Rohde & Schwarz launches R&S ZVH

Rohde & Schwarz has launched the R&S ZVH, a portable cable and antenna analyzer especially designed to facilitate the installation of antenna stations. In the field, all acceptance tests are performed quickly and easily with this analyzer. Convenient wizards help users effortlessly measure antenna cables, filters and amplifiers, and documentation is made easy with simple tools for generating test reports.

The rapid expansion of mobile radio networks to provide users with continuous coverage and the demand for higher transmission rates have required network operators around the world to set up more mobile radio antennas and base stations. The new R&S ZVH handheld analyzer from was designed especially to meet such demands. Two frequency ranges, from 300kHz to 3.6GHz or 8GHz, are provided to help network operators, infrastructure manufacturers and their service providers install and maintain mobile radio antennas with a minimum of effort and time.

The R&S ZVH offers wizards that guide users through procedures in individual, detailed steps. Even users who have no experience with test and measurement equipment can, for example, check cable faults using the distance-to-fault measurement or measure antenna matching and isolation. Network operators can adapt the wizards in the lab to their individual test report formats and make them available to their service providers for use at the antenna site, and predefined test reports in various file formats make it easy to demonstrate that assignments were properly executed.

The R&S ZVH features a dynamic range of 100dB for repeater measurements. The cost-effective handheld analyzer replaces conventional test setups consisting of a signal generator and a spectrum analyzer. The built-in DC bias supplies power to active DUTs, such as amplifiers, at both test ports via the RF cable, which is especially useful for tower-mounted amplifiers.

The 3kg weight lends the R&S ZVH to field use, and key functions such as the wizard are just a keystroke away. Thanks to the upright format, all operating elements are at the operator's fingertips, even when wearing work gloves, without having to set down the instrument. Because the R&S ZVH analyzers conform to the IP51 standard and feature splash-proof, dust-protected connectors, they are reliable tools even under adverse ambient conditions. When fully charged, the analyzer can be operated for more than four hours on the battery alone, and on-site replacement of the battery poses no problem at all.

For the long term, the R&S ZVH cable and antenna analyzer comes with options for spectrum and network analysis as well as spectrogram display, which cover applications such as spectrum analysis, field strength measurements, signal monitoring and interference hunting. Using external power sensors, the R&S ZVH can also operate as a power meter. When used with a directional power sensor, the analyzer can simultaneously measure antenna matching and transmitter output power up to 300W.