Jump to content

Shopping for an Spectrum Analyzer - RF Explorer

miguell2

By miguell2
in General Topics

 Share

Recommended Posts

miguell2 Member Level: 3G EVDO

miguell2

Posted
Posted

I am currently in the market for an inexpensive spectrum analyzer and I came across RF explorer. 

 

http://micro.arocholl.com

 

It looks like an impressive little device. Is anyone familiar with this particular family of devices and if they are reliable.

 

I am very inclined to buy it but I want to run it by everyone with more experience that me on this.

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • Replies 116
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Popular Days

Top Posters In This Topic

Popular Days

Popular Posts

WiWavelength
WiWavelength

If we continue down this path, Robert is not going to need a spectrum analyzer.  He is going to need SONAR.   My time is up.  Thank you, folks.  You have been a great audience.  Goodnight...    

WiWavelength
WiWavelength

Normally, when we think resolution, we think high resolution (e.g. 1920 > 1280).  But RBW is the inverse.  The smaller the RBW, the greater the resolution.  The reason for this is that RBW represen

WiWavelength
WiWavelength

Asus makes great tablets and now great routers?  Why cannot Asus make a great handset?  PadFone, seriously?  Maybe Asus and HTC should merge.  Call it HateSeuss.     AJ

miguell2 Member Level: 3G EVDO

miguell2

Posted
  • Author
Posted

For $270, that's a great deal

Does anyone has experience with these units? I guess I can take a plunge for $270. But insight would be helpful. It should definitely help hunt down SMR signals. I think it might even help with pointing my TV Antenna :P

Link to comment
Share on other sites
tmiw Member Level: 3G EVDO

tmiw

Posted
Posted

The 15-2700MHz one would be nice for ham radio purposes, though I wish it went lower. It's still a steal though because spectrum analyzers usually go for $1000+ minimum.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
WiWavelength Member Level: LTE Advanced

WiWavelength

Posted
Posted

For $270, that's a great deal

The 15-2700MHz one would be nice for ham radio purposes, though I wish it went lower. It's still a steal though because spectrum analyzers usually go for $1000+ minimum.

 

Agreed.  My spectrum analyzer is a far cry from the $20,000 units that the wireless operators use.  Mine does cover up to 6 GHz and includes a high gain, directional antenna, though.  And the total cost, as I recall, was about $1700.

 

AJ

Link to comment
Share on other sites
DaQue Member Level: 4G LTE

DaQue

Posted
Posted

Actually, some of the ham radio guys are suggesting RTLSDR instead of an actual spectrum analyzer. Hmm.

I have one of those TV tuners hooked up on the Macbook Pro with the software on the Windows bootcamp partition.

Doesn't go high enough to look for 1900 PCS or the 2500 Mhz stuff.  For some reason the one I got tops out at 1800 if I remember right. Was very cheap on ebay. Free opensource software and $20 for the tuner.

 

73 WC0H

Link to comment
Share on other sites
milan03 Member Level: eHRPD

milan03

Posted
Posted

Got mine today, still getting used to it, I'm extremely happy so far! Thanks to Miguell2 for bringing this great device to our attention!

It's interesting to see Verizon's AWS LTE in B block for testing purposes live in some areas of NYC. It's completely invisible under the manual search using commercial UE. :)

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites
miguell2 Member Level: 3G EVDO

miguell2

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Got mine today, still getting used to it, I'm extremely happy so far! Thanks to Miguell2 for bringing this great device to our attention!

It's interesting to see Verizon's AWS LTE in B block for testing purposes live in some areas of NYC. It's completely invisible under the manual search using commercial UE. :)

Glad to hear. Do post some screenshots if you can of the PC display. From what I see I can use it to point all sorts of directional antennas provided I get the appropriate adapters.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
milan03 Member Level: eHRPD

milan03

Posted
Posted

Glad to hear. Do post some screenshots if you can of the PC display. From what I see I can use it to point all sorts of directional antennas provided I get the appropriate adapters.

I haven't tried directional antennas yet, but in my market I don't really have to worry too much for RF source.

Mac software isn't the greatest, I have yet to try PC version.

 

xslpU75l.png

 

xVQyaQ6l.png

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
milan03 Member Level: eHRPD

milan03

Posted
Posted

Here is another video scanning 2.5Ghz range in Queens, NYC.

Clearly OFDMA activity within 2520Mhz-2540Mhz span. Hoping it's TD-LTE, but it could be WiMax. Don't have UE to connect.

 

 

There was another one in the 2626Mhz - 2636Mhz range, only 10Mhz:

 

Sorry for terrible camera on my GS4 that refuses to stay focused. It's useless, will be using iPhone 5 camera from now on.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
lilotimz Member Level: LTE Advanced

lilotimz

Posted
Posted

Here is another video scanning 2.5Ghz range in Queens, NYC.

Clearly OFDMA activity within 2520Mhz-2540Mhz span. Hoping it's TD-LTE, but it could be WiMax. Don't have UE to connect.

