Display Elements

Display Elements in the Diagram Area

The central part of the screen is occupied by one or several diagram areas.

A diagram area is a rectangular portion of the screen used to display traces. Diagram areas are arranged in windows; they are independent of trace and channel settings. A diagram area can contain a practically unlimited number of traces, assigned to different channels (overlay mode).

Diagram areas are controlled and configured by means of the functions in the Displaymenu and the following additional settings:

The settings in the Windowmenu arrange several windows containing one or more diagram areas within the entire screen. Each window corresponds to a setup. Only one setup can be active at a time, and only the traces of the active setup are updated by the current measurements.
Various settings to assign traces to diagram areas are provided in the Trace – Tracessubmenu.

Diagram areas may contain:

Measurement results, in particular the traces and marker values
An indication of the basic channel and trace settings
Context menus providing settings related to the current screen

The examples in this section have been taken from Cartesian diagrams. All other diagram types provide the same display elements.

Click on an area to learn its function.

Scaling diagrams

Title

Across the top of the diagram area, an optional title describes the contents of the area. Different areas within a setup are distinguished by area numbers in the upper right corner.

Use the context menu or the functions in the Display menu to display, hide or change the title and to add and customize diagram areas.

Traces

A trace is a set of data points displayed together in the diagram area. The individual data points are connected so that each trace forms a continuous line.

The trace can be complemented by the following display elements, plotted with the same color:

Reference value (for all traces): The Reference Valueis indicated with a triangle at the right edge of the diagram and a dashed, horizontal line. The value and position of the triangle can be changed in order to modify the diagram scale and shift the trace vertically.
Measured quantity (for the active trace): The measured quantity is indicated in the left upper corner of the diagram.

A trace can be either a data trace, a memory trace, or a mathematical trace; see Trace Types.

Context menu of the diagram area

A right mouse click on any point of the diagram area (except the marker info field and the measured quantity info) opens a context menu:

The settings correspond to the most common commands in the Display –Area Selectand Display –Config Viewmenus.

Operations on traces

Trace Types

The analyzer uses traces to display the current measurement result in a diagram area but is also capable of storing traces to the memory, recalling stored traces, and defining mathematical relations between different traces. There are three basic trace types:

Data traces show the current measurement data and are continuously updated as the measurement goes on. Data traces are dynamic traces.
Memory traces are generated by storing the data trace to the memory. It represents the state of the data trace at the moment when it was stored.Memory traces are static traces which can be stored to a file and recalled.
Mathematical traces are calculated according to a mathematical relation between constants and the data or memory traces of the active setup. A mathematical trace that is based on the active data trace is dynamic.

It is possible to generate an unlimited number of memory traces from a data trace and display them together, see Data -> Mem. Markers and marker functions are available for all trace types.

The trace type of each trace in a diagram area is indicated in the trace list. You can also make each trace Invisible without deleting it.

Trace List and Trace Settings

The main properties of all traces assigned to the diagram area are displayed in the trace list in the upper left corner.

Each line in the trace list describes a single trace. The active trace is highlighted. The lines are divided into several sections with the following contents (from left to right):

Trace name indicates the current trace name. The default names for new traces are Trc<n> where <n> is a current number. A Mem... preceding the trace name indicates a memory trace.
Right-click the section and call the Trace Managerfrom the context menu to change the trace name.
Measured quantity indicates the measured quantity, e.g. an S-parameter or a ratio. The measured quantity of the active trace is also displayed in the diagram area below the trace list.
Format shows how the measured data is presented in the graphical display (trace format).
Scale shows the value of the vertical or radial diagram divisions (Scale Div.) and the Reference Value.
Channel shows the channel that each trace is assigned to. The channel section is omitted if the all traces in the diagram area are assigned to the same channel.
Type shows Invisible if a trace is hidden and Math if the trace is a mathematical trace. GAT indicates that a time gate is active for the trace.
Right-click the trace name and click Show Dataor Show Memfrom the context menu to display and hide data and memory traces. Use the Trace Funct(ions)to define mathematical traces.

Right-click any of the sections in the trace list (except Type) to open a context menu and access the most common tasks related to the section.

Context menus of the trace list

A right mouse click on the trace name, the measured quantity, and the format and scale section of the trace list opens the following context menus, respectively:

The settings correspond to the most common commands in the Trace –Trace Select, Trace –Trace Funct, Trace –Meas, Trace –Formatand Trace –Scalemenus.

A red label Cal Off ! appears behind the trace list if the system error correction no longer applies to one or more traces; see Calibration Overview.

