8703B Specifications 
and Characteristics
Specifications apply to instruments in the following situation:
• Temperature is in the range of +20°C to +30°C
• Analyzer has had a warm-up time of two hours in a stable ambient temperature
• Measurement calibration has been performed
Measurement Conditions
The specifications in the following sections apply for 
measurements made using the following conditions:
• 30 Hz IF Bandwidth
• Stepped Sweep Mode
• Autobias ON
• 0.5% Smoothing
Description Specification Characteristic
Lightwave Source
Wavelength
Option 155 1555 nm,± 5 nm
Option 131 1308 nm,±9.5 nm
Average Optical Output Power from Laser +5 Bm
Laser Beam Divergence 12%
Spectral Width <20 MHz
Modulation Bandwidth 0.05 to 20.05 GHz
Modulation Frequency Resolution 1 Hz
Maximum Optical Power Input to Modulator 10 dBm (10 mW)
Insertion Loss of Modulator 9 dB
Average Optical Output Power from Modulator -4 dBm (400 µW)
Modulated Signal Output Power from Modulator (p-p) -7 Bm (200 µW)
Modulation Indexa 40% to 99%
Optical Output Return Loss (for all front panel optical ports) >30dB
Lightwave Receiver
Wavelength 1000-1600 nm
Input Modulation Bandwidth 0.05 to 20.05 GHz
Maximum Average Input Power Operating Level +3 Bm
Input Port Return Loss >30 B
Microwave Source
Frequency Bandwidth 0.05 to 20.05 GHz
Frequency Resolution 1 Hz
Output Power Range -65 to +5 dBm
Microwave Receiver
Frequency Bandwidth 0.05 to 20.05 GHz
Maximum Input Power Operating Level +10 dBm
a. Modulation index is calculated as: maximum signal power/average power