As the use of wireless communication devices grows everywhere, it does too the need to monitor, test and diagnose them.

RF Explorer is an affordable Handheld Spectrum Analyzer designed from scratch to be a sort of Swiss Army Knife for the specific needs of ISM band digital communication.

ISM bands are used worldwide in many devices and systems, and some of them are very appealing for hacking and tinkering. However, it is really difficult to tweak a device in these high frequency RF bands without a Spectrum Analyzer. We all know it is difficult to work in DC circuits without a multimeter, and it is equally hard to work with digital logic circuits without a logic analyzer or an oscilloscope. For RF transmission and circuit testing, a spectrum analyzer can be considered the basic most useful tool to own, at the same level than multimeter for DC or oscilloscope for AC.

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. Additionally, as they are general purpose devices, using them for ISM band communication will typically require additional modules or expensive software. RF Explorer offers 90% of what a high cost unit will do for ISM band, at a 5% of the cost. Additionally, it offers some specific features for ISM band work no other commercial spectrum analyzer does.

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 reduce cost by working in narrower bands only, as digital radio enthusiasts typically choose a specific ISM band for FSK or OOK/ASK transmission and stick to it. This is typically mandated by local regulations and cost: you will concentrate most of your work in the same ISM band. Based on this premise, we built a highly integrated device with specific ISM band tuned circuit, and that saves a lot of cost and makes it simpler to use.

There are some other devices in the market which offers some of these features in an USB key, and they are of reasonable cost. However, they 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 as of firmware v1.05, together with firmware extensions we are working on for the near future.

Let us know your suggestions in RF Explorer List as we are highly motivated to extend this device based on community requests.

RF Explorer currently supported workflows

• Monitor continuous wave (CW) and temporary transmissions in specific ISM band.
• Detect whether a device is transmitting in the expected frequency and with expected power
• Check whether an antenna or amplifier change makes a difference in power, orientation and noise
• Detect band occupancy to move your gadget to a different channel
• Works as RF Generator to transmit pure RF tone so you can test your RF link in seconds
• Works completely automatic so you do not need to be an expert to use it. It will resolve RBW, Sweep time, for you.
• Offer spectrum data in Normal, Average, Peak Maximum calculator modes
• Open source PC client software for Windows and Mac OSX, unlimited capture and post-processing storage
• Optimized for all worldwide Sub-1Ghz ISM bands: Any frequency between 240 and 960Mhz, including 433Mhz, 868Mhz or 915Mhz.
• Optimized for 2.4Ghz (Bluetooth, ZigBee, WiFi) with specific WiFi Analyzer functionality. Check out this model map for more info.

Additional information

• If you just received your RF Explorer and want to start playing with it, please go to the Getting Started page.
• RF Explorer Detailed Specifications
• RF Explorer model map
• Free Downloads, including User Manual and firmware upgrades
• Windows PC Client - download it for free and check some of the included examples to try RF Explorer right now!
• Mac OSX Client - download it for free.
• Uploading new firmware is easy and safe
• Example of an RFBee transceiver monitored with a RF Explorer
• Do you want to know what people say about RF Explorer? Check some of the reference threads online

RF Explorer future extensions

• Transmission test tones in OOK and FSK
• Digital transmission decoding and packet sniffing for OOK and FSK, including Manchester code support
• Logging features for multi-hour transmission monitoring
• Frequency counter
• Automatic peak detection
• Storage for up to 5 screenshots in internal memory or 1000's screenshots in expanded memory.
• 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.