Agilent Technologies 11970 Series User manual

Agilent 11970 Series
Harmonic Mixers
User’s Guide
This manual provides documentation for the
following harmonic mixers:
K, A, Q, U, V, and W Models

Notices
© Agilent Technologies, Inc. 2011
No part of this manual may be reproduced
in any form or by any means (including
electronic storage and retrieval or transla-
tion into a foreign language) without prior
agreement and written consent from Agi-
lent Technologies, Inc. as governed by
United States and international copyright
laws.
Manual Part Number
11970-90035
Supersedes: 11970-90031
Print Date
April 2011
Printed in USA
Agilent Technologies, Inc.
1400 Fountaingrove Parkway
Santa Rosa, CA 95403
Warranty
The material contained in this doc-
ument is provided “as is,” and is
subject to being changed, without
notice, in future editions. Further,
to the maximum extent permitted
byapplicablelaw, Agilent disclaims
all warranties, either express or
implied, with regard to this manual
and any information contained
herein, including but not limited to
the implied warranties of mer-
chantability and fitness for a par-
ticular purpose. Agilent shall not
be liable for errors or for incidental
or consequential damages in con-
nection with the furnishing, use, or
performance of this document or of
any information contained herein.
Should Agilent and the user have a
separate written agreement with
warranty terms covering the mate-
rial in this document that conflict
with these terms, the warranty
terms in the separate agreement
shall control.
Technology Licenses
The hardware and/or software described
in this document are furnished under a
license and may be used or copied only in
accordance with the terms of such license.
Restricted Rights Legend
If software is for use in the performance
of a U.S. Government prime contract or
subcontract, Software is delivered and
licensed as “Commercial computer soft-
ware” as defined in DFAR 252.227-7014
(June 1995), or as a “commercial item” as
defined in FAR 2.101(a) or as “Restricted
computer software” as defined in FAR
52.227-19 (June 1987) or any equivalent
agency regulation or contract clause. Use,
duplication or disclosure of Software is
subject to Agilent Technologies’ standard
commercial license terms, and non-DOD
Departments and Agencies of the U.S.
Government will receive no greater than
Restricted Rights as defined in FAR
52.227-19(c)(1-2) (June 1987). U.S. Gov-
ernment users will receive no greater than
Limited Rights as defined in FAR 52.227-
14 (June 1987) or DFAR 252.227-7015
(b)(2) (November 1995), as applicable in
any technical data.
Safety Notices
CAUTION
A CAUTION notice denotes a
hazard. It calls attention to an
operating procedure, practice, or
the like that, if not correctly per-
formed or adhered to, could result
in damage to the product or loss of
important data. Do not proceed
beyond a CAUTION notice until
the indicated conditions are fully
understood and met.
WARNING
A WARNING notice denotes a
hazard. It calls attention to an
operating procedure, practice,
or the like that, if not correctly
performed or adhered to, could
result in personal injury or
death. Do not proceed beyond a
WARNING notice until the indi-
cated conditions are fully
understood and met.

In This Guide…
This guide contains the following information:
1 General Information
This chapter covers equipment supplied, the mixers and options that are covered in this manual, as well as
specifications and environmental limitations regarding the mixer.
2 Operation
Refer to this chapter for information on how to make effective use of the 11970 mixers.
3 Service
This chapter covers care and maintenance of the mixer, a list of replaceable parts and accessories, as well
as contact information for additional assistance.

Certification
Agilent Technologies certifies that this product met its published specifications at the time of shipment
from the factory. Agilent Technologies further certifies that its calibration measurements are traceable to
the United States National Institute of Standards and Technology, to the extent allowed by the Institute's
calibration facility, and to the calibration facilities of other International Standards Organization members.
Warranty
This Agilent Technologies instrument product is warranted against defects in material and workmanship
for a period of one year from date of shipment. During the warranty period, Agilent Technologies will, at
its option, either repair or replace products which prove to be defective.
For warranty service or repair, this product must be returned to a service facility designated by Agilent
Technologies. Buyer shall prepay shipping charges to Agilent Technologies and Agilent Technologies shall
pay shipping charges to return the product to Buyer. However, Buyer shall pay all shipping charges, duties,
and taxes for products returned to Agilent Technologies from another country.
Agilent Technologies warrants that its software and firmware designated by Agilent Technologies for use
with an instrument will execute its programming instructions when properly installed on that instrument.
Agilent Technologies does not warrant that the operation of the instrument, or software, or firmware will
be uninterrupted or error-free.

