What would you recommend for real time spectrum analysis? Is there a phone app to use it's signal processor up to its range?
RE: 1680-1683 MHz, Montauk, Phoenix Project - Weather Radiosondes - Research Summary for Engineers
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1680-1683 MHz, Montauk, Phoenix Project - Weather Radiosondes - Research Summary for Engineers
I don't recommend using smartphone apps for anything but playing around with. They aren't a reliable measure for a raw signal analysis which is what you need here. Smartphones are typically equipped with quad-band radios that are limited to passing only what the networks are equipped to see. These range typically, in the US - 700, 850, 1900, 1700/2100aws MHz) for cellular tower communications and then you can pass the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth signals which run in those 2.4-2.5 GHz ranges if I'm not mistaken. So even if the app can run independent of the network settings they are limited to whatever the phone is. You'll need a "Spectrum Analyzer" to replicate my results. I have an RF Explorer 6G Handheld Spectrum Analyzer with iRFExplorer Freeware (macOs). This cost me about $350 USD and would be considered reliable. Important thing to remember is that your Smartphone is just a "slave device" unless you have jailbreaked or side loaded an app with a modified ROM (Android OS/Core Firmware on phone). Unless you do that, the phone will always do what the network (towers/base stations/cellular network) tell it to do. So it's not a "raw" signal measurement. It's just measuring whatever the network allowed it to. Hope that helps.
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what do you think of this one for $10
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Looks like it's connected to an external dongle or USB style spectrum analyzer. Whatever works for you personally is fine. I am using a hardware Spectrum Analyzer with it's own display and the option to connect to an external application for cleaner screenshots. No external software is needed to use my unit (RF Explorer 6G) but it will produce better screenshots if you have the software. My configuration is just different so go with what you feel comfortable with. In this case, you are polling your data from the USB stick or dongle, if I am understanding the photo correctly, so you aren't limited to the smartphones' radio's capability. So whatever I said about the frequency limitations would not apply to your config. Yours would be limited to whatever the USB stick Spectrum Analyzer (?) is spec'd out for. I'm just guessing based on the frequency you are scanning (433MHz) which in the US, typically isn't used by commercial wireless providers and not usually capable of being passed by the smartphones radios. I have seen that frequency in other circles though. I think it's used for radio control drones and car remotes in addition to other things, assuming you are based in the US.
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how can newby start this
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Below is a method of procedure that can be replicated by newbies. The only thing I didn't cover in this is that you'll need to play around with Average/Max/Max Hold settings for a little while to see what signals are around. It just takes practice. You'll see how they differ when you have the device in front of you. More details are in the blog post below. Hope that helps.
http://rfchaosheart.blogspot.com/2016/05/spectrum-analyzer-configuration-for.html
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