How to Use a Variable Optical Attenuator module Setting Attenuation and/or Power Levels
Agilent 8163A/B, 8164A/B, and 8166A/B User’s Guide, Fourth Edition 193
• Before taking a power measurement, make sure the source is
warmed up so that its power output is stable.
• It is good practice to zero the powermeters in your test setup . Refer
to “How to Remove Electrical Offsets” on page 85.
– To zero the powermeter incorporated in the Attenuator module,
press [Menu] , then select <Zero>.
– To zero all the powermeters hosted by the same mainframe as the
Attenuator module (including the Attenuator module and, for
example, the powermeter incorporated in a return loss module),
press [Menu] , then select <Zero All>.
• To set the measurement Averaging Time used by the powermeter
incorporated in the Attenuator module, press [Menu] , select
<Averaging Time>, press [OK], select your preferred Averaging
Time, press [OK], then press [Close].
As with any powermeter, a longer Averaging Time increases
accuracy and noise rejection, but increases response time.
Calibration Procedure The power level measured by the integrated powermeter at the output
of the module is displayed as P
actual
. To calibrate your test setup, you
apply a P
Offset
to calibrate for the patchcord and connector losses that
occur between the Attenuator module output and the DUT input.
After calibration, you edit the Attenuator’s P
SET
parameter to control
the absolute power applied to the DUT.
1 Disconnect the DUT input in your test setup and connect it to your
reference powermeter.
– Set the λ parameter for the reference powermeter to the source
wavelength or, for a multi-wavelength DWDM signal, the effective
wavelength λ
effective
.
Refer to “Multi-wavelength DWDM signals” on page 190.
– Set an appropriate measurement <Averaging Time>.
2 Display the details screen for the Attenuator module.
– Make sure the λ parameter set for the Attenuator module
matches the source wavelength or, for a multi-wavelength DWDM
signal, λ
effective
.
– Make sure that the Averaging Time set for the integrated
powermeter matches that set for the reference powermeter.
3 If the reference powermeter is hosted by the same mainframe as the
Attenuator module:
– Select the P
Offset
field,
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