Markers

Markers are tools for selecting points on the trace and for numerical readout of measured data. The analyzer provides three different basic marker types.

A (normal) marker (Mkr 1, Mkr 2, ...) determines the coordinates of a measurement point on the trace. Up to 10 different normal markers can be assigned to a trace.
A reference marker (Ref) defines the reference value for all delta markers.
A delta marker (D) indicates the coordinates relative to the reference marker.
The stimulus value of a discrete marker always coincides with a sweep point so that the marker does not show interpolated measurement values.

The markers 1 to 4 are also used for bandfilter search mode. The examples below show a bandpass search and a bandstop search, respectively.

Mkr 1 indicates the maximum (minimum) of the peak.
Mkr 2 and Mkr 3 indicate the lower and upper band edge where the trace value has decreased (increased) by a definite Level value.
Mkr 4 indicates the center of the peak, calculated as the arithmetic mean value of the LBE and UBE positions.

Marker Info Field

The coordinates of all markers defined in a diagram area are displayed in the info field, which by default is located in the upper right corner.

The list contains the following information:

Mkr 1, Mkr2, ... denote the marker numbers.
Markers are displayed with the same color as the associated trace.
The marker coordinates are expressed in one of the marker formats selected via Marker Format. The formats of the markers assigned to a trace are independent of each other and of the trace format settings.
The active marker has a dot placed in front of the marker line.
A D sign placed in front of the marker line indicates that the marker is in Delta Mode.

Customizing the marker info field

To change the position, appearance or contents of the marker info field use one of the following methods:

Double-click the info field to open the Mkr Properties dialog with extended settings for all markers of the active trace.
Right-click the info field to open a context menu providing frequently used marker settings.
To change the position of the marker info field, select Movable Marker Info from the context menu. Drag-and-drop the info field to any position in the active diagram area.
To change the format of the active marker, select Mkr Format.
To express the coordinates of the active marker relative to the reference marker, activate theDelta Mode.

For more information: Show Info Table

In addition to the marker info field, the analyzer provides an info table with extended marker information.

The table is hidden by default. To display the table double-click the marker info field to open theMarker Properties dialog.

Context menu of the marker info field

A right mouse click on the marker info field opens a context menu:

Movable Marker Info allows the marker info field to be placed to any position in the diagram area. The remaining settings correspond to the most common commands in the Trace –Markerand Trace –Searchmenus.

Channel Settings

The main properties of all channels assigned to the traces in the diagram area are displayed in the channel list below the diagram.

Each line in the channel list describes a single channel. The channel of the active trace is highlighted. The lines are divided into several sections with the following contents (from left to right):

Channel name indicates the current channel name. The default names for new channels are Ch<n> where <n> is a current number.
Right-click the section and call the Channel Managerfrom the context menu to change the channel name.
Measurement mode identifier (optional) indicates a special test mode of the channel, e.g. the measurement of a 2nd harmonic (H2), a 3rd harmonic (H3), or the mixer mode (Mix).
Start value of the sweep indicates the lowest value of the sweep variable (e.g. the lowest frequency measured), corresponding to the left edge of the Cartesian diagram.
Color legend shows the display color of all traces assigned to the channel. The colors are different, so the number of colors is equal to the numbers of traces assigned to the channel.
Additional stimulus parameter shows either the power of the internal signal source (for frequency sweeps and time sweeps) or the CW frequency (for power sweeps).
Stop value of the sweep indicates the highest value of the sweep variable (e.g. the highest frequency measured), corresponding to the right edge of the Cartesian diagram.

Right-click any of the sections in the trace list (except Color legend) to open a context menu and access the most common tasks related to the section.

Context menus of the channel list

A right mouse click on the channel name, the sweep range, and the additional parameter section of the channel list opens the following context menus, respectively:

The settings correspond to the most common commands in the Channel –Channel Select, Channel –Stimulusand Channel –Power Bandwidth Averagemenus.

Context Menus

To provide access to the most common tasks and speed up the operation, the analyzer offers context menus (right-click menus) for the following display elements:

Diagram area
Marker info field
Trace list (separate context menus for trace name section, measured quantity section, format section, scale section, and channel section)
Channel list (separate context menus for channel name section, sweep range section, additional parameter section)

Working with context menus requires a mouse. Click inside the display element that you want to work with using the right mouse button.

Except from some particular screen configurations, anything you can do from a context menu you can also do from the menu bar or using front panel keys and softkeys. Use whatever method is most convenient for you.