Here I am in Birmingham (UK) for a business trip and of course I brought the essential “traveller’s radio spectrum analysis kit” with me:
- My new SMA Spectrum Analyzer 138MHz-4.4GHz
- A DVB-T/T2 USB receiver (PCTV nanoStick DVB-T2 292e)
- A DVB-T receiver with the RTL2832U/FC0012 chip and tuner, compatible with SDR#
- Two small antennas
The result:
With the SMA Spectrum Analyzer and my self written software I can take a quick glance at the interesting frequencies. Immediatly I can see where the DVB-T transponders are and find the best position for the antenna (horizontally, using the metallic lamp foot).
This is the BBC running:
Next a quick scan at radio frequencies, using SDR#:
Conclusion:
It is amazing how much monitoring power you can carry on your trips by just bringing with you two miniature DVB-T/T2 USB receivers and the small spectrum analyzer.
Global cost: under 100 Euro (not considering the laptop, of course).
10 years ago you would have to be a govermental lab to have this kind of resources to overview the radio frequency spectrum.
PS: You may ask yourself why I brought two DVB-T receivers…
The answer is very simple: because the one with the RTL2832U chipset uses the Zadig driver for SDR#, it cannot be used for DVB-T reception anymore, unless you change the driver. This is a pain to do and requires reboot of the operating system.
It is much easier to just use a second DVB-T USB receiver that uses a different chipset! This way you can use one for radio scanning/spectrum analysis, while the other is used for DVB-T. The PCTV nanoStick DVB-T2 is very nice, because it supports both DVB-T and DVB-T2.
By the way: some cities in Germany have started DVB-T2 transmissions using HEVC/h.265. You will need a HEVC CODEC to decode these transmissions. Some will be PayTV. Hopefully I will be able to test it on my return flight via Frankfurt, but then again, I doubt that DVB-T2 can be received so far off the city centre.
Is this equipment used to calibrate antennas and band filters? Does it serve to analyze the LNA (low noise amplifier) as well?
Hello. Please don't spam the blog, placing the same question all over.
The SMA/NWT devices can be used for antenna calibration, filter measurement or any other use that requires a spectrum analyser.