COMM-connect SWR TRUE User manual
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SWR TRUE
Antenna Analyzer
EDITION NOTICE:
This publication applies to COMM-connect A/S SWR True type 3013 SWR Analyzer
product hardware release “1A“and software release 3013 suffix 3B.
©2008
Operators Manual
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
General Safety
General Information
Description
Options
Battery and Charging
Warranty
Connections
Operating
Front Panel
Power On/O
Center Frequency
Frequency Span
Marker
Hold and Copy
Menus
Backlight
Y Scale
X Scale
Time/Date
Info
Settings
Measurements
Specications
XML Feature
Accessories
Conversion Tables
Abbreviations
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GENERAL SAFETY:
SWR TRUE should only be used for its intended purpose and never be con- nected
to cables carrying hazardous voltages.
When handling NiMh batteries great care should be observed preventing polarity
reversal and short circuit as the batteries may explode or catch re
GENERAL INFORMATION.
Description:
e SWR TRUE instrument is an Antenna Analyzer for analyzing Antennas and
feeder cable VSWR or Return loss. e instrument measure the return loss by using
a Wheatstone RF bridge, a detector and a RF Generator. e control of the entire
instrument is by a microprocessor. e microprocessor is running in a MOP (Micro
Operating Program) environment. e MOP schedule and execute all tasks required
to handle the LCD Screen, the Key- board, e RF generator, USB interface, serial
interface, time of day clock and measurement calculations.
e RF generator covers the frequency range from 30MHz to 2700MHz by using
two PLL generator covering 650MHz to 1450MHz and 1450MHz to 2700MHz. e
low frequency range from 30MHz to 650MHz is covered by mixing the two PLL
generators.
e instrument has a built in time of day clock. is clock is used to identify the
output les going to either USB or serial interface.
Options:
e XML Data option, this option will allow the user to enter specic data into
the instrument regarding Operator name, Location of Object, Type of Object. e
feature will have an XML le viewer or the data could be used in all PC programs
supporting XML data format ( Microso, LINUX etc.)
Remote Control, this option will allow the instrument to be controlled by the USB
B type serial interface. e setup going to the instrument and the measurement data
coming from the instrument can be a part of a large test system.
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Options continued:
Accessory Kit, this kit contains a So carrying bag, adaptors from the “N” female on
the instrument into “BNC” female, “TNC” Female, Mini “UHF”, “FME” male and a
7.5Volt regulated Cigarette Lighter Charger.
Battery and Charging:
e batteries used are NiMh. ere are four 1.2Volt cells. In order to charge the bat-
teries there is a built in constant current circuit, the time needed for a full charge is
approximately 14 hours. e 6Volt regulated charger supplied will allow the instru-
ment being operated directly from the charger and at the same time charge the bat-
teries when plugged in. Also the cigarette lighter supplied in the accessory kit can run
and charge the instrument from your 12Volt car battery at the same time.
Warranty:
e SWR TRUE has a 1 year total warranty covering parts and labor as long as the
instrument has been used according to the instructions in this manual, and has not
been subject to any abuse. Warranty will cover the return shipment aer repairs.
Connections:
Mini Din
Programming and RS232
Pin 1 RX Data
Pin 2 TX Data
Pin 3 Pgm Clock
Pin 4 Pgm Data
Pin 5 Pgm Control
USB A Busy
USB A Memory Stick
USB B PC Serial Device
DC 7.5Volt regulated Charger @ 700mA + on center pin
OPERATING
e Front Panel:
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Power On/O
Pressing the ON/OFF button will switch on the instrument. A welcome screen will
appear like this:
e instrument will run for the duration of the auto power o period.
Pressing the Fc button on the keyboard will give a screen with an entry eld
Center = pressing the numeric keys you can enter any frequency from 30MHz
to 2700MHz. To correct entry you can use the arrow keys. Press the enter key to
change the center frequency.
Note that the Center frequency will have priority over the Frequency span (FΔ)
making automatic adjust to t inside instrument range.
Pressing the FΔ button on the keyboard will give a screen with an entry eld
Span = pressing the numeric keys, you can enter any frequency span from 0MHz
to 2670MHz. To correct entry you can use the arrow keys. Press the enter key to
change the frequency span.
Note that the frequency span will be adjusted automatic to t within the range
boundaries and the actual center frequency.
Center Frequency
Frequency Span
Marker
e marker functions are controlled by the arrow keys when the instrument is in
sweep mode. By pressing the le or right arrow the marker line moves across the
screen. When the key is held pressed, a mini cursor will be seen moving across
the screen and when the key is released, the marker will appear in the new posi-
tion. e marker will display the frequency and the measured value of the marker
position on the bottom line. If you press the “ENTER” key, the marker position
will move to the center of the screen and adjust the frequency span symmetrical
on both side of the new center fre- quency.
