A compact and cost-effective alternative to bulky and expensive RF test equipment has been the dream of many engineers. Elite RF tasked its engineers to develop a multi-purpose RF test equipment product that would be a workhorse for the RF engineer. The goals were to be as versatile as possible, have a small footprint — yet remain affordable compared to the typical RF test equipment on the market. The S-Series Pro product line is the result of that development. The new & innovative S-Series Pro Multi-Purpose RF Test System. It is a flexible alternative to expensive & bulky RF test equipment and can be used for R&D characterization on the bench, EMC assessment and automated production test in the factory. The RF test equipment built into the S-Series Pro can be used standalone or with other external equipment. Base Model is controllable via a USB port with on screen GUI. Compatible computer required along with included S-Series Pro software.

The S Series Pro with controller features:

• Spectrum Analyzer
• RF Tracking Generator
• Dual Signal Generator
• RF Power Amplifier
• 4 Channel Scope
• RF Power Meter
• 17″ or 28″ display
• USB Ports
• HDMI Output
• LAN
• Internet Access
• Keyboard and trackpad

TEST BENCH IN A BOX

The S-Series Pro is a general-purpose, all-inclusive RF test bench in one enclosure. The RF equipment built into the S-Series Pro can be used stand-alone or with other external equipment.
All of the instruments are accessible through front panel connectors. With the Controller/Monitor options instrument settings are controlled with a wireless keyboard and mouse, which are provided with the instrument. The optional controller unit has Ethernet, USB and Wi-Fi interfaces and an HDMI connector, to connect an external monitor, which allows viewing multiple instrument displays at the same time. The Ethernet and Wi-Fi interfaces enable connection to the internet to access data sheets, test specifications and other documents during testing.
The system software, built on a general-purpose PC platform running Windows 10, allows independent control of the instruments. Each instrument has a unique software application that runs on the PC and can work with other software on the PC. As one example, a Labview test program developed for the system, block or circuit being tested can automatically control the internal instruments to provide a unique RF test environment. The Labview environment can be viewed and controlled using the monitor (internal or external), keyboard and mouse. Power for the instruments and integrated power amplifiers (depending on the model) is provided from modular power supplies and a centralized power distribution circuit board. The power supplies are compatible with 100 to 240 VAC power lines.

TEST, MEASURE AND ANALYZE EXAMPLES
Power Amplifiers: Power amplifier testing uses the signal generator, spectrum analyzer and power meter. The measurement setup only requires the S-Series Pro product and a power supply and external pads for the amplifier being tested. In this example, the harmonic performance of the amplifier, which is putting out 10W at 915 MHz, is measured with the spectrum analyzer. While all the measurement windows are open and tiled on the external monitor, the display can be configured to show only one of the instruments, such as the spectrum analyzer for a closer view of the amplifier’s harmonics.

Setup and Calibration of an Amplifier: In this example, the S-Series Pro is used to calibrate an M-Series power amplifier, which covers 500 to 2500 MHz and provides 25 W output power. The M-Series power amplifier can be calibrated using the built-in functions of the S-Series Pro. To calibrate the power and detected voltage across the frequency band, the test setup uses the signal generator and power meter with a custom program written to store the detected voltage versus power and frequency in the M-Series memory. The power meter measures the output power and gain, and the spectrum analyzer measures the harmonic and spurious signal levels.

Scalar Network Analysis: The spectrum analyzer and tracking generator can be combined to create a scalar network analyzer, to measure the insertion loss of a filter, attenuator or amplifier. Used with a directional coupler, this test setup also measures return loss.