141
Demodulating AM Signals
Measuring the Modulation Rate of an AM Signal
5 Set the center 
frequency, span, RBW 
and the sweep time.
a. Press FREQ Channel, 
Center Freq, 300, MHz.
b. Press SPAN X Scale, 
Span, 500, kHz.
c. Press BW, Res BW, 30, 
kHz.
d. Press Sweep/Control, 
Sweep Time, 20, ms.
6 Change the y-scale 
type to linear.
• Press AMPTD Y Scale, 
Scale Type (Lin).
The y-axis units will automatically set to 
volts.
7 Position the signal peak 
near the first graticule 
below the reference 
level.
• Press AMPTD Y Scale, 
Ref Level, (rotate 
front-panel knob).
8 Set the analyzer in zero 
span to make 
time-domain 
measurements
a. Press SPAN X Scale, Zero 
Span
b. Press Sweep/Control, 
Sweep Time, 5, ms
9 Use the video trigger to 
stabilize the trace.
• Press Trigger, Video. Since the modulation is a steady tone, you 
can use video trigger to trigger the analyzer 
sweep on the waveform and stabilize the 
trace, much like an oscilloscope. See 
Figure 10-1
If the trigger level is set too high or too low 
when video trigger mode is activated, the 
sweep stops. You need to adjust the trigger 
level up or down with the front-panel knob 
until the sweep begins again.
10Measure the AM rate 
using delta markers.
• Press Peak Search, 
Marker Delta, Next Right
 
or Next Left.
Use markers and delta markers to measure 
the AM rate. Place the marker on a peak 
and then use a delta marker to measure the 
time difference between the peaks (this is 
the AM rate of the signal)
Step Action Notes