's first USB-controlled true RMS RF power meter for automated test, measurement and monitoring applications. Highly versatile and with a small footprint, the 6GHz NI USB-5680 power meter features high measurement accuracy and wide dynamic range packaged in a size similar to a typical power head. In automated test applications, the small size frees up valuable rack space without sacrificing performance. Powered solely from the USB cable, the new power meter is also suitable for portable applications because it consumes only 100mA of current without the need for an external power supply.
Traditional power meters feature a power sensor or head located close to the unit under test and a cable to connect it to an accurate A/D converter located in a conventional instrumentation housing. Using the latest PC and A/D converter technologies, the USB-5680 combines both the sensor and the A/D converter in one package occupying less than 9.6 cubic inches - which is much smaller than the benchtop equivalent. The USB-5680 simply connects directly to an available USB port on any PC or PXI controller.
With a broad frequency range, high dynamic range and precise measurement accuracy, the USB-5680 true RMS power meter can be used for a broad range of applications. Features include:
- Small size: 85 x 30 x 56mm (3.35 x 1.18 x 2.2in)
- Wide frequency range: 50MHz to 6GHz
- High dynamic range: 63dB
- Amplitude accuracy: +/-0.18dB
To realise full instrumentation capabilities, the USB-5680 comes with a full-featured, executable soft front panel and intuitive, easy-to-use software libraries to help engineers quickly set up their systems.
Engineers who need to measure continuous wave RF signals up to 6GHz can use the USB-5680 in a standalone configuration with a VXI plug-and-play-compatible executable soft front panel to facilitate interactive control. To incorporate the USB-5680 in an automated test and measurement system, engineers simply use the intuitive application programming interface (API) with their programming environments of choice including NI LabVIEW, LabWindows/CVI and the Microsoft .NET environment.
The NI USB 5680 6GHz USB RF power meter is priced from 1599. For more information, visit www.ni.com/rf or use the form on this page to request a callback or more information.
About NI Modular Instruments
NI modular instruments are the building blocks for economical and versatile automated test systems. With modular instruments, engineers specify the essential functionality they require - choosing from a wide variety of measurement, signal generation, RF, power and switch modules. Then they configure the instruments in software for their specific measurement tasks. Because these instruments are modular and software-defined, they are quickly interchanged and easily repurposed to meet the challenge of evolving test needs.
As an added advantage, NI modular instruments offer high-speed test execution by harnessing the power of industry-standard PC and advanced timing and synchronisation technologies. Options are available for a variety of platforms including PXI, PXI Express, PCI, PCI Express and USB.
The product family includes:
- Digitisers/oscilloscopes (up to 24 bits, up to 2GS/s, up to eight channels)
- Signal generators (up to 16 bits, 200MS/s)
- Digital waveform generator/analysers (up to 400Mb/s)
- RF signal generators and analysers (up to 6.6GHz)
- Digital multimeters (up to 7.5 digits, LCR)
- Programmable power supplies (up to 20W, 16 bits)
- Dynamic signal analysers (up to 24 bits, 500kS/s)
- Switching (multiplexers, matrices, general-purpose and RF)
For more information, visit www.ni.com/rf or use the form on this page to request a callback or more information.
National Instruments Corporation (UK) Ltd
Measurement House, Newbury Business Park
London Road
RG14 2PZ
UNITED KINGDOM
+44 (0)1635 523545
