Quick Reference Guide

Keysight N9912A
FieldFox RF Analyzer

Contents
Do You Have Everything? ............................ 2
The Power Button and LED ......................... 2
Battery Usage............................................... 3
Measure Return Loss .................................. 4
Measure Cable Loss (1-Port) ..................... 5
Measure DTF ................................................ 6
Calibration .................................................... 7
Spectrum Analyzer Mode ............................ 8
Channel Measurements............................... 9
Record Playback ........................................ 10
Power Meter Mode .................................... 11
Save and Recall Files ................................. 12
Do you have everything?
FieldFox To check for installed options, press
System then System Configuration then
Options then Show Options
Phase stable jumper cable or adapters Used to
connect the FieldFox to devices with various
connector types and gender.
Attenuators Reduces power and prevents
damage to the FieldFox at the RF IN port.
Cal Kit OSL Tee or other calibration devices.
Mini SD card or USB flash drive Save files to
these devices for quick download to a PC.
USB Power Sensor For making Power Meter
measurements. (Opt 302)
Battery charger or extra battery

The Power Button and LED

To turn power ON, briefly press the power button.
The LED is green. The boot-up takes about 60
seconds.
To switch to Stand by power (low battery drain)
briefly press the power button. The LED is amber and
blinks slowly. To turn power ON, briefly press the
power button. Power and settings are restored
instantly.
To turn Power OFF (very low battery drain) press and
hold the power button until power is shut OFF -
about 4 seconds. The LED is OFF.

2
Battery Usage
A fully charged battery should last about four hours.

Battery charge status is viewable:

In the upper-right corner of the screen.

On the battery. To view the LCD gauge on the

Inspired Energy battery, open the FieldFox battery
compartment door.
To conserve battery power:
Use Hold mode to trigger a measurement only when
needed. Hold is shown on the display.
Press System then Display then Brightness then
dim the FieldFox display as much as possible.
Briefly press the power button to switch to Stand by
mode when not being used. Press again to restore
power. All current settings are preserved.
The FieldFox will shutdown automatically when battery
power is very low to prevent it from being completely
discharged.
Use ONLY a FieldFox charger to recharge a battery.
The battery can be fully charged while in the FieldFox in
about 4 hours with the FieldFox either ON or OFF.
A fully discharged battery takes about 1.5 hours to
recharge to 80%.
The battery can be fully charged in about 4 hours using
the external battery charger (Opt 872).

3
Measure Return Loss
Return loss can be thought of as the absolute value of
the reflected power as compared to the incident power.
When measuring an OPEN or SHORT, all incident power
is reflected and 0 dB return loss is displayed.
When measuring a LOAD, very little power is reflected
and values of 40 dB to 60 dB are displayed.
1. Connect the Device Under Test (DUT).
2. Select Preset then Preset Returns the FieldFox to
known settings.
3. Select Mode then CAT (Cable and Antenna Test)
4. Then Return Loss (Default measurement).
5. Press Freq/Dist and enter Start and Stop frequency
values of the measurement.
6. Press Meas Setup 4 then Settings to make
appropriate settings before calibrating.
7. Disconnect the DUT and press Cal 5 then follow the
calibration prompts.
8. Reconnect the DUT (cable to be tested).

Optional
Add Markers All Modes except Power Meter
Add Limits All Modes
Save Settings and Data All Modes

4
Measure Cable Loss (1-Port)
Required Equipment:
LOAD with correct connector type and gender to
terminate the end of the DUT.
Optional phase stable jumper cable or adapter to
connect the beginning of the DUT to the FieldFox.
1. Press Preset then Preset
2. Then More then Cable Loss (1-Port)
3. Connect the DUT.
4. Press Freq/Dist and enter Start and Stop
frequency values of the measurement.
5. Press Sweep 3 then Min Swp Time Increase the
sweep time until a stable trace is visible on the
screen.
6. Press Cal 5 then follow the calibration prompts.
7. Connect the DUT (cable to be tested) to the FieldFox
and connect a LOAD at the end of the DUT.
Depending on the DUT, the following three steps may
improve the amount of ripple visible on the screen.
8. Press Trace 6 then Data->Mem.
9. Remove the LOAD and leave the end of the DUT
open.
10. Press Data Math then Data Mem. Use Averaging
for high-loss measurements. Press BW 2 then
Averaging
11. Read Avg Cable Loss on the FieldFox screen.

