COBHAM AEROFLEX 8800S Instruction Manual

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Basic Transceiver tests with the 8800S

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Basic Interconnects
Interconnect 1 – Basic Transmitter / Receiver tests
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For basic Transmitter and
Receiver tests, connect the
8800S TR port to the Radio
ANT port.
RF Test cable
The TR port on the 8800S is a bi-directional RF port that can
generate a signal to test a receiver as well as measure
transmitter characteristics like Power, Frequency and Modulation.
This port is rated at 50 Watts input. Measurements to 125 Watts
are possible observing Duty cycle to prevent over heating.

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Access to built in Presets
•The small tab at the top center of
the display allows access to the
launch bar.
•Simply touch the tab and the
launch bar will expand.
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•Press the Utilities
tab and then the
Presets menu to
rapidly configure
the 8800S for
either Analog or
Digital testing.
Presets quickly configure
standard tile selections
and locations.

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Access to built in setup files
•Setup files store complete
instrument configurations that
include all settings.
•To open the menu, simply touch
the tab and the menu will expand.
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•Press the Utilities
tab and then the
Store / Recall item
to gain access to
the pre-configured
test setups that
are within every
instrument.
Every 8800S is pre-
configured with a large
group of sample setups to
configure the instrument
for a variety of basic tests.

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Store / Recall Navigation
•When first entering the
Store/Recall menu, a folder
named “Sample Setups” will
be visible.
•To enter the folder, touch
or highlight the Sample
Setups item on the list then
press the icon to enter
the folder.
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The Sample Setups
•After entering the Sample
Setups folder, there are a
variety of basic test folders
available.
•This presentation will show
some of the ones available for
FM and AM transceiver testing.
•Highlight the Analog FM folder
and press the icon to enter
the folder.
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Configure the 8800S for FM Transmitter test
•Highlight the TX_Test_FM
setup file and press the
Recall button.
•This will configure the
8800S to perform basic
FM transmitter tests.
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Measure TX Frequency and Power
1. Zero the Power meter.
2. Connect the transmitter as
illustrated on slide 1.
3. Enter the transmitter frequency
on the Receiver Tile.
4. Key the transmitter.
5. Measure and record the RF
Error. This is the transmitter
frequency error.
6. Measure and record the RF
Power Avg reading. This is the
Transmit Power level.
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Always Zero the Power
meter before taking power
measurements.

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Improving the power measurement
•If the loss of the test cable is
known, the power meter can be
compensated by that amount by
entering the cable offset value as a
negative number on the Expanded
Receiver tile.
•After entering this offset, the
transmitter output now reads 3.26
watts. This radio had been
configured to transmit at 3.2 Watts
in this frequency band.
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Measure Modulation (Basic Check)
•A basic transmitter modulation
check can be done after making the
following changes to the current
setup.
1. Press the Home button on the
8800S front panel.
2. Press the Speaker control to
enable the speaker.
3. Press the Home button again to
minimize the menu.
4. Note that Audio Volume and
Squelch controls are also
available on this menu. These
may need to be adjusted later as
necessary.
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Home Button

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Measure Modulation (Basic Check)
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•On the AF Gen tile, press the Fast
Stack icon until the Audio Config
tile is revealed.
•Press the icon on the Audio
Config tile to reveal the audio signal
routing table.
•Establish the following routings:

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Measure Modulation (Basic Check)
•Key the transmitter under test
and speak into the radio
microphone.
•Audio should be heard in the
8800S speaker.
•Voice modulation should be
visible on the Oscilloscope.
•Modulation value should be
visible on the Modulation
meter.
•For AM Modulation testing,
change the Demod value on
the Receiver tile from FM to
AM.
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To measure sub-audible
tones, set the AFBW value to
300 Hz LP to filter out audio
signals above 300 Hz.

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Measure Modulation (Advanced Check)
•To externally modulate the
transmitter with a tone, connect
the 8800S Audio Out port to the
radio’s Microphone input.
•The AF Gen tile can then be used
to apply a tone to modulate the
transmitter.
•Additional testing of Transmitter
distortion and microphone
sensitivity can now be
performed.
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Measure Modulation (Advanced Check)
•With the radio keyed and
connected as shown in the
previous slide, additional
measurements can be made.
•Enable the AF Gen and adjust
the AF Gen Level to achieve
the desired modulation
results.
•Measure the transmitter
distortion.
•Turn the AF Generator OFF
when testing is complete.
•Note: The RF Generator must
not be Enabled when doing
this test.
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Additional signaling formats
•Expanding the AF Generator
tile reveals a number of other
signaling formats that can be
used instead of a steady state
tone.
•The tabs on the side can be
used to access:
–Two Tone
–Tone Remote
–Tone Sequential
•Each selection will reconfigure
the tile for the selected
operation.
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Basic Receiver Test
•To test the radio receiver,
recall the RX_Test_FM setup
file from the Store / Recall
screen from the Utilities –
Store / Recall menu.
•Select the sample setup
RX_Test_FM setup file and
press the Recall button.
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Basic Receiver Test
•On the Generator Tile, enter the
radio’s receive frequency in the
Frequency entry field.
•Enable the RF Generator (On).
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Basic Receiver Test
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•On the Freq Select tile, press the
Fast Stack icon until the Audio
Config tile is revealed.
•Press the icon on the Audio
Config tile to reveal the audio signal
routing table.
•Establish the following routings:

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Basic Receiver Test
•On the Audio Config tile, select the Fast
Stack icon to reveal the Modulation tile.
•The default setting for this setup is
modulation at a 1 kHz rate at 2.5 kHz
deviation. Both values may be modified as
necessary.
•Pressing the Expand icon reveals a
second modulator that may be used in
addition to the first. The two tones will be
summed and applied to the generator
modulator.
•Audio should now be heard from the
receiver under test. The radio’s volume and
squelch settings may need to be adjusted.
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Basic Receiver Test
•For AM Receiver testing, change the
Modulation mode from FM to AM on
the Modulation tile.
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