Bird Technologies 4412A User Manual

Series 4410 Directional RF

®

Thruline

Wattmeter

©Copyright 2011

Instruction Book Part Number 920-4410S Rev. D

Thruline is a trademark of Bird Electronic Corporation

by Bird Electronic Corporation

Safety Precautions

The following are general safety precautions that are not necessarily related to
any specific part or procedure, and do not necessarily appear elsewhere in this
publication. These precautions must be thoroughly understood and apply to all
phases of operation and maintenance.

WARNING

Keep Away From Live Circuits

Operating Personnel must at all times observe general safety precautions. Do not

replace components or make adjustments to the inside of the test equipment

with the high voltage supply turned on. To avoid casualties, always remove power.

WARNING

Shock Hazard

Do not attempt to remove the RF transmission line while RF power is present.

WARNING

Do Not Service Or Adjust Alone

Under no circumstances should any person reach into an enclosure for the

purpose of service or adjustment of equipment except in the presence of

someone who is capable of rendering aid.

WARNING

Safety Earth Ground

An uniterruptible earth safety ground must be supplied from the main power

source to test instruments. Grounding one conductor of a two conductor

power cable is not sufficient protection. Serious injury or death can occur if

this grounding is not properly supplied.

WARNING

Resuscitation

Personnel working with or near high voltages should be familiar with modern

methods of resuscitation.

WARNING

Remove Power

Observe general safety precautions. Do not open the instrument with the

power on.

iii

Safety Symbols

WARNING

Warning notes call attention to a procedure, which if not correctly performed,

could result in personal injury.

CAUTION

Caution notes call attention to a procedure, which if not correctly performed,

could result in damage to the instrument.

The caution symbol appears on the equipment indicating there is
important information in the instruction manual regarding that par­ticular area

Note: Calls attention to supplemental information.

Warning Statements

The following safety warnings appear in the text where there is danger to oper­ating and maintenance personnel, and are repeated here for emphasis.

WARNING

Exposure to RF power radiation and the possibility of RF shock or burns exist
under some operating conditions. Always turn off transmitter when connecting
or disconnecting wattmeter. Be sure transmission line is terminated into a load

or antenna. When plug-in element is removed from the RF line socket, the line

section center conductor is exposed. Do not put fingers or other objects into

the plug-in element socket while RF power is applied.

On pages 6 and 8.

Caution Statements

The following equipment cautions appear in the text and are repeated here for
emphasis.

CAUTION

Do not replace with an alkaline battery.

On pages 16.

CAUTION

If other than Female N type connectors are used, limit power and frequency to

the capabilities of the RF coaxial cable or connectors used. Damage to

connectors or errors in reading could result.

On pages 18.

iv

Safety Statements

USAGE

ANY USE OF THIS INSTRUMENT IN A MANNER NOT
SPECIFIED BY THE MANUFACTURER MAY IMPAIR THE
INSTRUMENT’S SAFETY PROTECTION.

USO

EL USO DE ESTE INSTRUMENTO DE MANERA NO
ESPECIFICADA POR EL FABRICANTE, PUEDE ANULAR LA
PROTECCIÓN DE SEGURIDAD DEL INSTRUMENTO.

BENUTZUNG

WIRD DAS GERÄT AUF ANDERE WEISE VERWENDET ALS VOM
HERSTELLER BESCHRIEBEN, KANN DIE GERÄTESICHERHEIT
BEEINTRÄCHTIGT WERDEN.

UTILISATION

TOUTE UTILISATION DE CET INSTRUMENT QUI N’EST PAS
EXPLICITEMENT PRÉVUE PAR LE FABRICANT PEUT
ENDOMMAGER LE DISPOSITIF DE PROTECTION DE
L’INSTRUMENT.

IMPIEGO

QUALORA QUESTO STRUMENTO VENISSE UTILIZZATO IN
MODO DIVERSO DA COME SPECIFICATO DAL PRODUTTORE
LA PROZIONE DI SICUREZZA POTREBBE VENIRNE
COMPROMESSA.

v

SERVICE

SERVICING INSTRUCTIONS ARE FOR USE BY SERVICE ­TRAINED PERSONNEL ONLY. TO AVOID DANGEROUS
ELECTRIC SHOCK, DO NOT PERFORM ANY SERVICING
UNLESS QUALIFIED TO DO SO.

