The Mission
Automated test equipment lives and dies by throughput. A receiver-test or production ATE rack measures sensitivity, selectivity, blocking, and intermodulation across many frequencies and many units, often around the clock. The signal source has to step through test points quickly, present more than one tone when an interferer or blocker is required, and answer cleanly to a remote controller without manual intervention.
The Challenge
Slow frequency switching is dead time, and dead time multiplied across thousands of test points is lost capacity. Receiver tests such as two-tone intermodulation and blocking need multiple coherent sources, ideally in one chassis to save rack space. And every function has to be reachable over a remote interface, because an operator standing at a front panel is not how a production line runs. Speed, channel count, and clean programmatic control all have to come together.
Recommended Berkeley Nucleonics Solutions
The Model 855B is built for this role: 2, 3, or 4 phase-coherent channels in 1U (up to eight in 3U), the family's highest output power at +25 dBm, and a dedicated reference I/O for locking units together into larger multi-tone systems. For the fastest stepping, the Model 825-M reaches 5 us switching with Option FS and adds a Fast Control Port for sub-10 us per-step control, with up to four phase-coherent channels in 1U.
The Model 845 brings full modulation and a 100 kHz to 26.5 GHz span with a board-level OEM option for tightly integrated test stations, while the Model 835 offers a cost-effective 9 kHz to 6.1 GHz channel for sub-6 GHz receiver work, also available as an OEM board.
Why It Works
Multiple coherent channels in one chassis collapse two-tone and blocking setups into a single instrument, saving rack space and cabling. Fast-switching options turn frequency stepping from a bottleneck into a non-issue, so the ATE spends its time measuring rather than waiting. Every model is fully remote-controllable, and the OEM board-level options let the source disappear into a custom test station instead of occupying a bench.
Getting Started
Berkeley Nucleonics applications engineers help match the right source, channel count, and options to your test plan. Tell us your frequency span, switching budget, and channel needs, and we will recommend a configuration and arrange a demo.
Contact info@berkeleynucleonics.com or call 800-234-7858. Browse the full family on the RF & Microwave Signal Generators documentation page.