Shopping for an Spectrum Analyzer - RF Explorer

[milan03]

That makes sense

[digiblur]

Just built in. I'm guessing you could get directional antennas, but for city environment this is perfect!

That looks cool... Man.. Time to tempt the wife to let me get one.

 

I would get the directional stuff as it lets you isolate where the signal is coming from. Definitely not for pulling in a better signal but that is a plus too.

[WiWavelength]

That makes sense

 

What we really need is for our tri band hotspot users to keep posting their engineering screen EARFCNs.  Robert did so in Denver, but he is practically the only one so far.

 

AJ

[milan03]

That looks cool... Man.. Time to tempt the wife to let me get one.

 

I would get the directional stuff as it lets you isolate where the signal is coming from. Definitely not for pulling in a better signal but that is a plus too.

Not sure exactly where would I get the right antenna, definitely worth a look!

[digiblur]

Not sure exactly where would I get the right antenna, definitely worth a look!

I used to use them back in the day when I was designing wireless systems to cover a building. I had a narrow beam width one that would hunt down a rogue access point in minutes.

[milan03]

I used to use them back in the day when I was designing wireless systems to cover a building. I had a narrow beam width one that would hunt down a rogue access point in minutes.

Take my money

[WiWavelength]

Not sure exactly where would I get the right antenna, definitely worth a look!

 

In one of your pics or videos, I saw that the antenna port is 50 Ω.  That is quite standard.  So, nearly any directional antenna with the right frequency range should work.  The minor issue is calibration, but I do not think that we are concerned with absolute amplitude accuracy.

 

AJ

[miguell2]

What we really need is for our tri band hotspot users to keep posting their engineering screen EARFCNs.  Robert did so in Denver, but he is practically the only one so far.

 

AJ

With this affordable analyzer we might start getting more users posting sweeps.

[miguell2]

In one of your pics or videos, I saw that the antenna port is 50 Ω.  That is quite standard.  So, nearly any directional antenna with the right frequency range should work.  The minor issue is calibration, but I do not think that we are concerned with absolute amplitude accuracy.

 

AJ

I can't imagine that for that price range you are expecting a precision tool but the software and algorithms that make it tick are being actively improved and anyone with the inclination can speak with the engineers behind this tool with ideas, they seem very receptive.

[digiblur]

So to the folks that have these...which one do we get if we want to scan the airaves of Sprint NV stuff and of course the Clearwire stuff?  Which store?

[WiWavelength]

I can't imagine that for that price range you are expecting a precision tool but the software and algorithms that make it tick are being actively improved and anyone with the inclination can speak with the engineers behind this tool with ideas, they seem very receptive.

 

Calibration is between the analyzer and the antenna because the antenna does not have the same gain at all frequencies in its passband.  Calibration cannot be improved via a software/firmware update.  It requires comparison of the antenna against a known reference, then creation of a compensation data set.

 

AJ

[miguell2]

Calibration is between the analyzer and the antenna because the antenna does not have the same gain at all frequencies in its passband.  Calibration cannot be improved via a software/firmware update.  It requires comparison of the antenna against a known reference, then creation of a compensation data set.

 

AJ

I stand corrected. 

[milan03]

So to the folks that have these...which one do we get if we want to scan the airaves of Sprint NV stuff and of course the Clearwire stuff?  Which store?

This is the one you want to get. https://www.gothamsound.com/product/3g-combo

 

The range is 15Mhz - 2.7Ghz. It's the most "expensive" model.

[WiWavelength]

I stand corrected. 

 

Not so much of a correction as a clarification, just defining what I mean by "calibration."

 

My spectrum analyzer comes with calibration files for various antennas, including the directional antenna that I use.  However, I often forget to load my calibration file when I start up the analyzer software.  No matter.  I am not usually concerned with amplitude so long as I can see the airlink above the noise floor.  The same likely holds true for most usage with this less expensive spectrum analyzer.

 

AJ

[digiblur]

This is the one you want to get. https://www.gothamsound.com/product/3g-combo

 

The range is 15Mhz - 2.7Ghz. It's the most "expensive" model.

 

Thanks, ordered mine today.  Hope it gets here by the weekend to go play with.

[miguell2]

Thanks, ordered mine today.  Hope it gets here by the weekend to go play with.

I have to wait until the end of the month... stupid grown up obligations...  

[digiblur]

I have to wait until the end of the month... stupid grown up obligations...

I made some side money on a gig and some Sprint discounts that offset the cost in my budget. So i guess I can say thanks to Sprint for this toy for their 9 month screw up on a site and the discount that came from it.

[digiblur]

Went and had some fun with the toy at a few locations.   Might be a bit of a picture flood but oh well...some might want to see it.

[digiblur]

Site #1

 

[digiblur]

Site#2

 

[digiblur]

Site #3

 

 

[digiblur]

Last site...  maybe others can explain or show me different settings or other things to look for. 

 

 

[milan03]

Haha Congrats!!!

[digiblur]

Haha Congrats!!!

Shopping around for magnetic mount antennas for the thing now to make it easier to hunt.

[Thomas L.]

OK so I feel totally dumb as this is way outside my knowledge - how do you tell LTE from CDMA from GSM/WCDMA when doing the sweeps?

 

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 4