RF Amplifier for EMI Sniffing on an N1996A

[Gandalf_Sr]

I have an Agilent N1996A 6GHz Spectrum Analyzer and a set of Beehive sniffer probes and I want to go sniffing for pre compliance testing of new designs.

A friend suggested I buy a preamp such as the Mini Circuits ZX60-6013E-S+ which has a noise figure of 3.3 dB but I can't figure out if that will be any better than the built in (optional) 6 GHz preamp that's built into the N1996A.

Any thoughts, comments, or advice are welcome.

Thanks

[nctnico]

I'd use the built-in amplifier. The gain / frequency graph of the Mini-circuits amplifier isn't very flat while the internal pre-amplifier will be flat (either through calibration or design).

[Gandalf_Sr]

How about the noise figure? I can't figure out from the N1996A's documentation what the noise figure of the built in preamp is?  Can anyone shed any light on this?  The Mini Circuits preamp says 3.3 dB but the N1996A documentation is shown in the picture.

Surely when sniffing for EMI signals the lowest possible noise floor is what's needed?