5
Measure Distance to Fault
Required Equipment:
LOAD with correct connector type and gender to
terminate the end of the DUT.
Known length and cable type or Cable Loss
(dB/Meter) and velocity factor of the DUT.
Optional phase stable jumper cable or adapter to
connect the beginning of the DUT to the FieldFox.
1. Connect any necessary jumper cable or adapter to the
FieldFox RF OUT port.
2. Press Preset then Preset
3. Then Mode then CAT
4. Then Distance to Fault
5. Press Freq/Dist then Stop Distance and enter the
length of the DUT.
6. If a diplexer or other filter is in the measurement path,
press Freq/Dist and manually type the Min Start
and Max Stop frequencies. Otherwise, press Meas
Setup then select Frequency Mode [Lowpass]
7. Press Cal 5 and follow the Cal prompts.
8. Disconnect any components or antenna that should
NOT be measured and connect a LOAD at the end of
the DUT.
9. Press Meas Setup 4 then DTF Cable
Specifications.
10. Either press Recall Coax Cable or enter the
Velocity Factor and Cable Loss of the DUT.
11. Connect the start end of the DUT to the FieldFox. The
DTF measurement is displayed.

6
Calibration
Calibration is performed in CAT and NA Modes.
A calibration is performed automatically when the
FieldFox is powered ON and when Preset. This Preset Cal
(also known as CalReady) sets the reference plane at the
RF OUT connector.
For highest accuracy, perform a QuickCal or O,S,L when
any of the following occur:
The temperature changes significantly.
The Frequency Range, Resolution, Min Swp Time, or
Power Level is changed.
When using a phase stable jumper cable or adapter
to connect the DUT to the FieldFox. These should be
high-quality components.
Press Cal 5 then follow the prompts.
During a QuickCal, press Skip Load when NOT using a
jumper cable or adapter.
Cal ON is shown on the screen when a Preset Cal is
correcting the measurement.
Cal ON Q is shown on the screen when a QuickCal is
correcting the measurement.
CAL ON U is shown on the screen when an O,S,L Cal is
correcting the measurement.
When a calibration is being interpolated, an asterisk is
added to the screen annotation as follows:
Cal ON*
A Normalization Cal is REQUIRED when making 2-port
CAT or NA Mode measurements.

7
Spectrum Analyzer (SA) Mode
SA measurements require NO calibration.

Check for a Compressed Measurement

1. Using a marker at the signal peak, make note of the
signal power level.
2. Increase the RF Attenuation level by 5 dB.
If the signal level does NOT change, then NO
compression exists. This indicates that the signal is in
the linear region of the receiver.
If the signal level DOES increase with more
attenuation, then compression DID exist. Set the RF
Attenuation value at the setting when further
increases no longer result in an increase in the
displayed power level.
Set RF Attenuation
1. Press Preset then Preset
2. Press Mode then SA
3. Press Scale/Amptd then RF Atten
Auto RF Attenuation is set by adjusting the Ref
Level.
Man Change the RF Attenuation level manually.
Display up to four types of traces
SA settings are applied to all traces.
1. Press Trace 6 then Trace 1,2,3,4 repeatedly to
select a trace number to display.
2. Then State to select a trace type.

