USB Sensor Reads Power To 4 GHz

Aug. 29, 2012

New from Mini-Circuits, model PWR-4RMS is a true root-mean-square (RMS) power sensor that can measure the power levels of continuous-wave (CW) and modulated signals from 50 MHz to 4 GHz across a power-level range of -35 to +20 dBm. The pocket-sized sensor measures only 4.89 x 1.74 x 0.95 in. It is controlled by a Universal-Serial-Bus (USB) connection to a laptop or personal computer running a simple graphical-user-interface (GUI) program, which is provided on a compact disc (CD) with the power sensor. The sensor works with computers based on 32- or 64-b operating systems, including those running Linux or Windows operating systems. The USB power sensor features automatic frequency calibration and temperature compensation, and delivers 0.01-dB typical measurement resolution with 30-ms typical measurement speed. It can be used with a wide range of measurement programs, including with MATLAB and LabVIEW software. Its averaging functional can handle as many as 999 separate measurements.

About the Author

Jack Browne

Technical Contributor

Jack Browne, Technical Contributor, has worked in technical publishing for over 30 years. He managed the content and production of three technical journals while at the American Institute of Physics, including Medical Physics and the Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology. He has been a Publisher and Editor for Penton Media, started the firm’s Wireless Symposium & Exhibition trade show in 1993, and currently serves as Technical Contributor for that company's Microwaves & RF magazine. Browne, who holds a BS in Mathematics from City College of New York and BA degrees in English and Philosophy from Fordham University, is a member of the IEEE.