Boonton 4530 Peak Power Meter User Manual - Manual (Page 86)

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Chapter 4 Boonton Electronics
Remote Operation 4530 Series RF Power Meter
READ:ARRay:AMEAsure:POWer
Description: Performs a single measurement and returns an array of automatic power measurements
performed on a sample population. Measurements performed are: peak power during the
pulse, average power over a full cycle of the pulse waveform, average power during the
pulse, IEEE top amplitude, IEEE bottom amplitude, and overshoot. Note the pulse ampli-
tude is returned in dB for log units, and percent for linear units. Also, the pulse “on”
interval used for peak and average power calculations is defined by the
SENSe:PULSe:STRTGT and :ENDGT time gating settings. A full pulse must be visible
to make average and peak pulse power measurements, and a full cycle of the waveform must
be visible to calculate average cycle power.
Syntax: READ[1|2]:ARRay:AMEAsure:POWer?
Returns: PulseOnPeak, PulseCycleAvg, PulseOnAvg, PulseTop, PulseBot, Overshoot
Valid Modes: Pulse mode only
Restrictions: Timespan must be set appropriately to allow measurements (see above)
READ:ARRay:AMEAsure:POWer
Description: Performs a single measurement and returns an array of automatic statistical measurements
performed on the sample population. Measurements performed are: long term average,
peak and minimum powers, peak-to-average ratio, power at each marker, statistical percent
at each marker, and the sample population size in megasamples. Note the peak-to-average
ratio is returned in dB for log units, and percent for linear units. Depending on the setting
of
MARKer:MODe , either the power or the percent can be the marker position, and the
opposite item will be the calculated value at that position.
Syntax: READ[1|2]:ARRay:AMEAsure:POWer?
Returns: Pavg, Ppeak, Pmin, PkToAvgRatio, Pwr@Mrk1, Pwr@Mrk2, Pct@Mrk1, Pct@Mrk2, SampCnt
Valid Modes: Statistical mode only
4.5.5 Native Mode Commands
The 4530 native instructions are not SCPI commands, and do not follow standard SCPI syntax. They are used for
special purposes - primarily as optimized queries issued in combination with SCPI configuration commands to return
measurements with significantly less overhead and higher speed than is possible using SCPI compliant queries. In
most cases, the data formats are similar to FETCh? queries, but a single native-mode query (“talkmode” command) is
issued in advance, and the measurement data is returned every time the 4530 is re-addressed. There is no need to
transmit the query command for each measurement - simply re-address the power meter as a talker. By processing the
measurement data to be returned in the desired format in advance and saving the overhead of transmitting a query for
each measurement, much higher sustained measurement speed is possible over the GPIB. Native mode supports all
SCPI instructions for compatibility. Note that in SCPI mode, the instrument returns data only in response to an explicit
query, while in native mode it will always return a value when addressed to talk. This can potentially result in some
confusion when interleaving control and measurement commands. See Section 4.7 for more information on program-
ming the power meter in native mode.