What’s inside a Colby instrument?
Colby’s programmable delay line instruments are designed to provide users with variable-length signal paths for high frequency electronic signals. By programmatically varying the length of that signal path, users can create precise time delays (or phase shifts) to suit their needs. Our instruments achieve this by utilizing one or more of several different core technologies, each with their own unique advantages.
Trombone
At the heart of our flagship instruments is Colby’s patented trombone. As the name implies, the trombone “slides” to become longer or shorter—animated by a hybrid stepper motor and leadscrew—enabling a range of precise signal delays at remarkably fine steps while offering the highest signal integrity and broadest bandwidth of signal.
A single trombone can produce any amount of delay between 0 and 625.0 ps with a step resolution as small as 0.25 ps (equivalent of 0.09 degrees per 1 GHz signal), which is why it defines the suite of our most precise instruments, the XT Series. What’s more, signal input bandwidth is broadband from 0 to 18 GHz with excellent signal integrity (-2.8 dBm at max delay and 18 GHz).
RELEVANT PRODUCTS
XT-100 | XT-200 | XT-100-OEM
Delay Extension
While it lacks the incredibly fine step resolution of a trombone, a delay extension is the best fit for applications that require faster switching speeds or longer total delay ranges. Made of fixed length precision-cut semi-rigid coaxial cables and aerospace-grade microwave relays, delay extensions have switching speeds of 50 ms, almost 20x faster than the typical switching speed of the trombone, making them suitable for demanding application requirements in automated production or testing environments.
Delay extensions can also be configured for a total delay range exceeding the 625.0 ps of the trombone, up to 200.0 ns, and with a step size of 5 ps, 10 ps, or 1.0 ns.
RELEVANT PRODUCTS
Trombone + Delay Extension
For those who want the advantages of both the trombone and the delay extension, the XT-100 comes with a single trombone and is configurable to include delay extensions that increase the total delay range of the instrument up to 100.0 ns.
RELEVANT PRODUCTS
Solid State Pin Diodes
For fast switching requirements and at the limited signal bandwidth, the XS-100 differs from our delay extensions by utilizing
Solid state PIN diodes switch between strip-line PCB material of fixed length signal paths, resulting in the fastest switching times, typically under 50 ms. Because of the nature of these elements, bandwidth is limited from 100 MHz to 3.5 GHz). Cost effective. 1 ps (step resolution)
RELEVANT PRODUCTS