The Boonton 4540 series RF peak power meters consisting of the 1-channel 4541 and the 2-channel 4542 provide one of the most versatile power measuring systems with the capability of making over 20 different power related measurements on captured signals. The 4540 power meter can be operated with Boonton peak, CW power sensors, and voltage probes and can function as a CW and Peak power meter, statistical power analyzer and RF voltmeter. The instrument provides three basic power measurements – pulse power, modulated power and statistical power. Each mode is targeted towards a specific type of measurement which can be displayed both graphically and numerically.

The Boonton 4500B power meter is the instrument of choice for capturing, displaying, analyzing and characterizing RF power in both the time and statistical domains.

Pulsed signals used for radar, remote sensing and tracking, MRI medical imaging, and certain wireless communication applications such as WiMax & LTE have become increasingly complex to measure. The instruments used to measure these signals must have sufficient capability to account for synchronization changes within a burst of pulses to capture a specific region and measure the signal accurately. A Peak power meter with advanced trigger capabilities is an excellent tool for this purpose.

This Technical Note describes a trigger option useful for pulse power measurement in radar, remote sensing and tracking, and certain wireless communication applications such as TDMA and GSM.

This Technical Note describes storing data and documenting measurement results.

This Application Note describes an operating mode in the 4530 series peak power meter especially useful for high-speed production test applications.

This Application Note describes a method for obtaining and using probability functions to analyze the peak power of complex modulated RF signals.

When demonstrating the Boonton 4500B to customers, a question often arises regarding the nature of the shape of the observed pulse when viewing in logarithmic mode. The trailing edge appears to display a slow decay, and there can be concern that the instrument is not showing a faithful reproduction of the pulse. The following article explains this phenomenon, which is present for all diode power sensors regardless of manufacturer, and shows that it has a negligible effect on measurement.

In this application note we highlight how broadband LTE and WiFi power amplifier (PA) performance can be characterized using Boonton’s high performance USB peak power meter. Figure of merit measurements like input and output crest factor can be performed to characterize amplifier compression using highly dynamic and broadband LTE & WiFi signals. With the use of a directional coupler the USB peak power meter is transformed to make scalar-like measurements such as gain and return loss.

Boonton's 55 Series Wideband USB Peak Power sensor can easily be used for remote monitoring within your local network via a LAN (PoE - Power-over-Ethernet) or WiFi connection by using a standard WiFito- USB sharing device.

The Boonton 55 Series USB power sensor offers very fast, accurate and highly reliable RF power measurements with the capability of making over 16 automated pulse power measurements on captured pulsed RF signals.

This application note describes how the Boonton 55006 USB Peak Power Sensor can make fast and accurate time and statistical domain power measurements of Wi-Fi 802.11ac signals.

Gallium nitride (GaN) technology has become a staple for high power amplifiers (PAs) used in radar applications. Moreover, the high power and/or the radar application often require the signals to be pulsed.