SYMAT 40, Symmetrical Step Attenuator, 100 Ohms acc. EN 50561-1

Description

SYMAT 40 is a symmetrical 100 Ω step attenuator. It is switchable between 0 dB, 10 dB, 20 dB, 30 dB, 40 dB and 50 dB. Its purpose is to gather properties of the dynamic performance control of PLC/PLT devices. The measurement setup is described in the standard EN 50561-1 chapter 9.2. Figure 1 shows the setup.

The symmetrical attenuator SYMAT 40 belongs to a series of measurement equipment for measuring power line communication devices. It stands out for its very flat frequency response of typically below 0.2 dB and can be used up to above 50 MHz. The input and output connectors are symmetrical to earth and show identical properties, so they can be used in both ways. Fig. 1 shows the typical transmission measured in a 100 W system.

Using a rotary switch the attenuation can be adjusted between 0 and 50 dB in 10 dB steps. The total attenuation results from the sum of the set attenuation of the SYMAT 40 plus 10 dB insertion loss of the port 3 of the SPLIT 100. If a measurement has to be performed at 20 dB decoupling between AE and EuT for instance, the switch at the SYMAT 40 has to be set to 10 dB.