TSP #257 - Agilent E5052A 7GHz Signal Source Analyzer Teardown, Repair & Experiments

In this episode Shahriar takes a look at a faulty E5052A signal source analyzer. Despite their age, these signal-source analyzers are highly sought after and very valuable. Although the analyzer can measure phase noise, it reports the incorrect input signal power across frequency. Initial assessments shows that the reported measured power varies wildly across the band. The system block diagram is shown and principle operation of the instrument is described. From there, a few measurements are devised to verify the operation of the detectors, power splitter, etc. The problem is traced down to a broken connector on a custom resistive power divider. After the repair, the instrument reports the correct power. The overall performance is verified by measuring the phase noise of a Signal House PNCS-1 using cross correlation techniques. www.TheSignalPath.com    / thesignalpath​​​   www.Patreon.com/TheSignalPath