Microwave power meter

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A microwave power meter is an instrument which measures the electrical power at microwave frequencies typically in the range 100 MHz to 40 GHz.

Usually a microwave power meter will consist of a measuring head which contains the actual power sensing element, connected via a cable to the meter proper, which displays the power reading. The head may be referred to as a power sensor or mount. Different power sensors can be used for different frequencies or power levels. Historically the means of operation in most power sensor and meter combinations was that the sensor would convert the microwave power into an analogue voltage which would be read by the meter and converted into a power reading. Several modern power sensor heads contain electronics to create a digital output and can be plugged via USB into a PC which acts as the power meter.

Microwave power meters have a wide bandwidth—they are not frequency-selective. To measure the power of a specific frequency component in the presence of other signals at different frequencies a spectrum analyzer or measuring receiver is needed.