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In a world with a growing list of wireless systems, there is a real need for monitoring tools and instruments everyone can use.
Wireless microphones, Video links, GSM/GPRS/3G/4G networks, WiFi, ZigBee, Bluetooth, ISM bands… The list never ends. Some of these are amateur RF bands and therefore nice for hacking and tinkering. Some others are professional, licensed bands with specific use where every Hertz of the assigned spectrum is precious.
Dealing with all this complexity is only feasible with the right tool at hand.
RF Explorer is an affordable Handheld Spectrum Analyzer designed from scratch to be a sort of Swiss Army Knife for the specific needs of digital radio frequency communication.
Commercial high-end spectrum analyzers are traditionally expensive and bulky, in the order of many thousand dollars, and you need significant expertise to master them. RF Explorer offers 90% of what a high cost unit will do for RF digital band communication, at a 5% of the cost. Additionally, it can be carried on easily anywhere, used outdoors efficiently for hours with a single battery charge.
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RF enthusiast have limited themselves to cheap "RF Power Detector / Frequency counter" devices in the past. But these are limited to display data for a single point of maximum power, and traditionally power metrics are too unreliable, in the order of 20dB or even 30dB inaccuracy.
In contrast, a spectrum analyzer like RF Explorer will display full frequency spectrum in the band, including carrier and modulated shape, will display Spread Spectrum activity if that exist, and will show bandwidth to monitor collisions, frequency deviation from expected tone, etc.
RF Explorer start at only $99 for narrow bands ISM models, and they are fully functional analyzers used worldwide by radio enthusiasts, engineers and companies who deal with specific ISM bands only. But there are more advanced models available covering wider bands including the 3G model with a full coverage of 15-2700MHz with no gaps, and with excellent dynamic range.
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There are some other devices in the market which offers some of these features in an USB key, and they are of reasonable cost, albeit with limited bandwidth and resolution when compared to RF Explorer. However, USB-Key devices always depend on a PC connection, and that is very inconvenient for outdoor work or if you need to save space in the lab desk. You can connect RF Explorer to your PC for additional features and display quality, but that is optional; RF Explorer is fully functional as an independent unit.
See below a quick summary of what you can do today with RF Explorer, together with firmware extensions we are working on for the near future.
Let us know your suggestions in RF Explorer distribution List as we are highly motivated to extend this device based on community requests.
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RF Explorer currently supported workflows
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Monitor continuous wave (CW) and temporary transmissions in specific ISM band.
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Detect whether a device is transmitting in the expected frequency and with expected power
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Check whether an antenna or amplifier change makes a difference in power, orientation and noise
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Detect band occupancy to move your gadget to a different channel
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Works as RF Generator to transmit pure RF tone so you can test your RF link in seconds
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Works completely automatic so you do not need to be an expert to use it. It will resolve RBW, Sweep time, for you.
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Offer spectrum data in Normal, Average, Peak Maximum calculator modes
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Open communication API.
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Open source PC client software for Windows and Mac OSX, unlimited capture and post-processing storage
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Optimized for all worldwide frequencies between 15 to 2700MHz. Check on this model map for more details and comparison chart.
Additional information
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RF Explorer roadmap and future extensions
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Transmission test tones in OOK and FSK
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Digital transmission decoding and packet sniffing for OOK and FSK, including Manchester code support
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Logging features for multi-hour transmission monitoring
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Frequency counter
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Automatic peak detection
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Storage for 1000's screenshots in expanded memory.
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Expansion modules for additional ISM band support, expanded RF Generator and Tracking Generator for circuit analysis, etc.
For an example of how easy and powerful RF Explorer is in a real use case, check this tutorial.
To better know what others are saying about RF Explorer, check on online videos and references.
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