Some of them seemed like they would be better but in the end the SH won primarily due to the features that came standard with the Spike software. I evaluated several low cost portable analyzers as well as the Tektronix RSA306 USB analyzer. All I needed was something to analyze modulation characteristics of a PCM/FM telemetry system. ![]() I was looking for a spectrum analyzer to replace an HP which proved too costly to repair. This is an unsolicited letter of praise for the Signal Hound USB-SA44B spectrum analyzer. Off the top of my head I wouldn’t know any alternative to it. But it’s the size of an oscilloscope and for field work the super-light and small SA44B is hard to beat. Nowadays you can buy full-blown spectrum analyzers with display and all for around $2k or twice the price of the SA44B which would make more sense for a lab bench. Long story short, if you are mostly after continuous wave carriers and not pulsed signals this analyzer is highly recommended. When the unit lost it’s calibration settings for some reason they emailed me the files for my serial number unit same day. People with lower back issues like myself will appreciate that. Which means I do not have to schlepp the big laptop along for field diagnostics. Signalhound stated that it won’t run with smallish 1GHz or less processors but to my surprise it does. So you have to use the old software which isn’t that great. What isn’t so great is that the latest software does not run under XP and many lab computer run XP (for good reasons). I had one case where I reduced all sorts of offending peaks and after the client re-ran at the agency lab the improvement was almost verbatim as the SA44B had predicted. The SA44B “hound” sniffs those out nicely. Micro processor clock, buses, oscillators and such. However, EMC issues typically entail constant carrier sources. ![]() You have to know that this is in essence a software-defined radio (SDR) so it won’t work well (or at all) for pulsed signals. The main purpose was to have an analyzer that fits in a small carry-on bag to measure stuff at clients who had EMC or other problems. Demodulates AM/FM/SSB/CW audio in real-time.Compatible with Windows 7/8/10 32-bit and 64-bit operating systems.Frequency Sweeps up to 140 MHz per second.Write your own software with our free Application Programming Interface (API).TSCM software is available, and is being marketed.Additional Third-Party Software Packages are available. ![]()
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