Internship XR-3 Modular Test Instrument

-

XR-3 Modular Test Instrument 


The XR-3 Modular Test Instrument is signal tester. Unlike the Phabrix, this device can test for RF signal; that has been the only functionality I've used it for. When setting up TVs, I tested the RF outputs from the outlets. The XR-3 Modular Test Instrument has several kits that you put in on the top, so I made sure I had the RF screwed on the top. I tested signals and got passes.
The interface is simple. In the main menu (from top left to top right), you see the currently selected channel plan, selected channel number, related channel frequency, and the signal type currently begin detected. The type of channel signals that can be detected by this device are DBS (Direct Broadcast Satellite), VSAT Satellite, VHF/ UHF off-air (Very High Frequency/ Ultra High Frequency), and CATV. For our purposes, we set it to CATV AKA Cable TV since we mainly work with Direct TV. For channel plan we use EIASTO since it's the most common TV plan in North America. The types of signals this plan contains are EIA analog and digital Annex B, J.83 Annex B, QAM 64, and QAM 256 signals.
To actually test for signal, you go to channel scan. This is located in the main menu. Each column shows the RF level, quality, and Lock/ delta V/A. The lock indicates that the signal is digital while the delta V/A indicates the signal is analogue. Next to it, it shows pass or fail indicating whether or not the signal is present. Upon running my test, the RF outlets were displaying signal.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Weather Balloon Spring Flight

-
Image
 Weather Balloon Spring Flight This semester my team flew an RF receiver, CO2/ humidity sensor, Geiger Counter, seeds, a peep, and the old sensors from last semester (temperature, accelerometer, and pressure sensor). The RF receiver was to measure the strength of the Radio Frequency. The CO2 and humidity sensor are self-explanatory. The Geiger Counter (radiation sensor), temperature, and pressure coincides with the seeds; the Garden Cress seeds grow within 2 weeks, so we wanted to see which of the three variables that could affect it (radiation, temperature, and pressure) would and how. The old sensors were pre calibrated and ready to go from last semester. I do not know much about the RF receiver's calibration since another team member worked on it. The Geiger counter required calibrating with the Geology department to borrow a radioactive sample rock. The CO2 and Humidity sensor required calibrating through a separate CO2 and Humidity sensor (the separate sensors were pre-calibra...
Read more

System Block Diagrams Introduction Week 5

-
Image
  Open Loop vs Closed Loop Systems For this week I chose system block diagrams because my ECE 103 class and, moreover, my ECE 294 class use system block diagrams, and people, including me, are unfamiliar with them, so I chose to research system block diagrams. Differing block diagrams are open loop and closed loop systems. Both, open loop and closed loop systems, have similarities. Any control system will take and process an input and generate an output. Internally, control systems are divided into two sections: the controller section and process section. The controller section controls the amount of input required to process an input. The process section processes the input to generate the output. Despite similarities, open loop systems have unique characteristics. Regarding open loop systems, the reference point is independent to the output. No feedback signal that indicates how to vary the input to get the desired output exists. For example, a toaster does not know when the brea...
Read more

Temperature Sensor week 8

-
Image
  Genaro Rivera November 4, 2022 Faulty Temperature Sensor This week, I was working on a weather balloon payload. Here, I tested temperature sensors connected to a portable circuit board: copper boards with copper shapes glued to an insulator replacing wires in a circuit (instead of wires, circuit boards use paths to connect electrical components, so the flow of electricity gets from one electrical component to another) . However, the temperature sensor, AKA sensor temperature sensor 2, in port 0 was faulty. I switched the sensor from port 0 to port 3 to see if the issue was the port and concluded that the port was not the issue. I also concluded that the sensor itself was the issue and not the wire because if the wire was the issue, then the sensors would display no data; instead, the volts would be 0. To fix the issue, I soldered on a new sensor as seen below. I cut the wire to get rid of the broken sensor; since out of the two sensors on the payload this was the one going on...
Read more