When “HOLD” is pressed, the sweep position indicator stops at the current posi-
tion and freezes the screen. In “HOLD” mode the frequency sweep is stopped and
depending on the setting of Oscillator, the RF is either On or O. (see menus)
e “COPY” key will write the screen contents to the USB Memory stick or to the
USB Serial Device. e “COPY” function will create a Directory with the date as
directory name YYYYMMDD e.g. 20080826. In the directory the screen les are
written as .BMP with the time stamp as le name HHMMSS e.g. 164852.BMP .
During write to USB the busy icon is on, when busy goes o, it is safe to remove
the USB device.
Hold and Copy
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MENUS
Main:
1 Light On will change the setting On/O of the back light when activated.
2. Y Scale:
e vertical scale can be chosen between return loss in dB and as a nu- meric
VSWR value, in each group you may choose the scale that ts your need or the
auto scale function.
3. X Scale:
e Horizontal scale can be chosen to have dierent layout.
X1 will have start frequency, curser frequency with value and stop fre- quency.
Settings 2 the contrast of the LCD screen can be adjusted, you may adjust from 50
to 99. Factory default is 70.
X2 will display FΔ and curser frequency with value. X3 will display Fc and curser
frequency with value. X4 will display Fc and FΔ frequencies.
Settings 3 the le system may be selected where 1 is the time/date format and 2 is
the XML format selectable, if the XML Feature is installed.
Settings 4 is the choice of having the RF generator stopped or running dur- ing
“HOLD” mode.
4. Date and Time:
e date and time can be entered and will run real time as long as the SWR True
is charged and have battery voltage to sustain operation.
MENUS (CONT.)
5. Info:
In this menu Data to be used with the XML Feature can be entered; data is
stored with the time stamp and screen copy in XML format.
6. Settings:
Settings 1 you set the time to auto power o function will switch o and save
battery power. e time to power o can be set from 1 to 127minutes. If the
power o time is set to 0 the automatic power save function is dis- abled.
Settings 2 the contrast of the LCD screen can be adjusted, you may adjust from
50 to 99. Factory default is 70.
Settings 3 the le system may be selected where 1 is the time/date format and 2
is the XML format selectable, if the XML Feature is installed.
Settings 4 is the choice of having the RF generator stopped or running dur- ing
“HOLD” mode.
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MAKING MEASUREMENT
Connecting antennas:
Observe the utmost care when connecting antennas via cables , as these cables
can be connected to transmitters and /or power sources! Make sure you have
chosen the antenna you intend to test!! Connection to transmitters and/
or other sources can destroy the instrument or cause hazardous electri- cal
conditions.
When connecting to the “N” female connector on the instrument make sure
you are using either “N” male antenna or cable connector.
If antenna or cable is tted with another type of connector use appropriate
adapter. Please observe that the use of adapters and cable connections of poor
quality may inuence the SWR and give higher readings than the ac- tual
antenna SWR. Once the antenna has been connected to the instrument you
switch the SWR True on and select the relevant frequency band by using
the Fc and FΔ. By sweeping the frequencies of interest while observ- ing the
graphs on the screen you should see VSWR or Return Loss curve. Antennas
are usually designed to have a SWR below a given value within the band for
which it is designed. As an example a GSM 900 antenna could have the follow-
ing specications: Range 890 - 960 MHz SWR less than 2.0:1 typical 1.5:1.
Nearby objects:
When testing SWR on low gain antennas (Gain <3dBd) the inuence from
nearby objects is small when the objects are more than 1⁄2λ away (15 cm
at GSM900). When testing high gain antennas ( e.g. Yagi’s and panel’s) you
should avoid objects in the direction of radiation.
Strong RF elds:
When testing SWR on antennas located in strong RF elds, the reading you
will get on the SWR meter may be incorrect, because the strong RF eld pres-
ent will be indicated as reected power coming from the antenna. If a precise
reading is needed, you must switch o the disturbing source of RF or move the
antenna under test out of the RF eld.
Bandwidth:
Some antennas may need tuning by adjusting the length of an element or by other
means in order to cover the entire band of interest, please refer to antenna manu-
facturers instructions for details.
Duplex operation:
When checking antennas to be used for duplex operation, make sure the antenna
SWR is adjusted for the lowest possible SWR in both receive and transmit band.
