Electronics > Projects, Designs, and Technical Stuff

Do it yourself Spectrum Analyser

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steve_w:
Has anyone seen this or had a go:

http://scottyspectrumanalyzer.com/

Looks impressive as a project but a big commitment in resources.  My worry is that if you built as described you could make a large junk pile with no useable product at the end.  Not because the project is neccessarily bad, but the skill and experience to debug and align to make a good product would not be for everyone. 

This is a complicated project with a wide range of skills required.

Does anyone have an opinion on viability?

Wartex:

--- Quote from: steve_w on February 22, 2012, 03:25:16 am ---Has anyone seen this or had a go:

http://scottyspectrumanalyzer.com/

Looks impressive as a project but a big commitment in resources.  My worry is that if you built as described you could make a large junk pile with no useable product at the end.  Not because the project is neccessarily bad, but the skill and experience to debug and align to make a good product would not be for everyone. 

This is a complicated project with a wide range of skills required.

Does anyone have an opinion on viability?

--- End quote ---



--- Quote ---I am a retired RF Design Engineer from Raytheon
--- End quote ---

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I'm 99% positive it will be extremely out of tune and pretty much useless by the time you are done because mentally he is much, much better at seeing signal behavior in the circuit than you are. With high frequencies Z axis becomes very relevant and IMHO you will botch it unless you know what you are doing.

steve_w:
I might be a retired RF design engineer :)

sonicj:

--- Quote from: steve_w on February 22, 2012, 03:25:16 am ---Has anyone seen this or had a go:
--- End quote ---
i saw that a few months back... epic!

judging by the participation on yahoo groups, its not impossible.  boards are available through expresspcb & component kits through mini-circuits. the "MSA Summary" here is a good intro read.
-sj

amspire:
I have looked into this project before, and I think it would be a really great project. I have been tempted.

But there is a lot of hardware, and unless you have some old RF gear to scrap for parts like connectors, plumbing, etc, it looks to me like an expensive project. Also not an easy project if you don't already have lots of RF test equipment.

Still, if you wanted to learn about working in RF, what a way to do it! Worth the effort for sure. Scotty Sprowls - you are a legend.

Richard.

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