Research and Design of a New RF Voltmeter Calibrator

RF voltage measurement plays a crucial role in scientific research and industry. RF voltmeter calibrators are widely used in metrology stations at all levels of the national metrology system, undertaking numerous calibration tasks. This paper introduces a newly developed intelligent RF voltmeter calibrator that offers several advantages, including wide frequency bandwidth, high dynamic range, high accuracy, and automatic testing capabilities. It provides functions for basic error calibration and frequency additive error calibration, enabling automatic or semi-automatic calibration of various types of RF voltmeters and automatic generation of calibration certificates. The calibrator's design focuses on two aspects: hardware and software. In the hardware design, a standard AC voltage source is developed for basic error calibration. This circuit consists of an AC voltage generator module, a voltage amplification module, and a closed-loop feedback module, ensuring high-accuracy output. For frequency additive error calibration, a new sensor chip and structure are designed to facilitate more accurate and convenient DC voltage calibration. The software design encompasses the measurement and control module, data processing module, and display module. These modules enable automatic value reading for feedback adjustment, switching of ranges or frequencies, value display, and subsequent data processing. The introduced RF voltmeter calibrator design is at the forefront domestically, contributing to the innovation of domestic calibrators, reducing dependence on foreign instruments, and meeting the needs of domestic RF voltmeter verification and calibration.