Below are the questions asked during the live event, along with their respective answers.
Q: Do I need to buy all new accessories like cables and mating adapters for an FL8000 probe?
A: No, many of the accessories used for the FL7000 series are compatible with the FL8000 series probes. Please refer to the FL8000 spec sheet or contact AR for more detail.
Q: Can I use an FL8000 probe with my old FI7000 interface?
A: No, unfortunately. The FI8000 is backward compatible with the FL7000 probes, but the FI7000 does not support FL8000 probes.
Q: Does the FL8000 accept and use other brands of field probes?
A: No, unfortunately, there is no cross-brand compatibility.
Q: Is there a significant cost increase over the FL7000 series? CW E-Field measurements are sufficient for many applications.
A: No, there is not a significant price increase. We understand what the primary application is, and we priced the new probes as such. Please contact AR Sales for price info.
Q: How do you use the electric field? Could you give a few major application examples?
A: Really, I would refer to your appropriate testing standard. Many EMC standards require the use of electric field probes to measure the incident electric field. The test standard will dictate details on the usage and setup of the probes, as well as other equipment.
Q: Is the old FM7004 (non-A) monitor fully compatible?
A: Unfortunately, no. The ‘no-A’ version was discontinued some time ago, so only the ‘A’ version will be compatible with the FL8000 products.
Q: I couldn’t find probes for measuring 1 V/m field or less. These levels are encountered in space standards. Why is that?
A: Well, lower-frequency probes typically can measure down to 1 V/m, but the answer to your question comes down to dynamic range. In order to measure higher field strengths, the dynamic range must be shifted up, thus raising the lowest measurement capability of the product.
Q: What is the minimum pulse duration that the 18GHz probe can read?
A: 2 us (40 – 1000 V/m)
Usable to 1 us (70 – 1000 V/m)
Q: How much detail do you get out of the measurements? Does it measure the frequency as well as the field strength?
A: Just the field strength amplitude. The probes are not frequency-selective and only return an amplitude.
Q: If using a FM7004 for all measurements will there be any control software or driver changes needed?
A: As long as you’re using the FM7004A to communicate with an FI8000, no changes are needed.
Q: Do you have to change probe orientation during antenna horizontal/vertical RI calibration?
A: It really depends on the setup required by the test standard. Please refer to the appropriate test standard.
Q: Can this be used for 5G device measurements?
A: That depends. These field probes are designed to measure CW and some limited modulation envelopes. Please refer to the spec sheet to see if your environment can be measured by our probes.
Q: For IEC 61000-4-2?
A: No, these probes cannot be used to measure ESD per IEC 61000-4-2.
Asking if they can be used as sniffer probes for 5G devices?
A: Again, I would refer to the spec, but in a sniffer / pre-compliance sense these can certainly be used to measure SOMETHING.
How can we contact Flynn?
A:
Flynn Lawrence
Supervisor Applications Engineering
AR RF/Microwave Instrumentation
t: 215.723.8181 x434
m: 267.377.7748
e: flawrence@arworld.us
www.arworld.us