Software for Automated Spurious Signal Testing

A program is described that performs automated testing of spurious signal emmissions from a satellite transponder. This program makes extensive use of the HP-8566 spectrum analyzer in acquiring spur data over a wide frequency range (typically 8 to 20 GHz). The data is compared to spur specification levels that vary both as a function of frequency and bandwidth resolution. All specification levels and spectrum analyzer settings are supplied to the software from ASCII files, thus the program´s operation can be readily modified as test requirements are changed. In addition, this approach eliminates operator intervention, hence errors, during execution of the program.