FAQs from Rohde & Schwarz

Use the external SMB port of the NRPXXS(N) in trigger send mode

Question

I want to use the external SMB connector in a trigger send mode as soon as a certain power level is reached.

Answer

The correct SCPI commands that have to be sent in order to set up the sensor correctly are the following:

'*RST;*CLS'
'*OPC?'
'TRIGger:LEVel 10 DBM'
'TRIGger:SLOPe POSitive'
'TRIGger:SEND:STATe ON'
'TRIGger:SEND:PORT EXT2'
'TRIGger:SOURce INT'
'INITiate:CONTinuous ON'

After sending the commands a trigger signal is released at the SMB port of the sensor as soon as the power level at the RF input exceeds -10 dbm.

As a proof of concept a SMB100A Signalgenerator was used to generated a RF Signal of 0 dbm and 1 GHz and connected to the NRP18SN. Furthermore the RTA4004 oscilloscope was used to record the trigger signal of the sensor at the SMB port. When the RF power is switched on, the oscilloscope recorded the following signal from SMB port of the sensor:

Thus it could be shown that a trigger signal has been recorded and the sensor works as expected. The Python script that has been used to set up the sensor is attached to this knowledge article. Further description regarding the used SCPI commands can be accessed in the user manual of the NRPXXS(N).

Name
Type
Version
Date
Size
Ext_trig_NRP18SN.py
Type
FAQ
Version
01.00
Date
27-Oct-2021
Size
2 kB