Aeroflex has announced a free software upgrade to its portable 3500 series radio test set, now with distance-to-fault (DTF) measurement and enhanced VSWR (voltage standing wave ratio) to quickly and easily find faults in cables and antennas and display results graphically.
Other features available with the software include 0.1 Hz resolution for the internal modulation sources enabling the generation of squelch tones and save and recall of test set-ups. The radio test set also has an ability to fully test both the transmitter and the receiver.
The test set now allows the user to measure VSWR versus frequency and return loss. The return loss of a cable is displayed in graphical form as return loss versus distance, making it easy to determine the exact location and magnitude of a cable fault. The VSWR of an antenna is also displayed graphically as VSWR versus frequency. By using the set-up for frequency start, stop and span, the user can select the exact frequencies for sweeping the cable or antenna.
In addition, the 3500 series allows users to define pass/fail parameters. Users can configure the test parameters and then save these files internally for future use. This enables fast testing on radios that require constant testing, for base station verification and for testing a large numbers of the same type of radio.
