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Sound Reinforcement - Forums for Live Sound Professionals - Your Displayed Name Must Be Your Real Full Name To Post In The Live Sound Forums => Wireless and Communications => Topic started by: Gian Luca Cavalliini on May 23, 2019, 04:28:23 AM
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Hi all,
RF coordination is becoming "real job" in Italy. So, after MANY years of RF Explorer use I'm searching a new, fast, precise analyser system. Kaltman RF Vue, that I used many times, is too slow and "problematic". I really need something fast to measure not just DVB-T but also intermittent signal (Walkyes, Led ecc.). And yes, money is a great concern (RF coordination is BECOMING etc.)
Extensive search on the web point me to Signal Hound SA44B.
Any comment will be appreciate, TIA :)
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Onsite I mostly use a TTi PSA (3701, I think?), one of the older versions. Quick to operate, does a fine job tracking down problems and also getting a "start of the day" scan as long as I keep each scan to a reasonable size. Here in the USA it's 6MHz DTV channels and the TTi screen has 10 divisions (screen markings) so I just do 60MHz chunks for an overall scan.
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Onsite I mostly use a TTi PSA (3701, I think?), one of the older versions. Quick to operate, does a fine job tracking down problems and also getting a "start of the day" scan as long as I keep each scan to a reasonable size. Here in the USA it's 6MHz DTV channels and the TTi screen has 10 divisions (screen markings) so I just do 60MHz chunks for an overall scan.
Thanx Scott for your response!
TTI is obviously one of the main brand of interest... Signal Hound appears to me faster in scanning with high resolution, at least in the same money range. Am I wrong? I'm asking just beacause I don't know for sure!
RF Explorer is pretty faster than RF Vue and others, I'm using it with Touchstone (which give me RBW control), good enough for 80% of my job (DVB-T identification, 8MHz channel wide and almost no space without it, so it's important to know relative level to make good choice). But:
1) RF Explorer suffer from hard desensing and sometimes you simply don't know what you have around.
2) I'm searching for something faster, Italy is like jungle for RF, and lot of times something change suddenly. A few months ago during soundcheck (very important show) security crew jumped in with Motorola DP3400 (up to 520 MHz, 5 watts!), illegal in Italy but you know, Amazon sells everywhere... I've seen them and check with Frequency Counter, but I have just two eyes and two legs! ;)
As usually: please be patient with my bad english...
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I am old school. I use an Agilent. Real time from AM Broadcast band to 1.6GHZ. It weighs about 40lbs but is very flyable.
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TTi is pretty quick depending on your RBW and how wide you want to scan. For any of these devices you have to choose between doing a wide scan and a detailed scan, of course. If money and space isn't an issue I like to use a Shure AXT600 Spectrum Manager with Wireless Workbench for scanning.
I do have an RF Explorer, and I don't entirely trust its results (mine seems to have a small false peak to the right of every real peak), and the RF Explorer is very slow to adjust compared to the TTi. I do like how Touchstone makes the RF Explorer much easier to adjust, though.
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The TTi is great for portable frequency checking. Take the unit to where the rx is located and see what's up. No need to carry a laptop, and usb device.
Also will display stored traces along with the live trace which is handy for comparing the rf landscape as the day marches on.
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Thanx Scott for your response!
TTI is obviously one of the main brand of interest... Signal Hound appears to me faster in scanning with high resolution, at least in the same money range. Am I wrong? I'm asking just beacause I don't know for sure!
Signal Hound is faster and more powerful than a TTi, but it is not as portable. You are tied to a laptop where the TTi lets you walk the venue or room to room in a multi room situation. If being tied down is not an issue there are also dedicated hardware products like the Siglent SSA3000 series (https://www.siglentamerica.com/spectrum-analyzers/ssa3000x-series-spectrum-analyzers/) in about the same price range. It is a true spectrum analyzer not a scanner, and is very fast, includes a tracking generator and easy to use. It can also include a return loss bridge for analyzing antennas and cables.
Mac
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Signal Hound is faster and more powerful than a TTi, but it is not as portable. You are tied to a laptop where the TTi lets you walk the venue or room to room in a multi room situation. If being tied down is not an issue there are also dedicated hardware products like the Siglent SSA3000 series (https://www.siglentamerica.com/spectrum-analyzers/ssa3000x-series-spectrum-analyzers/) in about the same price range. It is a true spectrum analyzer not a scanner, and is very fast, includes a tracking generator and easy to use. It can also include a return loss bridge for analyzing antennas and cables.
