EV-ADF4401ASD2Z Evaluation Board's output is off frequency in Translation Loop mode

Question

Hi Community, 
 I am evaluating the EV-ADF4401ASD2Z Evaluation Board and seemingly can't get the RF output to stay at the desired frequency in Translation Loop Mode. In Calibration mode the output is exactly on the target. 
 The settings: 
 
 Calibration Ref - 10 MHz / +9 dBm. 
 External Reference - 10 MHz / +9 dBm 
 External LO - 4.5 GHz / 0 dBm 
 Windows 10, 64-bit OS 
 
 The software controlling the board is ACE v. 1.24.3095.1398. 
 The output signal in Translation Loop Mode sits at about 4.28 GHz vs 4.51 GHz in Calibration Mode. 
 
 Power supply is 6 VDC / 800 mA from a benchtop U8002A by Keysight. 
 If anyone could reply with suggestions, I'd greatly appreciate it. 
 Thank you. 
 90125

ggall · Accepted Answer

The IF output of ADF4401A is spec'ed from 50 MHz to 1 GHz, so external reference should be 50 MHz minimum. It may be a bug in the ACE software that allows IF to be configured to a lower frequency. 
 Also, external reference input power of +9dBm looks too high. HMC3716 is spec'ed for max input power of +5 dBm. For calibration reference, 0 dBm input power is recommended.

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EV-ADF4401ASD2Z Evaluation Board's output is off frequency in Translation Loop mode

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