Latest Test and Measurement News

High-Sensitivity Multiport Optical Power Meters

04 April 2013 – Agilent Technologies introduced the latest addition to its extensive optical power-meter portfolio. The two- channel N7747A and four-channel N7748A bring the industry-leading sensitivity of the 81634B sensor module to the compact multichannel N77 platform, with updated memory size and data-transfer speed. The Agilent N7747A and N7748A optical power meters enable engineers to make parallel multiport measurements and monitor weak signals and small signal changes with high precision.

The meters can detect power levels down to -110 dBm and log data at intervals down to 25 µs with up to 1 million points per channel. An equally large data buffer supports simultaneous measurement and data transfer.

With these features and specifications, the meters make it easy for engineers to monitor signal stability and transient events for long periods. Up to eight power-meter channels fit in a single 19-inch rack-height unit. Each channel also has a front-panel BNC connector that delivers analog output voltage proportional to the measured signal.

Like the faster N7744A and N7745A, these new power meters can be used with N77xx viewer software for simple control and reading and are programmable with the same set of SPCI commands as the rest of Agilent’s optical power-meter portfolio. The latest version of the popular 816x VXI plug&play driver also adds support for these products. Computer interfaces are provided for USB 2.0, LAN and GPIB.

In addition to high sensitivity, low noise and solid stability, the N7747A and N7748A also provide high relative accuracy like the 81634B modules, with extremely low polarization dependence and spectral ripple as well as specified linearity. This combines to make these power meters an excellent choice in setups for measuring insertion loss and lowest PDL in passive optical components.

The Agilent N7747A and N7748A high sensitivity multiport optical power meters will be available to order in May; shipments will begin in May.

www.agilent.com/find/N7747A/