[time-nuts] Phase Noise Utility on 8560 was How do time-nuts measure phas...

[SAIDJACK at aol.com]

Hi Joe,
 
I think it is quite limited in the actual phase noise floor you can achieve 
 at carriers <1GHz. A good OCXO will far out-perform this utility due to 
the  noise-floor limits of the 8560 series.
 
To give you an idea, you get about ~90dBc/Hz up to 100Hz offset or so, then 
 120 - 130dBc above 10KHz. Not spectacular for time-nuts purposes.
 
It is useful for PLL design and spur analysis though. I don't have to use  
any noise source for my version running on an 8561E.
 
bye,
Said
 
 
In a message dated 8/17/2009 21:50:55 Pacific Daylight Time,  
John.Reid at team.telstra.com writes:

Date:  Mon, 17 Aug 2009 09:22:18 -0500

Can anyone provide any information on  the usefulness of the Phase Noise
Utility program (85671A) for the HP 8560  series Spectrum Analyzers?

Joe

I have used that several years  ago. It worked well enough, requires a 
noise source in addition to the spec  an. Time taken is  inversely proportional 
to the bandwidth selected, and  don't expect to take any readings quickly. 
My summary: nice, given the round  about way this is.   

Regards,
John.