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145Operating Manual 1176.7510.02 ─ 09
2.7.4 Measuring Signals in the Vicinity of Noise
The minimum signal level a signal analyzer can measure is limited by its intrinsic noise.
Small signals can be swamped by noise and therefore cannot be measured. For sig-
nals that are just above the intrinsic noise, the accuracy of the level measurement is
influenced by the intrinsic noise of the signal analyzer.
The displayed noise level of a signal analyzer depends on its noise figure, the selected
RF attenuation, the selected reference level, the selected resolution and video band-
width and the detector. The effect of the different parameters is explained in the follow-
ing.
Impact of the RF attenuation setting
The sensitivity of a signal analyzer is directly influenced by the selected RF attenua-
tion. The highest sensitivity is obtained at a RF attenuation of 0 dB. The attenuation
can be set in 10 dB steps up to 70 dB. Each additional 10 dB step reduces the sensitiv-
ity by 10 dB, i.e. the displayed noise is increased by 10 dB.
Advanced Measurement Examples
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