 

 

 

There was another one in the 2626Mhz - 2636Mhz range, only 10Mhz:

 

 

Sorry for terrible camera on my GS4 that refuses to stay focused. It's useless, will be using iPhone 5 camera from now on.

 

If they're using the Samsung dual mode TD-LTE / Wimax RRU's then it's very likely the 10mhz will be for Wimax and the 20mhz for TD-LTE. The RRU max carrier size for Wimax is 10mhz while TD-LTE goes up to 20mhz. 

 

We've got reports of TD-LTE being detected in NYC and surrounding areas so it wouldn't be that surprising.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
milan03 Member Level: eHRPD

milan03

Posted
Posted

If they're using the Samsung dual mode TD-LTE / Wimax RRU's then the 10mhz will be for Wimax and the 20mhz for TD-LTE. The RRU max carrier size for Wimax is 10mhz while TD-LTE goes up to 20mhz. 

That would make sense, but I didn't expect TD-LTE in 2520Mhz range. Was expecting the same as in Denver in 2619.2Mhz - 2637.2Mhz. Is NYC Clearwire's Samsung market? It's all mixed up now with Sprint using ALU, etc...

 

Luckily I did scan lower, and at this particular location found activity.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
lilotimz Member Level: LTE Advanced

lilotimz

Posted
Posted

That would make sense, but I didn't expect TD-LTE in 2520Mhz range. Was expecting the same as in Dallas in 2619.2Mhz - 2637.2Mhz

 

They gotta do what they have to do. It's likely that wimax carriers were still dominating the 2500 range in the Dallas area and they had some in the 2600 range to spare. Clearwire appeared to use different slices of BRS/EBS for each wimax sector which can take up huge chunks  of the BRS/EBS spectrum. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
milan03 Member Level: eHRPD

milan03

Posted
Posted

Clearwire appeared to use different slices of BRS/EBS for each wimax sector which can take up huge chunks  of the BRS/EBS spectrum. 

That's just crazy to me, but it is what it is. I'll keep scanning Manhattan and Brooklyn in the coming days, will need to gather more data from NYC.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites
milan03 Member Level: eHRPD

milan03

Posted
Posted

Are you guys using the built-in antennas for scanning, or did you shell out for special antennas that can pick up 2500?

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

Link to comment
Share on other sites
WiWavelength Member Level: LTE Advanced

WiWavelength

Posted
Posted

Here is another 20Mhz sweep, what seems to be Sprint's LTE?

 

It is impossible to say for certain at that resolution, but my guess is the 20 MHz sweep in that range is picking up multiple WiMAX carriers.

 

AJ

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • large.unreadcontent.png.6ef00db54e758d06

  • gallery_1_23_9202.png

  • Posts

    • topdownat4
      Keep a Word, Drop a Word #7

      By topdownat4 · Posted

      Fury Gran Coupe (My First Car - What a Boat...)
    • dkyeager
      Dish Network/Boost Mobile cell/5G buildout thread

      By dkyeager · Posted

      Definite usage quirks in hunting down these sites with a rainbow sim in a s24 ultra. Fell into a hole yesterday so sent off to T-Mobile purgatory. Try my various techniques. No Dish. Get within binocular range of former Sprint colocation and can see Dish equipment. Try to manually set network and everybody but no Dish is listed.  Airplane mode, restart, turn on and off sim, still no Dish. Pull upto 200ft from site straight on with antenna.  Still no Dish. Get to manual network hunting again on phone, power off phone for two minutes. Finally see Dish in manual network selection and choose it. Great signal as expected. I still think the 15 minute rule might work but lack patience. (With Sprint years ago, while roaming on AT&T, the phone would check for Sprint about every fifteen minutes. So at highway speed you could get to about the third Sprint site before roaming would end). Using both cellmapper and signalcheck.net maps to hunt down these sites. Cellmapper response is almost immediate these days (was taking weeks many months ago).  Their idea of where a site can be is often many miles apart. Of course not the same dataset. Also different ideas as how to label a site, but sector details can match with enough data (mimo makes this hard with its many sectors). Dish was using county spacing in a flat suburban area, but is now denser in a hilly richer suburban area.  Likely density of customers makes no difference as a poorer urban area with likely more Dish customers still has country spacing of sites.
    • dkyeager
      SignalCheck Beta Crew Forum

      By dkyeager · Posted

      Mike if you need more Dish data, I have been hunting down sites in western Columbus.  So far just n70 and n71 reporting although I CA all three.
    • S4GRU
      Keep a Word, Drop a Word #7

      By S4GRU · Posted

      Nissan Coupe
    • Paynefanbro
      Network Vision/LTE - New York City Market

      By Paynefanbro · Posted

      Good catch! I meant 115932/119932. Edited my original post I've noticed the same thing lately and have just assumed that they're skipping it now because they're finally able to deploy mmWave small cells.

  • Recently Browsing

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...