Comtest, sole authorised distributor of Fluke Industrial and Electrical test tools and Fluke Precision Measurement in southern Africa, has announced the release of the Fluke 9640A RF Reference Source, designed to simplify RF calibration while improving productivity and lowering cost.

The Fluke 9640A Reference Source is the first RF calibrator to combine level precision, dynamic range and frequency capability in a single instrument. It can be used to calibrate a broad range of RF test equipment including spectrum analysers, modulation meters and analysers, RF power meters and sensors, measurement receivers, frequency counters and attenuators.  With built-in signal levelling and attenuation, the Fluke 9640A provides the frequency range and precision required to replace many commonly used RF calibration devices including level generators, RF signal generators, power meters and sensors, step attenuators and function generators. The Fluke 9640A is supported by a range of common RF workload procedures within the Fluke MET/CAL® Plus Calibration Measurement Software, allowing quick automation of the calibration process while simplifying the documentation requirements for quality standards and tracking assets.

Designed to handle the broadest portion of the RF calibration workload, the Fluke 9640A provides frequency coverage from 10 Hz up to 4 GHz with a best level accuracy of ± 0.05 dB.  It outputs a pure sinusoidal signal with low harmonic and spurious content, helping eliminate differences between the wideband/narrowband and peak/RMS sensors without requiring additional external filters.

The Fluke 9640A also features integrated signal levelling and attenuation within its rugged precision levelling head, eliminating the need to use separate, often difficult-to-automate step attenuators. The levelling head delivers signals directly to the unit under test (UTT), maintaining signal precision and noise immunity throughout a +24 dBm to -130 dBm dynamic range to minimize losses, noise, mismatch errors and to maintain the calibrated integrity of the signal.  The Fluke 9640A comes with a 50 ohm levelling head and has an option to add a 75 ohm head, which extends the instrument¹s capability to calibrate workload with 50 and 75 ohm inputs, a unique characteristic in modern signal sources.

Designed to simplify calibration laboratory applications, the Fluke 9640A features dedicated function keys, context-sensitive softkeys and a bright color display.  Users may set a level or frequency step size and deviate the output to match specified target values while the Fluke 9640A displays the calculated UUT error for calibration certificate documentation.