Keysight Technologies FieldFox User manual

Contents
Do you have everything? ..................... 1
The Power Button and LED ........ 1
Connector Care……………………………….2
Battery Usage...................................... 2
Measure Return Loss (CAT Mode) ...... 3
Measure 1-Port Cable Loss (CAT)....... 4
Measure Distance to Fault (CAT) ........ 5
Measure S-Parameters (NA Mode) ..... 6
Multi-Trace Configurations (NA Mode)8
Calibration (CAT, NA, VVM)................. 9
Spectrum Analyzer (SA Mode) .......... 10
Channel Measurements (SA)............. 11
Record Playback (Opt 236) ............... 12
RTSA Mode (Opt 350)………………..13
Power Meter Mode ............................ 15
Save and Recall Files......................... 16
Quick Reference Guide
Keysight FieldFox
Microwave Analyzers

1
Do you have everything?
FieldFox –To check for installed options, press
System then System Configuration then Options
then Show Options
Cal Kit – OSL Tee or other calibration devices.
USB Power Sensor – For making Power Meter
measurements. (Opt 302)
Battery charger or extra battery
The Power Button and LED
-To turn power ON, briefly press the power button.
The LED is green. The boot-up takes about 60
seconds.
-To switch to Standby power (low battery drain)
briefly press the power button. A 10 second
counter is displayed that allows you to choose
Standby / Shutdown / Restart or to let the
countdown counter expire after 10 seconds then
perform the action. The LED is green and blinks
slowly. To turn power ON, briefly press the power
button. Power and settings are restored instantly.
-To turn Power OFF (very low battery drain) press
the Shutdown softkey (For details, refer to previous
Standby bullet). The LED is OFF, or solid amber, if
AC power is connected.
Connector Care
To maintain optimum performance in your FieldFox:
https://literature.cdn.keysight.com/litweb/pdf/08510-
90360.pdf.

2
Battery Usage
A fully charged battery should last about four hours.
Battery charge status is viewable:
-In the upper-right corner of the screen.
To conserve battery power:
-Use Hold (Run/Hold) mode to trigger a
measurement only when needed. Hold is shown on
the display.
-Press System then Display then Brightness then
dim the FieldFox display as much as possible.
-Press the power button and press the Standby
softkey when not being used. Press again to restore
power. All current settings are preserved.
The FieldFox will shutdown automatically when battery
power is very low to prevent it from being completely
discharged.
Use ONLY a FieldFox charger to recharge a battery.
The battery can be fully charged while in the FieldFox in
about 4 hours with the FieldFox either ON or OFF.
A fully discharged battery takes about 1.5 hours to
recharge to 80%.
The battery can be fully charged in about 4 hours using
the external battery charger (Opt 872).

3
Measure Return Loss (CAT Mode)
Starting with A.11.25 firmware, for the B
models, the FieldFox output power defaults to -15 dBm.
Return loss can be thought of as the absolute value of
the reflected power as compared to the incident power.
When measuring an OPEN or SHORT, all incident power
is reflected and 0 dB return loss is displayed.
When measuring a LOAD, very little power is reflected
and values of greater than 40 dB are displayed.
1. Connect the Device Under Test (DUT).
2. Select Preset then Preset (Factory) Returns the
FieldFox to known settings.
3. Select Mode then CAT(Cable and Antenna Test)
4. Then Measure 1 then Return Loss
5. Press Freq/Dist and enter Start and Stop frequency
values of the measurement.
6. Press Meas Setup 4then Settings to make
appropriate settings before calibrating.
7. Disconnect the DUT and press Cal 5then follow the
calibration prompts.
8. Reconnect the DUT (cable to be tested).

4
Measure 1-Port Cable Loss (CAT Mode)
Required Equipment:
-LOAD with correct connector type and gender to
terminate the end of the DUT.
-Optional phase stable jumper cable or adapter to
connect the beginning of the DUT to the FieldFox.
1. Press Preset then Preset
2. Select Mode then CAT (Cable and Antenna Test)
3. Then Measure 1
4. Then More then Cable Loss (1-Port)
5. Connect the DUT.
6. Press Freq/Dist and enter Start and Stop frequency.
7. Connect the DUT (cable to be tested) to the FieldFox
and connect a LOAD at the end of the DUT.
8. Press Trace 6then Math and Memory, then
Data->Mem.
9. Remove the LOAD and leave the end of the DUT
open.
10.Press Data Math then Data – Mem. Use Averaging
for high-loss measurements. Press BW 2then
Averaging
11.Read Avg Cable Loss on the FieldFox screen.

