Products > Test Equipment
And what should we call this ?
tautech:
Recently a member was looking for advice on which of 2 sig gen instruments he should select however one being capable of just over 1 GHz and the other 2.4 GHz I suggested they should be more accurately called RF gens.
To my amazement many don't seem to think so and IMO recklessly refer to Function, Signal, Arbitrary Waveform and RF gens all as Signal generators. :-// :wtf:
Really great way to introduce more confusion into this industry where IMO each is a quite differently capable instrument operating in greatly different frequency bands.
IME with instruments I've owned and some I still do a 2 MHz Phillips PM 5131, 30 MHz Siglent SDG1032X, 520 MHz HP8654B or a 2.1 GHz Siglent SSG3021X are each so different from one another they cannot all be referred to as just a Sig gen. ::)
Customer contacts tautech for a sig gen ::) what exactly do you need sir ?
A sig gen, you know, something that generates signals. ::)
tautech begins producing his own smoke signals ....from ears.
Sir, what sort or signals and in what frequency range and amplitude requirement ?
Oh, something like what an arbitrary waveform generator can do.
Deep breath, budget sir ?
Please discuss.
xrunner:
Endless debates coming ... |O
RF generator - used to test receivers or intermediate stages of such. May output from 100 kHz to GHz range. Ideally can be modulated with a baseband signal ... internally or from a function generator.
Function generator - used to generate useful baseband stimulating signals such as square, sine, triangle, step for testing circuits and components. Can be used to modulate RF generator (see above).
Arbitrary function generator - used to create signals not available from the standard signals on the function generator.
pqass:
Although there are different names for more or less the same thing,
I've always understood it goes something like this...
If you can choose the general shape of the wave (square, triangle, sine, ramp, sawtooth), then it's a function generator.
If you can design your own wave shape, then it's an arbitrary waveform generator.
The above can both still have sweep or modulation (AM, FM); no name change needed.
But if the device only generates sine waves and has modulation (incl. exotic stuff) then it's a signal generator.
The above assumes that it can only produce a small* signal at its output. (* <10Vp-p into 50ohm; milliWatts)
Otherwise, it's a transmitter. :-)
RF or microwave only figure into it as the starting frequency, say 500KHz or 1GHz, respectively.
tautech:
Thanks those brave enough to answer thus far. :-+
However we should also add another in my mind determining factor, the signal output connector type as if further indicates specific use types, Banana, BNC, N type or some HF x mm type, 2.92mm for example.
vk6zgo:
Historically, most "Signal Generators" were either Audio Generators or RF ones.
As such things as Function Generators, Analog video waveform Generators, & Sweep generators became mainstream, they were normally referred to by their proper names.
The term "Signal Generator" normally referred to devices, of varying degrees of accuracy, which produced sinewaves, at selectable frequencies & amplitudes.
"Audio Generators" were commonly designed to possess as low a level of distortion & noise as possible, especially if they were used to supply the input signal to a DUT when testing for noise & distortion.
"RF Signal Generators" normally were designed to offer a high degree of frequency & output level accuracy, & in many cases provided
modulation facilities, such as AM or FM.
In places which used both types, it was usually obvious by the context which device was required, so "Signal Generator" was sufficient.
"RF Generator" in a Radio transmission site could mean the basic RF exciter for the transmitter.
Some companies called them "exciters" & others "RF Generators".
I would suggest the least ambiguous term for the test instrument is "RF Signal Generator".
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