We are having issues in production with the N9030 failing units after working properly for 1-2 weeks. The units always read high power in the 2-6 dB range. We have auto-align enabled and no errors are reported by the instrument. Manually initiating an "Align All Now" will not correct the calibration. The N9030 performance can be recovered by power cycling the instrument. Any ideas on what is going on?
We need additional information on what exactly is happening so we can help you.
First, what kind of device are you measuring?
What is the Power level, type of signals (pulsed, CW, communications signals)?
What is the frequency of the signal?
Please provide the PXA serial number.
I have added comments in your message below, where I do not understand what you are telling me.
“We are having issues in production with the N9030 failing units after working properly for 1-2 weeks.”
+The “units “ that are failing are your devices under test? And not our PXA units?+
“ The units always read high power in the 2-6 dB range.”
+When the PXA measures your DUT, the result is a measurement 2-6 dB higher than expected?+
“ We have auto-align enabled and no errors are reported by the instrument.”
+If auto align fails, usually you see “Align Now All Needed “ or an error will pop up such as RF alignment failed. Press System, Show Errors to see any errors. Let us know if you now see any errors and what these errors are.+
“Manually initiating an "Align All Now" will not correct the calibration.”
+What is the “calibration”? Do you mean after performing the Align All Now, the DUT signal still does not measure correctly, or that the PXA still fails an auto alignment?+
“The N9030 performance can be recovered by power cycling the instrument. Any ideas on what is going on?”
+Perhaps the input signal to the PXA is too large because you have chosen an input attenuator setting hot high enough to reduce the signal level, and the instrument ADC is overloaded. Usually you see a message at the bottom of the screen that says Input Overload: ADC Over range. Have you seen this?+
+Then by cycling instrument power, the default attenuation setting is 10 dB, and this attenuation setting now allows the ADC over range to not occur?+
+Or, cycling power results in having to set up the measurement again, and whatever setting on the analyzer that caused the problem, is no longer present?+
How can I set up my PXA and a signal source to see this problem?
Regards -