SERVICIO

LAS INSTRUCCIONES DE SERVICIO SON PARA USO
EXCLUSIVO DEL PERSONAL DE SERVICIO CAPACITADO. PARA
EVITAR EL PELIGRO DE DESCARGAS ELÉCTRICAS, NO
REALICE NINGÚN SERVICIO A MENOS QUE ESTÉ
CAPACITADO PARA HACERIO.

WARTUNG

ANWEISUNGEN FÜR DIE WARTUNG DES GERÄTES GELTEN
NUR FÜR GESCHULTES FACHPERSONAL.

ZUR VERMEIDUNG GEFÄHRLICHE, ELEKTRISCHE SCHOCKS,
SIND WARTUNGSARBEITEN AUSSCHLIEßLICH VON
QUALIFIZIERTEM SERVICEPERSONAL DURCHZUFÜHREN.

ENTRENTIEN

L’EMPLOI DES INSTRUCTIONS D’ENTRETIEN DOIT ÊTRE
RÉSERVÉ AU PERSONNEL FORMÉ AUX OPÉRATIONS
D’ENTRETIEN. POUR PRÉVENIR UN CHOC ÉLECTRIQUE
DANGEREUX, NE PAS EFFECTUER D’ENTRETIEN SI L’ON N’A
PAS ÉTÉ QUALIFIÉ POUR CE FAIRE.

ASSISTENZA TECNICA

LE ISTRUZIONI RELATIVE ALL’ASSISTENZA SONO PREVISTE
ESCLUSIVAMENTE PER IL PERSONALE OPPORTUNAMENTE
ADDESTRATO. PER EVITARE PERICOLOSE SCOSSE
ELETTRICHE NON EFFETTUARRE ALCUNA RIPARAZIONE A
MENO CHE QUALIFICATI A FARLA.

vi

RF VOLTAGE MAY BE PRESENT IN RF ELEMENT SOCKET - KEEP
ELEMENT IN SOCKET DURING OPERA TION.

DE LA TENSION H.F. PEAT ÊTRE PRÉSENTE DANS LA PRISE DE
L'ÉLÉMENT H.F. - CONSERVER L'ÉLÉMENT DANS LA PRISE LORS
DE L'EMPLOI.

HF-SPANNUNG KANN IN DER HF-ELEMENT-BUCHSE ANSTEHEN ­ELEMENT WÄHREND DES BETRIEBS EINGESTÖPSELT LASSEN.

PUEDE HABER VOL TAJE RF EN EL ENCHUFE DEL ELEMENT O RF ­MANTENGA EL ELEMENTO EN EL ENCHUFE DURANTE LA
OPERACION.

IL PORTAELEMENTO RF PUÒ PRESENTARE VOLTAGGIO RF ­TENERE L'ELEMENTO NELLA PRESA DURANTE IL
FUNZIONAMENTO.

vii

About This Manual

This manual covers the operating and maintenance instructions for the follow­ing models:

4410-026 4410-201 4410A500

4410A501 4410A510 4410S511

4410A520 4410A521 4412A101

Changes to this Manual

We have made every effort to ensure this manual is accurate. If you discover any
errors, or if you have suggestions for improving this manual, please send your
comments to our Solon, Ohio factory. This manual may be periodically updated.
When inquiring about updates to this manual refer to the part number and revi­sion on the title page.

Literature Contents

Chapter Layout

Introduction — Describes the features of the Bird SignalHawk, lists equipment

supplied and optional equipment, and provides power-up instructions.

Installation — Describes how to connect SignalHawk to the user’s system,

describes the vector network analyzer measurements, and provides quick start
steps for each measurement.

Operation — Describes the power measurement feature, lists compatible

power sensors, describes how to connect SignalHawk to the user’s system, and
provides quick start steps to make power measurements.

