The testing of RF pulses is always challenging because so many instrument settings interact. With Time Gating Option 238 FieldFox behaves like a spectrum analyzer and an oscilloscope. This enables you to quickly detect pulses in the time and frequency domains.

With the use of an external trigger signal to coordinate the separation of signals in the frequency spectrum and time domain, you can perform the following operations:

• Measure any one of several signals separated in time; for example, you can separate the spectra of two radios time-sharing a single frequency.
• Measure the spectrum of a signal in one time slot of a TDMA system.
• Exclude the spectrum of interfering signals, such as periodic pulse edge transients that exist for only a limited time.

FieldFox's time gating method is a Gated FFT. FFT Gating is a simple, efficient way to set the proper amount of trigger delay and capture time so that signal artifacts of a repeating waveform or pulse can be examined in the frequency domain.

Option 238 Time Gating requires option 233 (Spectrum Analyzer).