Tektronix Delivers Precision Multi-Phase Power Analyzer

Tektronix, Inc. announced its precision multi-phase Power Analyzer. Featuring the Spiral Shunt design, the Tektronix PA4000 Power Analyzer gives power electronics engineers stable, precise current measurements even on highly distorted power waveforms common in many applications.

The PA4000 rounds out the Tektronix portfolio of oscilloscope-based power test offerings enabling an end-to-end solution that provides the performance to measure for conformance to regulatory standards today and in the future. Combined with ease-of-use, application-specific test modes and a full set of standard features including communication interfaces and PC-based software, the PA4000 will prove to be the industry’s power analyzer of choice.

Performance, Features Tailored to Demanding Test Requirements
Power analyzers such as the PA4000 are used by power electronics engineers for designing, testing and validating power electronics devices, primarily in multi-phase applications. Key industries include motor drives, electric propulsion, backup power, alternative energy, and high-efficiency lighting.

Offering highly accurate power, energy and efficiency measurements, the PA4000 will help engineers meet these government and customer requirements. It features precisely-matched inputs, wide input ranges and advanced signal processing to deliver consistently high measurement accuracy in all types of measurement environments.

The PA4000 uses two Spiral Shunts on each channel – one for current measurements up to 1 A, for precise low-current measurements, and one for current measurements up to 30A, for higher-current measurements. This shunt design is then combined with high-speed digital signal processing algorithms, allowing the PA4000 to track power cycles accurately, even in the presence of transients and noise.

To save engineers setup time and reduce errors, the PA4000 offers a broad set of application-specific measurement modes such as standby current, motor drive and ballast. The analyzers are competitively priced and among the many features that come standard they provide LAN, USB, and RS-232 interfaces as well as, harmonics measurement capability up to the 100th harmonic. In addition, software for controlling the analyzer, downloading measurements, and logging on a PC is also included in the package.