8 GHz USB Real-Time Spectrum Analyzer & Signal Generator

With 245MHz, the SPECTRAN^® V6 achieves by far the highest 24/7 streaming real-time bandwidth in its class. Until now, only 27MHz or 40MHz of gapless data transmission were available on the market. The V6 sets completely new standards with its 245MHz bandwidth. The impressive screenshot demonstrates the advantage of a high real-time bandwidth: Whereas with 40MHz only a small area of the Wi-Fi would be visible, with 245MHz the entire Wi-Fi band and LTE can be monitored simultaneously in real time. This is also indispensable for all broadband signals such as Wi-Fi 6.

The SPECTRAN^® V6 only needs 5ms to cover the entire frequency range of 6GHz. Therefore it sweeps even faster than the human eye could detect. This is an absolute novelty in the USB compact class and enables new measurement possibilities. This screenshot demonstrates a very impressive measurement: Even short signals such as Bluetooth, DECT etc. are easily reproduced by the POI of only 5ms and thus enable a quasi real-time display of the entire frequency spectrum from TETRA to GSM, LTE, 5G and 5GHz Wi-Fi in previously unknown detail.

The extremely low POI of 10ns (97ns via FFT) enables completely new measurement possibilities that were previously unattainable for a USB spectrum analyzer. Even extremely short radar bursts in the nanosecond range can now be analyzed in detail: The screenshot shows a phase-modulated radar burst of only 7µs, which can still be displayed with a temporal resolution of 100ns. Now you get a detailed analysis of your Barker codes in length 13.

The powerful Record & Replay function of the SPECTRAN^® V6, together with the RTSA-Suite PRO, enables recording and replay of the FULL IQ bandwidth of up to 245MHz. This was previously reserved for extremely expensive benchtop devices. 24/7 recording is only limited to the size of your optional external hard-drive. An SSD drive is ideal but not necessary. When recording to the drive, old data will be overwritten with new data when storage is limited by utilizing our “smart buffering” (FIFO function).

The extremely high sensitivity of the SPECTRAN^® V6 makes it possible to measure even extremely weak signals, which was only achieved by benchtop analyzers. Hidden or faint signals can be easily detected by the first-class DANL on board. The impressive screenshot shows signals around -170dBm can still be detected with an RBW of 1Hz.

EMC measurements in real-time are achieved by the enormous real-time bandwidth of up to 245MHz as well as the ultra-fast sweep speed of the SPECTRAN^® V6 This means that the success of changes, such as taking interference suppression and shielding measures, can be determined and evaluated immediately. The simultaneous display of several limit values increases the speed of the measurement considerably, as they no longer need to be carried out individually. The screenshot shows a simultaneous live measurement according to EN55015 and EN61800-3 standard with visual feedback in case of non-compliance with the limit values (marker in red).

With the help of the IQ demodulator block, you can extract single or multiple frequencies range from a complex IQ data stream. A unique feature to the SPECTRAN^® V6. This makes massive data reductions or narrowband decoding of several signals possible. Here are two QAM signals that are tapped individually and decoded independently of each other.

The 3D IQ constellation diagram is another special feature of the RTSA-Suite PRO software, as constellation diagrams can only be seen in 2D; Here is a 3D DAB signal (digital radio) with a 2048 FFT. The data is displayed in real time and can be rotated, compressed, and zoomed as desired. You have never experienced IQ data like this before - a unique form of display.

The RTSA-Suite PRO offers, thanks to a tricky deep memory folding algorithm, an extremely high-resolution FFT display with up to 1 million points. Another unique feature allows the entire FFT to be stored in memory. With this amount of data and detail stored from the spectrum, one can now zoom in for greater clarity to evaluate multiple complex carriers as demonstrated in the screenshot.

A real-time 3D view of a 16QAM modulation. The view can be rotated or compressed in real time. Various lighting and color settings are available. You have never seen QAM like this before.
A real eye-catcher.

Modifiable trigger masks and/or logical operations simplify the acquisition of even shorter signals. In addition, triggers and filters can also be created in relation to pulse lengths, frequency, signal density, etc. For example, Bluetooth and WiFi can be separated from each other. Even cascading of several trigger stages is possible.

The optional ultra-low-noise preamplifier of the SPECTRAN^® V6 offers up to 20dB higher sensitivity and a DANL of -170dBm/Hz. The impressive results can be seen in this screenshot: Two combined spectra, each with (left representation) and without (right representation) preamplifier. The difference is striking.

The RTSA-Suite PRO offers a variety of new display formats for your measurements. How about a histogram view, for example, in 3D? No problem with the RTSA Suite PRO. Here you can see a WiFi and Bluetooth signal as a 3D histogram.

RTSA Suite PRO consists of building blocks that are configured in a flow chart to form a measurement (mission). The mission can then be started. A typical yet simple mission can be seen in the screenshot above. The SPECTRAN^® V6 sends out its IQ data to the FFT, which in return sends the Spectra data simultaneously to the histogram, the waterfall and the spectrum. Up to now, a measurement was hardly possible in such a simple and individual way.

For a more complex mission: The SPECTRAN^® V6 simultaneously supplies the IQ data of Rx1 and Rx2. The IQ data of the Rx1 is streamed to the local hard disk for recording with the help of the file writer (IQ Recorder). At the same time, the IQ data of the Rx2 is streamed seamlessly to an HTTP client via an HTTP server over the Internet or a local network. Finally, various IQ blocks are also integrated for extended data visualization.

The 3D visualization of the RTSA-Suite PRO leaves nothing to be desired. Here is a waterfall in 3D representing the 2.4GHz WiFi band. Bluetooth and WiFi are displayed in real time and with extremely high resolution. The display can be rotated and compressed super smoothly without jerking in real time. Experience data visualization like you have never seen before.

Even extremely high data volumes can still be displayed with the help of the flexible time compression of the 3D views. Here a battery charger and its harmonics or spurious over a long period of more than 20 minutes. The frequency drift over this time is almost a work of art.

The Channel Power Block enables a detailed channel power measurement: In addition to the graphical real-time display of the spectrum, the secondary channels, the CHP, ACPR/ACLR and OBW are automatically measured and continuously displayed. At the same time, all channels in the entire spectrum and their individual power can be visualized in real-time. Here the DECT band together with all current carriers.

The measurement of harmonics is done by our "Harmonics Spectrum Analyzer" block: Up to 11 harmonics can be measured simultaneously. The number of harmonics, as well as the RBW and span, are freely adjustable to ensure the best possible measurements. The THD and percentage display are automatically updated after each measurement.