Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/778398
8 W I N T E R 2 0 1 7 C A S Q U A R T E R L Y Spectrum in Your Hand The RF Explorer: b y G . J o h n G a r r e t t C A S T he RF Explorer is an interesting diagnostic tool for field and studio use. It's a great combination of flexibility, reasonable preci- sion, and low cost. There are 11 different models that range from higher resolution, single- band analyzers to wideband and multiband analyzers for more general use. I bought the RF Explorer 3G Combo (about $269), which has two receivers: one for 240 MHz- 960 MHz, and another that covers 15 MHz-2700 MHz. The narrower band receiver provides higher accuracy per chunk of spectrum, and there are a number of different band options available. For examining the spectrum of production wire- less for frequency coordination, interference, or noise sources, the 240 radio-960 radio becomes obviously useful. It's a really quick tool to check for digital TV stations in the area, other wireless transmitters, or to examine a particular transmitter for spurious emissions. And since I use ZaxNet, the 2700 MHz receiver is great for seeing who else is in the Wi-Fi band. But that's not all. You can use the RF Explorer to conduct propagation studies for any of your wire- less gear into any particular area, help in placement of additional antennas, and sniff out intermittent interference problems. With all the wireless control, monitoring, and acquisition activity on today's sets, portable spectrum analysis can go a long way toward making everyone's wireless work together. The analyzer is menu-driven, with toggles for the type of display (Normal, Max, Average, Overwrite, Max Hold), display units, backlight brightness, which radio module is in use, DSP, and a few other parameters. Pretty much everything else is manually adjustable throughout the range of the parameter (i.e., center frequency, start/stop frequency, and display scale). Along with menu controls, you can change attenu- ation, bandwidth, and center frequency with the front-panel arrow keys. The RETURN key toggles the L/R keys between modes and the U/D keys con- trol attenuation all the time. Expert mode displays This is a UHF TV channel with MAX (red), MIN (green), and realtime traces. 95.1 FM. The HD carriers are evident, especially in the waterfall display. FM MAXMin shows a portion of the FM broadcast spectrum. You can see which stations are broadcasting HD and which are not.