5
Measure Distance to Fault (CAT Mode)
Starting with A.11.25 firmware, for the B
models, the FieldFox output power defaults to -15 dBm.
Required Equipment:
-LOAD with correct connector type and gender to
terminate the end of the DUT.
-Known length and cable type or Cable Loss
(dB/meter) and velocity factor of the DUT.
-Optional phase stable jumper cable or adapter to
connect the beginning of the DUT to the FieldFox.
1. Connect any necessary jumper cable or adapter to the
FieldFox RF OUT port.
2. Press Preset then Preset (Factory)
3. Then Mode then CAT
4. Then Measure 1 then Distance to Fault (dB)
5. Press Freq/Dist then Stop Distance and enter the
length of the DUT.
6. If a diplexer or other filter is in the measurement path,
press Meas Setup 4 then select Freq Mode then
Bandpass. Then press Freq/Dist and manually type
the Min Start Freq and Max Stop Freq frequencies.
7. Press Cal 5and see the FieldFox User’s Guide.
8. Press Meas Setup 4then DTF Cable Specifications.
9. Either press Edit/Save/Recall Cables or enter the
Velocity Factor and Cable Loss manually--using
Cable Corr [Manual]--of the DUT.
10.Connect the start end of the DUT to the FieldFox. The
DTF measurement is displayed.

6
Measure S-Parameters (NA Mode)
S-parameter syntax is described by the following:
S (out | in)
out = FieldFox receiver port
in = FieldFox source port
1. Press Preset then Preset
2. Press then Mode then NA then choose from the
following:
-S11 1-port reflection measurement.
-S21 2-port transmission measurement.
-S12 Reverse 2-port transmission measurement.
Requires the full 2-port S-parameter option.
-S22 Reverse 1-port reflection measurement.
Requires the full 2-port S-parameter option.
OR Press Trace 6 then Num of Traces then select a
Multi-trace configuration. Learn more on page 8.
3.Press Freq/Dist then either Start and Stop or Center
and Freq Span to enter a frequency range for the
measurement.
4. Press Cal 5 to calibrate the measurement. See page 9
to learn more.
Continued on following page…

7
Measure S-Parameters (NA Mode) continued
The following NA Mode settings can be made before or
after calibrating without affecting measurement
accuracy.
-Press Measure 1then Format to change the
format for the measurement.
-Press BW 2then Averagethen enter a value for
the number of trace sweeps to average.
-Press Marker then enter a value to move the
marker to the X-axis position of interest.
-Press Limit 8 then Edit Limits or Recall Limits to
test measurement results against limit lines.

8
Multi-Trace Configurations (NA Mode)
You can display multiple traces on the FieldFox screen.
The above image shows a 3-trace configuration. Tr1 is
the ACTIVE trace as indicated by the highlighted Tr1
annotation in the upper left corner.
The Frequency Range, IF BW, Resolution, Averaging, and
Output power is common to all traces. All trace settings,
such as format, markers, and limit lines, are applied to
the ACTIVE trace in the same manner as when a single
trace is present.
To select a multi-trace configuration:
-Press Trace 6then Num of Traces
-Then choose a multi-trace configuration.

9
Calibration (CAT, NA, VVM)
Starting with A.11.25 firmware, for the B
models, the FieldFox output power defaults to
-15 dBm.
Calibration is performed in CAT, NA, and VVM Modes.
A calibration is performed automatically when the
FieldFox is powered ON, CalReady sets the reference
plane at the test port connectors.
Press Cal 5then see the FieldFox User’s Guide.
Cal Rdy is shown on the screen when a CalReady is
correcting the measurement.
CAL ON U is shown on the screen when a User Cal is
correcting the measurement.
When a calibration is being interpolated, an asterisk is
added to the screen annotation as follows: Cal ON*