Calibration Type *

All Signal Hound devices are calibrated to better-than-box specs during production. However, if you require a signed calibration certificate with a printed packet of calibration data, you will need to select it below:

Warranty length *

Our standard warranty is for a 2-year time period. An extended warranty is available up to a total of five years (2-year warranty plus 3 additional years). Extended warranties are calculated at 6% of the product cost, per year.

The BB60C real-time RF spectrum analyzer streams 140 MB/sec of digitized RF to your PC utilizing USB 3.0, providing an instantaneous bandwidth of 27 MHz, and sweep speeds of 24 GHz/sec.

Read This! Spectrum analyzer comparison chart, featuring the Signal Hound BB60C and the Tektronix RSA306.

The BB60C bettered performance over previous versions, including improving spurious-free dynamic range (SFDR) by 20 dB,  flattening the noise floor and band transitions by more than 8 dB, and extending available operating temperatures down to -40ºC and up to +65ºC instead of the previous model’s 0ºC to +50ºC range. The BB60C design has been tested and works flawlessly, with calibrated accuracy, for a 3 hour cold soak at -40ºC and also during a 24 hour hot soak at +65ºC.

The BB60C also adds new functionality in the form of configurable I/Q streaming bandwidths which will be retroactively available on the BB60A.

As a spectrum analyzer, our proprietary application programming interface (API) can perform up to 1.2 million FFT spectrums or 320 million FFT points every second, delivering real-time spectrum data to our GUI application, Spike, or to your own software application. Because of these immense processing requirements, we recommend a desktop PC with an Intel quad-core i7-2600 or better, or a laptop with an i7-3612QM or better.

The BB60C is ideal as an RF recorder. Variable I/Q sample rates allow fine grained control over how much spectrum should be recorded. Data rates are selectable from 312.5k to 40M Samples/second I/Q with configurable band pass filters.

Our Spike spectrum analyzer software features a 2-D waterfall or 3-D topographical view, as well as a GPU accelerated color persistence display. Normally undetectable events are easily seen in this mode. Turn on color persistence to see what you’ve been missing!

If your application requires GPS time stamping of streaming RF data, the BB60C supports a 1 pulse-per-second (1-PPS) input, which provides 50ns (4 sample) timing accuracy.

Features

  • RF frequency range from 9 kHz to 6 GHz
  • Up to 24 GHz/sec sweep speed
  • Wide dynamic range from -158 dBm to +10 dBm
  • Resolution bandwidths available from 10 Hz to 10 MHz
  • Powered solely through USB, no external power supply needed
  • Powerful digital signal processing happens on the PC
  • Software and hardware included for one low price
  • Use our API (Application Programming Interface) to develop your own applications
  • Digitized IF Data at 80 million samples per second
    • 27 MHz instantaneous bandwidth
  • Compatible with Windows 7/8/10 64-bit operating systems
  • USB 3.0 communications providing 140 MB/sec sustained throughput to PC
  • Measures under 9 inches long

16 reviews for BB60C — 6 GHz Real-time Spectrum Analyzer

  1. Avatar

    Rich Heslip

    I bought the BB60C primarily for EMC compliance testing. I found nothing comparable at the price point. I had a warranty issue with the first unit which was resolved very quickly by the dealer and Signal Hound. My software bug reports and feature requests have been responded to promptly and they continue to add useful new features to the product. I think the product is a great value and Signal Hound supports their customers very well. Highly recommended!

  2. Avatar

    Nestor V. (verified owner)

    great piece of equpment

  3. Avatar

    Christopher S. (verified owner)

    I bought a BB60C signal analyzer for a project, and had a few questions that I emailed to the Signal Hound team. I was truly astonished at the speed, clarity, and expertise of the responses I received. Not only did the Signal Hound crew address all of my questions, they were kind enough to follow up with helpful suggestions, unsolicited.

    The hardware works great, as well!

  4. Avatar

    Justin P. (verified owner)

    The BB60C is exactly what my team needed to assess external interference with our system. The user interface is intuitive and easy to work with. Great Product!

  5. Avatar

    Mr. M.

    The fastest spectrum analyzer in our lab. Spike works without any flaws on a Lenovo E530. The BB60C is definitely worth its price.

  6. Avatar

    Jason G. (verified owner)

    Signal Hound products are the core of my business’s test & measurement equipment, and the BB60-C is our most used (and beloved) piece. It provides exactly the information needed for entertainment RF coordination and technical work. It routinely exceeds our expectations and outperforms far more expensive and bulky spectrum analyzers for our applications. Its sweep speed is nothing short of amazing and it has never failed to capture and display every type of modulation scheme that we have attempted to measure. I stake my reputation on it at every gig.

