Date: 18/04/2012

Rohde & Schwarz releases a TV analyzer for testing digital TV transmitters

The Rohde & Schwarz (R&S) ETC mid-range, multi standard TV analyzer supports the ISDB-T, DVB-T and DVB-T2 digital terrestrial standards. It provides network operators with a convenient, cost-effective solution for testing their transmitters during commissioning, maintenance and servicing. The R&S ETC is suitable for offering a range of functions including spectrum analysis, TV analysis, scalar network analysis and power measurement in a single instrument. It can also be used for network coverage measurements, such as during drive tests. The R&S ETC is having a three height units and a width of ½ 19".

The compact TV analyzer supports the DVB-T2 single and multiple PLP transmission modes. It provides a detailed display of constellation diagrams, channel impulse response, shoulder distance of the OFDM spectrum and MER(k) (modulation error ratio versus OFDM carriers). The R&S ETC has an integrated pre-selection and preamplifier. This increases both dynamic range and sensitivity, so that even weak signals received over the air can be measured. Connecting an external power sensor turns the R&S ETC into a RF power meter.

The core component of the R&S ETC is an FPGA-based demodulator, which demodulates the received signal in real time. The analyzer detects the short-term interfering signals that occur at irregular intervals. Real time demodulation allows continuous measurement of the bit error ratio (BER) of the received signal. The decoded transport stream is available at the analyzer's ASI output for further processing, for example to display TV pictures.

The R&S ETC offers high operating convenience. It is controlled via a keypad and a rotary knob. Frequently used functions are assigned to hardkeys. Users can save all settings for a given measurement task as a measurement profile, which can be recalled as necessary. For coverage measurements, the characteristic of the test antenna must be taken into account. Transducer factors for a given test antenna can be saved in the R&S ETC. They will then be used for the automatic compensation of the antenna's frequency response during measurements.

The R&S ETCView PC software, which is included with the R&S ETC, makes documentation of results. It also includes editors for generating channel tables, measurement profiles, transducer factors and limit-value tables, which are downloaded into the R&S ETC. Data transfer between the R&S ETC and the PC takes place over USB or LAN. The software also enables remote signal monitoring, for example at unattended transmitter sites.

The R&S ETC compact TV analyzer with the R&S ETCView Windows-based PC software is now available from Rohde & Schwarz.