Handheld spectrum analyzer can capture 200,000 data points

The PSA Series 5 RF spectrum analyzers from Aim-TTi have been enhanced to include high resolution capture of signals over a wide span. Option U02 now includes an extra facility called Scan Mode. The frequency resolution of a conventional spectrum analyzer is defined by the chosen RBW filter. Because of the limited number of data points that can be collected and displayed, a high resolution view of a signal can only be achieved over a narrow frequency span. For some applications it is desirable to observe and record frequencies and levels to high resolution over a wide span. This is outside of the capability of a conventional swept spectrum analyzer. However, in scan mode a narrow RBW can be set whilst retaining a wide span because all data points (up to 210,000) are written to a file. When the scan is completed a compressed version of the data is displayed with pan and zoom controls enabling any portion of the data to be observed in detail. Large numbers of scan files can be saved to the internal memory and exported as CSV data for use with PSA-Manager software or application specific third party software, says the company.