General hints:
Always refer to antenna manufacturers specication! Antennas may have more
than one resonance frequency! A very narrow resonance frequency may indicate
resonance of cable instead of antenna resonance (Cable bro- ken or shorted)!
KEEP CONNECTORS CLEAN AND TIGHT!
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SPECIFICATIONS
Model SWR TRUE Type 3013
Application Measurement of SWR in 50 Ωtransmission
lines
Frequency range 30->2700 MHz entered as centre and span
Center Frequency 30 to 2700 MHz.
Span 0 to 2670 MHz.
Frequency stability ±20ppm
Measurement range 1.0<SWR<9.9, 0<dB<-30dB
Impedance Nom. 50 Ω
Generator output Approx. -4dBm
Max. input on test terminal 100 mW
Tolerance on SWR reading 30-1000MHz)± 5%; 1000-1600MHz ± 10%;
and 1600-2700MHz ±15%
Operating temperature range 0° C-> + 50° C
Storage temperature range -30°C -> + 50° C
Connectors “N”-female RF test connector.
USB A type for memory key.
USB B type for serial PC communication.
Mini DIN for RS232 communication up to
38400 Baud
Power supply 4 NiMH type AA rechargeable batteries
(Batteries, NiMH rechargeable and
110VAC/7.5VDC charger supplied)
Auto Power off For battery economy, SWR TRUE automatically
turns off 3 min. after last entry
Normal operating use Fully charged: More than 10 hours.
Colour Silver/blue
Width 82 mm
Depth 31 mm
Height 165 mm
Weight 500 gram (incl. Batteries)
EMC Complies with directive 89/336EEC as
amended by 92/31EEC and 93/68/EEC
Standards Emissions: EN 61000-6-4: 2001
Immunity: EN 61000-6-2: 2005
XML FEATURE:
In order to use the XML feature this must be installed.
When the feature is installed You can take advantage of
the info menu 5 where operator , address, device and
types can be entered.
Also you can choose between the stan- dard .bmp picture
copy (File sys 1)or the XML type where all info is copied
onto the USB memory stick (File sys 2)
Along with the XML Feature is a USB Memory Stick with
program les:
Aer inserting the USB
memory stick into the SWR
True and pressing “COPY”
the Screen is copied to the USB memory stick along with Info data, time of day, date
and table data for each of the 101 data points on screen.
Taking the USB memory stick to your PC you can execute the “merge.bat” program
which will give you all stored data in the following format:
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XML FEATURE CONTINUED:
On the USB memory stick is a directory called Data, this directory will hold your
stored data including spread sheet data and bmp les.
e bmp les can be viewed using any picture viewer and from the viewer it can be
zoomed and printed.
e spread sheet les xxxxy- yyy.csv are
les where the name is xxxx Serial of the
in- strument yyyy is the sequential le
number. In the les are the measurement
data for each point on the screen sepa-
rated by commas. Each data entry is the
frequency, reection coe- cient RHO,
Return loss in dB and the VSWR.
e spread sheet les can be viewed with
the program CSVIEW located onto the
mem- ory stick
Data in these spread sheets les can be
imported and used for making all kind
of drawings, statistics and calculations by
standard spreadsheet programs.
OPTIONAL ACCESSORIES KIT:
Automobile cigarette lighter regulated 7.5Volt charger. With lighter jack and
5.5 mm DC plug.
Coaxial adapters to t “N” at the Test port:
N male / FME male
N male / BNC female
N male / TNC female
N male / miniUHF female
So canvas case
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CONVERSION TABLE:
Teturn Loss In dB Reection Coefcient, r VSWR
1 0.891 17.4
2 0.794 8.72
3 0.707 5.85
4 0.631 4.42
5 0.562 3.57
6 0.501 3.01
7 0.447 2.61
8 0.398 2.32
9 0.355 2.10
10 0.316 1.92
12 0.251 1.67
14 0.199 1.50
16 0.158 1.38
18 0.126 1.29
20 0.100 1.22
25 0.056 1.12
30 0.032 1.07
35 0.018 1.04
40 0.010 1.02
SWR, VSWR (Voltage) Standing Wave Ratio
RF Radio Frequency
MHz Mega Hertz
GaAs Gallium Arsenide
MMIC Monolithic Microwave Integrated Circuit
SMPS Switched Mode Power Supply
GSM Global System for Mobile
dBm deciBell referenced to 1 milli Watt
dBd deciBell referenced to half wave dipole
ppm parts per million
LCD Liquid Crystal Display
AC Alternating Current
NiMH Nickel Metal Hydride
ABBREVIATIONS
Table of contents
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