Colby Instruments

Product Overview of Programmable Delay Line (PDL) Instruments

Colby Instruments' Programmable Delay Line (PDL) Series instruments offer precision programmable electrical delay for RF/microwave frequency signals in one easy to setup and use instrument. Our newest PDL-100A Series of instruments utilize our patented Electro-Mechanical Trombone structure and can be configured in different models to offer total delay up to 100 ns or more. Delay precision accuracy and resolution to 0.50 ps lead the industry in performance.

All programmable delay line instruments are suitable for use in high frequency RF signal applications as phase shifters or where an extremely high precision and accurate amount of delay is required.

The CPDL-100A Series offers a customizable instrument with custom programmable fixed delays utilizing Aerospace grade microwave relays and precision-cut semi-rigid coaxial cable. The CPDL-100A is fully customizable based on customer specifications for delay resolution (to the smallest step size of 10 ps) and total delay range up to a maximum of 200 ns. It is best suited for applications where total range of delay is a higher priority than delay step (or phase shift) resolution.

The new value priced HPDL-100A offers a delay range from 0 to 10.23 ns with a fixed minimum resolution or step to 10 ps.

Each unit includes GPIB (IEEE488.2), Ethernet TCP/IP LAN and RS-232 Serial interfaces for remote programmable control. An optional MT-100A Microterminal (LCD display and numeric keypad) offers manual entry of desired delay. A Rack Mount Option (RMO-1) is available for mounting any one of our entire line of instrument models into a standard 19" rack.

All units can be used as delay lines or phase shifters suitable for both analog and digital applications and free from all noise sources, including no Phase Noise and no Jitter. For analog applications, bandwidth is from DC to 18 GHz. For digital applications, DC to 40gb/s NRZ. Phase shift resolution is to 0.18 degrees per 1GHz frequency of signal input.

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Product Selection Guide for Programmable Delay Line Instruments

PDL-100A-625PS Programmable Delay Line Instrument

	PDL-100A Detailed Information
Type	Mechanical Trombone
Resolution	0.25 ps or 0.50 ps (or 0.18 degrees per 1 GHz phase shift)
Delay Range	0 to 625.0 ps
Delay Range Extension	N/A
Bandwidth	DC to 18.0 GHz
Data Range	DC to 20 Gb/s
Connectivity	GPIB (IEEE488.2) Ethernet TCP/IP RS-232 Serial and MT-100A Microterminal.
Comments	Base model unit. PDL-100A (trombone only) also available separately for OEM applications. See PDL-100A-OEM for more information.

PDL-100A-10.0NS Programmable Delay Line Instrument

	PDL-100A Detailed Information
Type	Mechanical Trombone
Resolution	0.25 ps or 0.50 ps (or 0.18 degrees per 1 GHz phase shift)
Delay Range	0 to 10.0 ns (other models available up to 100.0 ns)
Delay Range Extension	customer specifies delay range extension limits.
Bandwidth	DC to 18.0 GHz
Data Range	DC to 20 Gb/s
Connectivity	GPIB (IEEE488.2) Ethernet TCP/IP RS-232 Serial and MT-100A Microterminal.
Comments	Adds delay range extensions to base model unit. Typical delay ranges are 5.0 ns, 10.0ns, or 20.0 ns of total delay.

PDL-200A Programmable Delay Line Instrument Series

	PDL-200A Detailed Information
Type	Dual Electro-Mechanical Trombones in-series -OR- in-parallel for differential signals
Resolution	0.25 ps or 0.50 ps (or 0.18 degrees per 1 GHz phase shift)
Delay Range	0 to 1.25 ns in-series -OR- 0 to 625.0 ps per channel in DUAL CHANNEL configuration
Delay Range Extension	Extended models up to 2.50 ns PER CHANNEL IN DUAL CHANNEL configuration available
Bandwidth	DC to 18.0 GHz
Data Range	DC to 20 Gb/s
Connectivity	GPIB (IEEE488.2) Ethernet TCP/IP RS-232 Serial and MT-100A Microterminal.
Comments	Different models available: 1. PDL-200A-1.25NS for SINGLE CHANNEL (DUAL TROMBONES in-series) for 1.25 ns total delay range. 2. PDL-200A-625PS for DUAL CHANNEL (DUAL TROMBONES in-parallel) for 625 ps PER CHANNEL total delay range. 3. CPDL-200A-1.25NS for DUAL CHANNEL for 1.25 NS PER CHANNEL total delay range by adding delay extentions in-series per each TROMBONE.

CPDL-100A Programmable Delay Line Instrument Series

	CPDL-100A Detailed Information
Type	Microwave Relays and precision cut semi-rigid coaxial cable
Resolution	10.0 ps minimum or customer specifies step size
Delay Range	0 to 200.0 ns (or 15x binary step multiples of Step Resolution)
Delay Range Extension	customer specifies delay range extension limits.
Bandwidth	DC to 18.0 GHz
Data Range	DC to 20 Gb/s
Connectivity	GPIB (IEEE488.2) Ethernet TCP/IP RS-232 Serial and MT-100A Microterminal.
Comments	Custom programmable delay instrument can be configured per customer specified step resolution and total delay range.

HPDL-100A Programmable Delay Line Instrument Series

	HPDL-100A Detailed Information
Type	Microwave Relays and precision cut semi-rigid coaxial cable
Resolution	10.0 ps fixed
Delay Range	0 to 10.23 ns for HPDL100A-10.23NS -OR- 0 to 20.47 ns for HPDL-100A-20.47 NS
Delay Range Extension	Fixed limits to 10.23 ns or 20.47 ns
Bandwidth	DC to 12.0 GHz
Data Range	DC to 10 Gb/s
Connectivity	GPIB (IEEE488.2) Ethernet TCP/IP RS-232 Serial and MT-100A Microterminal (included)
Comments	Value priced solution to either 10.23 ns or 20.47 ns of total delay at FIXED step resolution of 10 ps.

Key Features of Electro-Mechanical Delay Lines

Free from ALL noise sources, including no phase noise and no jitter.
Fully programmable via GPIB (IEEE488.2), Ethernet TCP/IP, and RS-232 Serial interfaces.
All systems can be used as DELAY LINES or PHASE SHIFTERS.
Phase shifter applications where high precision phase resolution is required
Convenient Manual Control with Microterminal MT-100A
Suitable for both ANALOG and DIGITAL applications.
Very wide analog bandwidth from DC to 18.0 GHz.
Digital applications from DC to 40 Gb/s NRZ.
Resolution to 0.50 ps. Excellent Repeatability to 0.1 ps.
Extremely Linear Phase Characteristics (see specific insertion/return (S11 & S21 reports) per instrument model.
Excellent Power Handling Capability to 50 W peak.