Setting Attenuation and/or Power Levels How to Use a Variable Optical Attenuator module
206 Agilent 8163A/B, 8164A/B & 8166A/B Mainframes, Sixth Edition
Figure 123  shows an α 
Offset 
of 1.651 dB ‘added in’ to the attenuation factor α to 
calibrate for intrinsic insertion losses in the test setup.
815676A/77A modules
The [PM -> Off ] softkey offered by the α 
Offset 
parameter is functionally equivalent 
to the [PM -> Off ] softkey offered by the P
Offset
 parameter. You can use the [PM -
> Off ] softkey to offset the difference between the power measured by the 
internal powermeter and your reference powermeter, as described “Calibrating 
Test Setups that use an 81576A/77A Attenuator module” on page 209.
•When the α 
Offset
 parameter is selected, [PM -> Off ] writes to α 
Offset
•When the P
Offset
 parameter is selected, [PM -> Off ] writes to P 
Offset
 
These functions are mathematically identical.
Neither function is a measurement of total intrinsic insertion loss as described in 
“81570A/71A/73A/78A modules” on page 204, since the insertion loss of the 
Attenuator module itself is not included.
The Dsp -> Off softkey 
For all Attenuator modules, the [Dsp -> Off ] softkey offered by the α parameter 
copies the negative of the current value of α into α 
Offset
 . The α field now displays 
zero, and ‘Offs’ is displayed to show that the offset has been applied.
You can now set the α parameter relative to α 
Offset
 .