Mac
A laptop with little USB box could be ok for me, not so easy but I can move (no need external power and... well, I have good velcro! (Not so different from Kaltman RFVue...). Anyway, Siglent SSA3000 is new for me, really interesting, thanx so much!
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Signal Hound is faster and more powerful than a TTi, but it is not as portable. You are tied to a laptop where the TTi lets you walk the venue or room to room in a multi room situation. If being tied down is not an issue there are also dedicated hardware products like the Siglent SSA3000 series (https://www.siglentamerica.com/spectrum-analyzers/ssa3000x-series-spectrum-analyzers/) in about the same price range. It is a true spectrum analyzer not a scanner, and is very fast, includes a tracking generator and easy to use. It can also include a return loss bridge for analyzing antennas and cables.
Mac
I Velcro my USB-SA44B to the back of a 10" Windows tablet, making it extremely portable. The setup is not quite as portable and simple as a TTI, but far more capable.
My main axe is a BB60C with a Dell XPS and it smokes every other SA in its price range.
Sent from my mobile phone using Tapatalk
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I Velcro my USB-SA44B to the back of a 10" Windows tablet, making it extremely portable. The setup is not quite as portable and simple as a TTI, but far more capable.
My main axe is a BB60C with a Dell XPS and it smokes every other SA in its price range.
Sent from my mobile phone using Tapatalk
Thanx Jason! BB60C is too much money for me, but happy to see you confirming what I supposed about SA44B.
BTW: I will use a laptop instead of a tablet, but the idea is quite similar!
Really grateful for all the answer! :)
GLuca
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Hi all,
RF coordination is becoming "real job" in Italy. So, after MANY years of RF Explorer use I'm searching a new, fast, precise analyser system. Kaltman RF Vue, that I used many times, is too slow and "problematic". I really need something fast to measure not just DVB-T but also intermittent signal (Walkyes, Led ecc.). And yes, money is a great concern (RF coordination is BECOMING etc.)
Extensive search on the web point me to Signal Hound SA44B.
Any comment will be appreciate, TIA :)
I have been having a lot of success with my Siglent SSA 3021X. It goes down to 1 kHz RBW. I like to go through my frequency list during shows looking at a 1 Meg window. With a 10kHz RBW my sweep time is 15 milliseconds. It also had 750 horizontal pixels vs the TTI's 250. I paid $1400 US.
It comes with an included tracking generator. The interface is great. There are jump arrows and a knob for tuning and moving a marker.
It is only ten pounds so it is portable, but there is no battery so it is not a handheld unit.
I have imported scans into the demo of IAS (I work events as an RF guy where I am already provided coordination). I have not tried it in WWB.
Perhaps it would work well for you in combination with an RF Explorer for tracking down rogue users.
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Anyone compared the SSA3000 to the BB60C?
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Odd that the SSA doesn't have a battery, as it looks like it was designed to be portable...
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Odd that the SSA doesn't have a battery, as it looks like it was designed to be portable...
It does look like that. I was hoping to be able to adapt it to run on Anton Bauer batteries, but it looks like it would be very difficult and expensive. I nearly got it anyway, but a friend sold me his well kept TTi for a third of what the Siglent would have been.
It would have been nice to have the tracking generator and return loss bridge, but, oh well...
Mac
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Hi everyone, I'm reviving the subject, I've just discovered the Signal Hound analyser, with its Spike software, which seems to be really good. I was going to buy a winradio, but now I'm very hesitant... If anyone has a little more perspective and experience with Signal Hound, I'm very interested !
Thanks
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I use a few instruments, each for a different purpose. The BB60c is my go to and it is not an issue walking with it and a laptop. Very accurate and quick to scan. The TTI PSA1302 checks noise floor for individual frequencies. Rigol RSA3015n typically lives in the shop and is used to verify cables and tune cavity filters.
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Some of the cool kids on other platforms are enthusing about the TinySA - anybody care to comment on how it would fit in with this discussion?
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Some of the cool kids on other platforms are enthusing about the TinySA - anybody care to comment on how it would fit in with this discussion?
I have the Tiny SA-Ultra and I quite like it. Definitely more usable than that other mini-handheld SA that's been around for a few years. Having said that...I managed to crack the screen on my last gig and now it won't take touch inputs, so I'm about to see how good their support is. I will report back...