Maintenance — Lists routine maintenance tasks as well as troubleshooting for

common problems. Specifications and parts information are also included.

viii

Table of Contents

Safety Precautions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iii

Safety Symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iv

Warning Statements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iv

Caution Statements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iv

Safety Statements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v

About This Manual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . viii

Changes to this Manual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . viii

Literature Contents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . viii

Chapter Layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . viii

Chapter 1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Component Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Optional Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Power Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Theory Of Operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Coupling Circuit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Chapter 2 Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5

Portability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Installing Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Inserting in Transmission Line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Chapter 3 Operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

Connectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Inserting Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

RF Power Measurements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Zero Meter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Battery Test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Frequency Range . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Power Range Coverage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Load Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Determining VSWR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Shutdown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Performance Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

xiii

Chapter 4 Maintenance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Care and Cleaning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

RF Connectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Line Section & Plug-In Element . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Adjustments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Meter & Meter Housing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Battery Care . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Battery Replacement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Meter Replacement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Instrumentation Module Replacement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

RF Connectors Replacement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Customer Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Shipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Calibration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Equipment Required . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Calibration Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Calibration Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Replacement Parts List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

*Available QC Type Connectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Limited Warranty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27

xiv

Chapter 1 Introduction

The Series 4410 Thruline Wattmeter is an insertion type RF wattmeter designed to mea-

sure power flow and load match in 50 ohm RF coaxial transmission lines. Its use
is intended for CW unmodulated, or FM signals only. When used in a 50 ohm
application with N type connectors, the Series 4410 has an insertion VSWR of
less than 1.05 for frequencies up to 1000 Mhz. The meter has two scales, a 0 to 1
scale and a 0 to 3 scale. Power is read as a multiple of the value indicated by the
pointer, the decimal point location depending on the range switch setting and
the factor on the Plug-in-Element. Several of these Plug-in-Elements may be
selected to give this instrument a broad band spectrum with various power
ranges, see Specifications.

Description

The Series 4410 Thruline Wattmeter is a portable unit contained in a die cast
aluminum housing, with a formed sheet aluminum back closure. The unit is
equipped with a carrying strap, four rubber shock feet on the base, and four rub­ber bumpers on the back, which allow the unit to stand in a vertical or horizontal
position. For additional protection, the microammeter is specially shock
mounted. A slotted screw is provided on the lower front face of the meter for
zeroing the pointer. Below the meter, the RF line section face protrudes slightly
from the wattmeter housing with the plug-in element socket in the center.
Mounted on the line section, inside the housing, is the circuit module with an
attached phosphor bronze spring contact finger, which protrudes through a lat­eral hole and into the plug-in element socket of the RF line section. The finger
has a button on its end which makes connection with the contacts of the plug-in
element. The silver plated brass RF line section is precision made to provide the
best possible impedance match to the coaxial RF transmission line in which the
wattmeter is inserted. At each end of the line section are Bird Quick-Change
type RF connectors, which may be quickly interchanged with any other Bird
“QC” connectors.

1

Component Description

Meter Mirrored, 2 scale
Meter Housing Cast aluminum
QC Connector Interchangeable input and output
Range Switch OFF, Battery Check, Various Ranges
RF Line Section Element Port Accepts 4410 series elements
Rubber Feet Permit vertical or horizontal position and

Calibration Access Hole Adjustment potentiometer
Instrumentation Module Active sensing circuitry
Battery

4410 & 4410A
4412A

operation

9V alkaline
9V NiMH rechargeable

Features

To make measurements, the cylindrical shaped plug-in element is inserted into the
line section socket and rotated to either stop. A small catch in the lower left hand
corner of the casting face presses on the shoulder of the plug-in element and
keeps it in proper alignment. This assures a good contact with the DC pickup and
between the lower edge of the element and the seat of the line section body. On
diametrically opposite sides of the plug-in element body are the contacts that pro­vide DC pickup for either direction. These contacts make connection with the
spring finger of the line section only when the plug-in element is in the precise for­ward or reverse position: i.e., against the stop.

Optional Equipment

The equipment available is a Carrying Case, QC Connectors, and Elements. Consult
Bird Electronic Corporation for availability and pricing, or for special requirements.

Power Requirements

The Model 4410 & 4410A operates from one 9V alkaline battery. Approximate
battery life is 24 hours of continuous usage. The Model 4412A uses one 9V
nickel-metal hydride (NiMH) rechargeable battery or an AC converter. When the
AC power is applied, the wattmeter charges the battery and operates from an
external power supply. When AC power is removed, the wattmeter operates
from the battery.

2