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Looking for a pocket rf spectrum analyzer
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kultakala:
Hi,

I searched and read a lot in the forum about spectrum analyzers and i am not sure which one would be best or if i need something else.
This stuff is quite complex and i didnt have much to do with rf in general yet so its not easy for me to decide.

I want to be able to check which wifi frequencies are occupied, which frequencies my microwave, cell phone or other devices are emitting.
And i would like to check if devices like my remote controls for light and garage opener and other rf devices are working at all or how well the reception at specific places is.

I do have a GQ EMF-390 which provides a simple spectrum view and i can achieve some of the mentioned functions with it.
But the user interface is bad, the resolution is not the best and it just has an internal antenna which has not the best reception.

So i was looking for a device to replace it.
It should be a pocket size device which has external antennas, good readable display and good UI.
From what i found  the tinySA Ultra and RF Explorer 6G meet this conditions best.
The tinySA has the better display and touch function but the rf explorer seems for me to have the better build quality and maybe better (more capable) electronics ?
Can anyone confirm this or are they similar performance wise ?
Is there an alternative device or are these already the best ones in this segment ?

Next question, what if i would like to see and (kind of) decode the signals itself ?
I am not talking about WiFi but for example looking at the signal of a lighting remote or garage opener which uses different address groups.
What would i need to decode these kind of signals ?
I guess it would need a device connected to a pc with a software which would do the decoding ?
A portable device would probably be too expensive.

Budget for a spectrum analyzer would be up to 1k$.

Thanks for any input :)

Regards,
Olaf
tggzzz:
You are interested in pulsed and intermittent signals, therefore "probability of intercept" is something you need to consider.

"Conventional" spectrum analysers are, in effect, swept superhet radio receivers. They will only "intercept" a signal at a frequency if they are tuned to that frequency when during the transmission. If the signal has a wider bandwidth than their "video" and/or "resolution" bandwidths, they will only intercept a part of the signal.

"Real-time" spectrum analysers downconvert a portion of the RF spectrum, capture it with an ADC, and display the FFT of the captured data. The maximum bandwidth they can capture is determined by the ADC's sampling rate. Whether they continually capture signals or stop capturing during processing depends on the specific device. Potentially they are also capable of processing the captured signal in different ways, e.g. to decode a message.

"SDR" analysers have an architecture similar to real-time spectrum analysers, but presume a specific type of signal and concentrate on decoding the captured samples.

If you are interested in whether or not a signal will be received correctly, then in general you will want an instrument that processes the RF spectrum in the same way as a dedicated receiver. A simple example of that is DSSS signals, where the RF power can be below the RF noise.
kultakala:
Okay, so decoding is on a different level...

What would be an example for a real time spectrum analyzer ?
No pocketable device i guess ;)

But my main point is to check for signals at all so a conventional SA would be sufficient.
I tend to try the tinySA Ultra unless someone is confident about that the rf explorer is the better one to go for even for the higher price ?
RAPo:
I have both a RF Explore 6G combo plus (with the wide band license) and a Tiny SA ulra.
The tiny SA gets more use, but if you are working in the field the RF explorer is a more sturdy option.

For the decoding option, you could think about a flipper zero, they are in stock again.
kultakala:
@RAPo
You have both, cool.
Can you tell me why the tinySA gets more use ? Is it faster, better UI or what is it ?

Never heard of flipper zero, will have a look, thanks
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