Now that I have followed the chain, the PD signal is indeed being amplified at the LSC rack. It goes into a ZFL-1000LN+ amplifier (~23dB gain at 165MHz and 15V supply), followed by a SHP-100 high pass filter, and then enters the RF IN of the demod board.
I repeated the measurement in two spots.
First, I took a spectrum of the RF MON of the REFL165 demod board during DRMI lock; this was input-referred by adding 20dBm.
Second, I inserted a ZFDC-10-5 coupler between the high pass and the RF input of the demod board. This was input-referred by adding 10dBm.

My calibration isn't perfect; the peaks above the high pass corner seem to be different by a consistent amount, but within a few dBm.
Thus, it looks like the demod board is getting a little under -40dBm of 165MHz signal at its input. |