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Author Topic: RF Explorer, I assume it is a scanner. I think I am looking for a wide band rec.  (Read 4735 times)

John Sulek

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We usually mill about after our terrifying talk.  Please, I beg you to introduce yourself and let's chat!

Damn...I wish I wasn't working far from NYC this week.
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Scott Helmke

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The catch with most handheld & inexpensive RF SA devices is that they can't display fine enough resolution across wide spans for the display to be useful.  RF Explorer, for instance, is limited to 112 data points across any span.  However, with experience you can use it well for your purpose.  You just need to tweak it as you zero in on a narrow span that covers your signal of interest until it shows sufficiently useful info (a well-defined peak of power at the frequency of interest).

To be more specific on the "catch", if you're looking at a wide span with the RF Explorer then you just won't see narrow little wireless mic/IEM transmissions at all. You need to zoom in to see those, which means spending a lot of time tweaking frequencies.
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Kevin Maxwell

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Are there any devices that are an RF receiver that interface with an android tablet that are any good. If nothing else I am wondering if the bigger screen on a tablet would help. If it would work with an Amazon fire tablet (I guess it is sort of an android device) that would be even better. Maybe I just need to give my wife the fire tablet to play with and I need to buy a Samsung tablet.
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Jason Glass

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Are there any devices that are an RF receiver that interface with an android tablet that are any good. If nothing else I am wondering if the bigger screen on a tablet would help. If it would work with an Amazon fire tablet (I guess it is sort of an android device) that would be even better. Maybe I just need to give my wife the fire tablet to play with and I need to buy a Samsung tablet.

Take a look at RTL-SDR USB dongles.  Very powerful for their dirt cheap price and doable on Android.  https://sdrtouch.com/

Jason Glass

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To be more specific on the "catch", if you're looking at a wide span with the RF Explorer then you just won't see narrow little wireless mic/IEM transmissions at all. You need to zoom in to see those, which means spending a lot of time tweaking frequencies.

Indeed.  See attached files.  FWIW, it occurred to me after I inserted the captions in these graphics that although RF Explorer claims 578 kHz RBW @ 230 MHz span in its readout, those 112 data points are over 2 MHz apart.  Meaning that the RBW is actually around 6 MHz.  It takes 3 points to define a peak.

Pete Erskine

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Indeed.  See attached files.  FWIW, it occurred to me after I inserted the captions in these graphics that although RF Explorer claims 578 kHz RBW @ 230 MHz span in its readout, those 112 data points are over 2 MHz apart.  Meaning that the RBW is actually around 6 MHz.  It takes 3 points to define a peak.

Its the detail that I like...not so much that I see individual carriers but to clearly see the DTV,  When I scan, even with a TTI or FieldFox, I limit span to 60 mHz and combine the files later.  TTI is convenient because it is always in my Backpack and it has enough gain to really see the DTV.  Field fox, at 4X the price, is automated with the same results and even greater detail.  The Fieldfox can demodulate the signal to listen to a carrier but I still prefer the plain old scanner which has GPS as well as iOS and Android apps.

https://www.icomamerica.com/en/products/amateur/receivers/r30/default.aspx
« Last Edit: October 14, 2019, 11:59:27 AM by Pete Erskine »
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Pete Erskine
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Andrew Broughton

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brian maddox

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We usually mill about after our terrifying talk.  Please, I beg you to introduce yourself and let's chat!

Depends on how terrifying your talk is and just how frightened i am...  :)

See ya later this week!
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Jordan Wolf

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See attached files...
Ugh...now I REALLY want to replace vs fix my RF Explorer. That’s looks like GEQ vs PEQ! My eyes have been opened, lol.

How does the SignalHound USB-SA44B compare with your model?
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Jordan Wolf
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Jason Glass

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Ugh...now I REALLY want to replace vs fix my RF Explorer. That’s looks like GEQ vs PEQ! My eyes have been opened, lol.

How does the SignalHound USB-SA44B compare with your model?

It's excellent, but it sweeps slower (a few seconds to do 30 kHz RBW over a 230 MHz span vs. milliseconds). Its input is easier to overload with out of band signals and it's more prone to display LO images due simpler front end filtering.  However, it's a great instrument for our kind of work and a bargain for its cost.

ProSoundWeb Community

Re: RF Explorer, I assume it is a scanner. I think I am looking for a wide band rec.
« Reply #19 on: October 15, 2019, 08:42:42 AM »


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