LIMITATION OF WARRANTY
The foregoing warranty shall not apply to defects resulting from improper or inadequate maintenance by
Buyer, Buyer-supplied software or interfacing, unauthorized modification or misuse, operation outside of
the environmental specifications for the product, or improper site preparation or maintenance.
NO OTHER WARRANTY IS EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED. AGILENT TECHNOLOGIES
SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIMS THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND
FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
EXCLUSIVE REMEDIES
THE REMEDIES PROVIDED HEREIN ARE BUYER’S SOLE AND EXCLUSIVE REMEDIES.
AGILENT TECHNOLOGIES SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, SPECIAL,
INCIDENTAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, WHETHER BASED ON CONTRACT, TORT, OR
ANY OTHER LEGAL THEORY.
Assistance
Product maintenance agreements and other customer assistance agreements are available for Agilent
Technologies products.
For any assistance, contact your nearest Agilent Technologies Office listed on page 63.
This guide uses the following conventions:
Instrument Key This represents a key physically located on the instrument, or a key with a label that is
determined by the instrument firmware.
Screen Text This indicates text displayed on the spectrum analyzer screen.

Contents
7
1. General Information
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Equipment Supplied . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Mixers Covered by Manual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
11970 Series Harmonic Mixers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Spectrum Analyzer Retrofit Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Environmental Limitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2. Operation
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Operating Precautions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Getting Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Mixer Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Using the Mixers with the E4407B Spectrum Analyzer (Option AYZ) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Set up the equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Using the Mixers with the E4440A, E4446A, or E4448A
PSA Series Spectrum Analyzer (Option AYZ) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Set up the equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Using the 11970A, Q, U, V, and W Mixers with the
X- Series Signal Analyzers (Option EXM) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Set up the equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Amplitude Calibration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Loading Conversion Loss Data for the PXA Signal Analyzer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Signal ID . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Image Shift . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Using the Mixers with the 856X Series Spectrum Analyzers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Set up the equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Select the Frequency Band . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Save the average conversion-loss value . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Signal Identification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Identify signals with the frequency-shift method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Identify signals in wide frequency spans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Using the Mixers with MMS Analyzers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Preliminary Operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Conversion Loss Versus Frequency Correction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Using the Mixers with the 8566B Spectrum Analyzer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Set up the equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Amplitude Calibration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Signal Identification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
3. Service
Maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Repairs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Replaceable Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Circuit Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

8
Contents

9
1 General Information

10
General Information
Introduction
Introduction
The Agilent Models 11970K, 11970A, 11970Q, 11970U, 11970V and 11970W are general-purpose
harmonic mixers with very flat frequency response characteristics and low conversion loss. Collectively,
they cover the frequency range of 18 to 110 GHz. The 11970K covers the 18 - 26. 5 GHz range; the
11970A, the 26.5 - 40 GHz range; the 11970Q, the 33 - 50 GHz range; the 11970U, the 40 - 60 GHz
range; the 11970V, the 50 - 75 GHz range; and the 11970W, the 75 - 110 GHz range.
The overall local oscillator (LO) frequency range of the 11970 Series Mixers is 3.0 to 6.1 GHz. Each of
the mixers employs a different LO harmonic, and as a result has a different optimum LO range within the
overall LO range of the series.
An 8 1/2 by 11 inch conversion losss table and chart is included with each mixer shippment. There is also
electronic media included that is used to download the conversion loss data into a few of the Spectrum
Analyzers documented in this user’s guide. This conversion loss data table must be employed for
absolute amplitude measurements. Also supplied with each mixer are five screws (four required) for
attaching the mixer RF input flange to the waveguide.
Equipment Supplied
Waveguide Connector Screws
Five hex-head screws are supplied with each mixer. Four are required to make the mixer-to-waveguide
connection, one is a spare. Use ONLY the screws supplied to attach the mixer to the waveguide. Because
of slight differences in the way the mixers couple with the waveguide, the square-flange mixers (11970K
and 11970A) and the round-flange mixer (11970Q, 11970U, 11970V and 11970W) require different
screws.
If your mixer has a square waveguide flange, use four hex-head screws with Part Number 3030-0221. If
it has a round waveguide flange, use four hex-head captive screws with Part Number 1390-0671. The
special balldriver hex screwdriver available in the Option 009 Mixer Connector Kit simplifies
installation of the waveguide connector screws.
NOTE See Chapter 3 , “Service.” for a list of replacement parts.
Mixers Covered by Manual
Serial Numbers
Attached to your mixer is a label, which shows both the mixer model number and its serial number (two
parts). The first four digits and the letter of the serial number are the serial number prefix; the last five
digits are the suffix. The contents of this manual apply to mixers with the serial number prefixes listed
under “Serial Number Prefixes” on the title page of this manual.