RF Explorer: How does it do what it does? (020b)

So, you bought an R.F. Explorer handheld Spectrum Analyzer.
What a totally awesome little instrument!
You want to get the most out of it and want to understand more of what you see on the screen.
In this video I will help you understand how
** it gets its data
** it translates this into the frequency domain
** to calculate the frequency resolution with a given SPAN
** to calculate the needed SPAN to achieve a particular resolution
** to calculate what frequencies it will report for a given measurement environment
Link for the Calculator Spreadsheet:
docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...
Link for the Formulas sheet:
drive.google.com/file/d/1n3O5...
----------------------------
Time Marker Notes
00:05 Introduction
01:19 Foundation: Time Domain & Frequency Domain
02:14 How the RF Explorer Gets Its Data
02:17 Grabbing Time Domain Samples
03:34 Converting the Time Domain Data to the Frequency Domain
06:50 RF Explorer: What we see on the screen
12:51 Beautified Explanation
14:40 Calculating the Resolution or "Frequency Bucket" Width
18:24 Calculating the Frequencies that will be reported
23:21 Concluding Comments and Toodle-Oots!
-----------------------------

[@archerkee9761]

very well put, I came for the rfexplorer info and got a free and clear refresh on DSP, such an amazing but complicated world.

[@eie_for_you]

I am glad you liked it! Thanks for the encouragement!

[@dennisqwertyuiop]

been going to get one ,,now seen your great video will procced thanks Ralph

[@eie_for_you]

Enjoy it! It is a real cool device!

[@russbickle6203]

Tnx for breaking it down, Ralph

[@eie_for_you]

You are welcome. Haven't heard from you in a while. Seems you are still alive.

[@josantos1213]

What a wonderful video. Great video, the explanation is perfect and easy understandable for non native in english. Greetings from Brazil

[@eie_for_you]

I am **SO** glad that it was helpful to you! Thank you for the encouragement! :-)

[@eloyex]

A majestic explanation. Remind my back in the day, my extraordinary engineering professors. Mostly from MIT, Cornell, Milan, JPL and so .. well before internet and youtube, right at 8080 intel microprocessor ..... Those guys HAD to work hard to make young minds understand some complex theorems .... subscribed.

[@eie_for_you]

Thank you so much for your encouragement! I am glad to have you aboard!🤓

[@toddanonymous5295]

I need to talk to Santa. I got clothes !

[@eie_for_you]

LOL! :-D

[@verigroundweather]

Can you use the RF explorer and Signal Generator to run a series of test in quick success? The goal would be to save time changing the settings a dozen times.

[@eie_for_you]

If I understand you correctly, you have a series of tests to perform which require different center frequencies, possibly different spans and top and bottom values for each test. Using the RF Explorer for Windows software, you can save START/STOP, CENTER/SPAN, TOP/BOTTOM specifics. See the dialog box at the top with the [SAVE] & [LOAD] buttons. Setup the specifics you need. Enter the name (e.g. Test#1) into the dialog box and click on the [SAVE] button. To load the configuration later, use the dropdown list which is the dialog box, select what you want to load and click on the [LOAD] button. If you need to change the settings for a particular setup, load the original setup first, make the changes, select the original setup in the dropdown list and click on the [SAVE] button. What DOESN'T get saved is the number of sweep points in the display. Hope this helps.

[@samhozen4024]

hello Ralph,dos this unit scan rc model aircraft transmitter in use,and at what distance?can you give it a test and report?I think they are on 2.4GHZ.Thanks

[@eie_for_you]

This depends on the model you buy. They go up to 6 GHz. As far as distance ... this depends on the power used by the rc model aircraft transmitter and the terrain. I suggest that you check out their website which can be found here: rfexplorer.com/

[@russellmoncrieff2124]

So why not just use a plain simple handheld spectrum anyalizer which can be very inexpensive compared to the rf explorer. Example the Tiny SA Ultra it has a much larger display screen. Niether of these tools provide an audio output to hear the sound of the signal to help determine what it actually is. Does that mean that a tool like say the Electrosmog tool can better help discover what the signal is. I am wanting to understand some of the interference i am hearing on my end fex half wave 80 meter ham antenae. Having difficulty picking the correct tool for the job. The other tool considering is an ocviliscope with the FFT math function. It woul lack portability to pinpoint source but it might be a workable option.

[@eie_for_you]

Well...there is the development of such devices over the years. In the day that the RF Explorer was first developed, it was a very inexpensive alternative to what was available otherwise. In the years since many pretty awesome devices have been developed with impressive capabilities. When looking at these things, one has to be mindful of the dynamic range of your solution as well as the frequency resolution. The RF Explorer has a resolution of 1 KHz at best which, for most "snooping" applications is sufficient. I just fed my RF Explorer with a -100 dBm signal at 3.75 MHz and it saw it. Also, I advise that you think beyond your immediate application; make sure that once you have accomplished your goal of finding that noise source, you will still have use for the device you have chosen. From the tinySA Specifications: "Spur free dynamic range when using a 30kHz resolution bandwidth of 70dB" The RF Explorer is better.

[@frankchiuchiolo2345]

What is the difference from a two-story and a five-storey RF explorer thank you

[@eie_for_you]

I think I am a bit confused by the question.🤔 Two-story vs five-story? I've never heard that terminology used to describe an RF Explorer.