8
SA Mode Channel Measurements
Optionally apply a Radio Standard which changes
frequency settings, Res BW, and other relevant settings
to that of the selected standard. Then change the
frequency range by selecting channel numbers.
1. Press Freq/Dist then More then Radio Standard.
Scroll to select the standard and press Enter.
2. Then press Unit Freq Chan
3. Press Chan Direction to toggle between Uplink
and Downlink frequencies.
4. Optionally, change the Channel Step size which
allows you to use the | arrows to increment the
channel number by the specified value.
5. Then Back and Center, Start, or Stop Channel.
6. Press Measure 1 then Channel Measurements
and choose from the following:
Channel Power (CHP) - Measures total power over
the specified Integrated BW.
Occupied Bandwidth (OBW) - Measures the power of
the current frequency span and displays vertical
posts between which the specified percentage of
power is contained.
Adjacent Channel Power (ACPR) - Measures the
power of a carrier channel and one, two, or three
adjacent (offset) channels.
Tune and Listen (AM/FM) Plays potentially
interfering AM or FM signals through the FieldFox
speaker or headphones.

9
Record Playback (Opt 236)
Allows you to record SA traces and play them back at a
later time. You are allowed to change most SA settings
during a recording. Setting changes are recorded along
with the traces.
To record a new session:
Press Trace 6 then Record Playback Setup
Then New Session , Recorder Player, then Record
Optionally set the following Recording Configuration:
Record Time limits record time.
Record Source choose where in the FieldFox data
flow that data is recorded. RawMeas is easiest.
Record Interval sets the amount of time to wait
between individual trace recordings.
Segment Count sets the number of traces to
record.
FreqMaskTrigger sets the power level which will
trigger a recording.
To play a session:
Press Recall Session select a session, press Open.
Then Recorder Player then Play.
Run/Hold can be used to Pause and Resume during
Record or Playback.
The maximum recording time is determined largely by
the amount of available memory. To maximize recording
time, select Storage Device then USB (flash drive) or
SD Card.

10
Power Meter Mode
Power Meter measurements are made using a Keysight
USB Power Sensor.
For a complete list of supported Keysight USB Power
Sensors, visit: www.keysight.com/find/usbsensorsforfieldfox
Damage levels are:
+25 dBm (320 mW) average
+33 dBm peak (2 W) <10s
+5V
Use an Attenuator between the DUT and the power
sensor when measuring power levels that are higher than
+20 dBm. The attenuator value can be subtracted from
the measurement using Offset as follows:
Select Offset
Press Scale / Amptd then Offset On Off
Then Offset Val Enter a value by which the power
meter display is offset. A positive value compensates
for a component with loss, such as an attenuator.
Zeroing
The Keysight USB Power Sensors perform internal
zeroing automatically. Internal zeroing does NOT require
that the power source be turned OFF.
Perform external zeroing when measuring power levels
below -30 dBm. During external zeroing, the power
source MUST either be turned OFF or the power sensor
be disconnected from the DUT.
Press Cal 5
Then External Zero

11
Save and Recall Files
Save current settings and calibration, trace data (CSV)
and .S1P), or a picture of the FieldFox screen.
Press Save/Recall 9
1. Then Select Device to set the LOCATION where the
file is to be saved. Choose from the following:
Internal Saves/Recalls files to or from the FieldFox
internal memory.
SD Card Saves/Recalls files to or from the mini SD
card.
USB Saves/Recalls files to or from a USB Flash
drive.
2. Then File Type
State Saves ALL FieldFox instrument settings and
calibration for ALL Modes to an *.sta file.
Trace + State Saves the current trace (all traces in
SA mode) and instrument settings to an *.sta file.
Picture Saves the FieldFox screen to a *.png file.
Data (S1P) Saves CAT and NA Mode trace data to
an *.S1P file.
Data (CSV) Saves trace data from the current mode
to a *.csv file.
3. Then press Save to save the specified file type to the
specified device location.
4. Press Recall to read an *.sta file into the FieldFox.

12
Manufacturing Part Number:
N9912-90002
Print Date: October 1, 2014
Supersedes: May 11, 2010
Keysight Technologies, Inc.