Windfreak,
Thanks for the thought, but that
device doesn't hit either the frequency range or
the phase noise requirements we're looking for.
The VCO on that part has a 10k SSB phase noise of
-89dBC at 2.2GHz that's worlds and worlds away from
the -120 I'm on the hunt for.
To clarify
what I'm trying to do a little I'll give some more
detail.
Currently our
PXI-5663 has pretty good phase noise performance
by taking advantage of the
PXI-5652. The 5663 is actually 3 different PXI
modules cabled together (LO PXI-5662, Downconverter
PXI-5601, IF Digitizer PXI-5622).
Because
of it's modular nature, we can substitute our LO
with a different LO with even better phase noise
performance when the measurements call for it. Just
one of those 'Damn, that's sweet!' kind of capabilities
you get with a Modular Instrument approach to RF
test.