  7. Avatar

    Aaron W. (verified owner)

    This receiver is reliable, extremely fast, and is durable enough for dedicated and extended TSCM applications. I have used the BB60C on numerous bug sweeps and it has always performed with excellent results. Cheers! Aaron – Avisius/Seattle Bug Sweeps

  8. Avatar

    Steve K.

    Small compact unit, easily fits in laptop carrying case.

    Very easy to use, intuitive software interface! I highly recommend it!

    -SteveK

  9. Avatar

    Chris S.

    We have been working with the good folks at Signal Hound and their products for 4+ years now. Combined with the Spike software, there is no match (in the Industry) for Signal Hound products in terms of performance, flexibility, affordability, and price. We constantly recommend all Signal Hound products to Satellite VSAT Installers, RF Professionals, and Students we Examine/Train under the Global VSAT Forum (GVF) platform. Well done: Signal Hound TEAM!!

  10. Avatar

    William Dunn

    The unit and software are great. It really allows me to verify the operation of the BTLE and other 2.4 GHZ digital RF devices we design.

  11. Avatar

    Per Person

    once past the initial questions, up and running for a 3 hour flight to test for interfering signals in the cabin. the recording function works well, overall a really good tool.

  12. Avatar

    Nolan Luckett (verified owner)

    This instrument has performed exceedingly well in our application. The aspect that is the most striking to me is how well implemented and documented the API is. Getting the device up-and-running and taking data was very easy.

  13. Avatar

    Les Cockram Ku4f (verified owner)

    Very pleased with both the BB60A and TG44A. Studied similar units seriously for about a month before deciding on Signal Hound.
    Rapid response to my questions from the Signal Hound team, no upgrade charges for the wonderful spike software, Facebook page and forum makes me feel like part of the Signal Hound family.

  14. Avatar

    Laurence Oberman (verified owner)

    This unit is perfect for my lab needs and this is my initial review. I aim to follow up once I have had enough time on it.

    The Pros
    ————-
    Value for money 5 stars
    Support is excellent from AJ and team
    Spectrum Analysis, accurate and quick but needs to have a low span as expected for the most accurate frequency match.
    Marker function is easy to use and deltas are quick to do
    Digital Demodulation works fine for my needs, lots of options that can be confusing so take your time setting it up
    EVM measurement is fairly accurate, still getting used to it though
    The real-time option is very useful but I am still getting used to it as have always in the past used non-real-time analysers
    This unit replaced an older Agilent I had and I am very happy with it.

    Cons
    ——–
    Getting used to a PC based USB instrument takes time
    The USB power option unless you have an external compatible hub was problematic for me using a laptop. I had endless disconnection issues until I found a compatible powered hub.
    I would prefer the unit to come with a separate supply and not take power from USB or a compatibel hub that is powered be supplied with the unit.

    Thanks for a product that the price is unbeatable.
    Together with my VSG I can pretty much do everything I need.

  15. Avatar

    Bill G (verified owner)

    Meets or exceeds the specifications. Software application is excellent.

  16. Avatar

    Chris

    Love not having to pay extra for the full capability of the software. No need to pay extra to demodulate or work with the different protocols.

Add a review

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Device dimensions

Version

BB60C — 6 GHz Real-time Spectrum Analyzer - Standard, Temperature Range: 0°C to +65°C

Weight1.10 lb (.5 kg)
Dimensions8.63" x 3.19" x 1.19" (21.9 x 8.1 x 3 cm)
Version

BB60C — 6 GHz Real-time Spectrum Analyzer - Option 1, Temperature Range: -40°C to +65°C

Weight1.10 lb (.5 kg)
Dimensions8.63" x 3.19" x 1.19" (21.9 x 8.1 x 3 cm)

Product-in-packaging dimensions

Version

Weight1.84 lb (.83 kg)
Dimensions10.25" x 5.44" x 3.13" (26.04 x 13.8 x 7.95 cm)

Software and Drivers

Spike Software

  • Spectrum analysis software for all Signal Hound spectrum analyzers.
  • Includes the USB device drivers for the BB60D, BB60C, and BB60A.

Signal Hound Software Development Kit

  • Read API Docs
  • Programming interface for BB60D, BB60C, and BB60A devices.
  • Low level direct device control and measurements.
  • 64/32-bit Windows and 64-bit Linux operating systems.

Product Manuals

All manuals are included with the Spike software installer. For direct manual links see below.

BB60C Product Manual

Application Notes

Build Applications Tailored for Remote Signal Monitoring with the Signal Hound BB60C

BB60 STEP File Downloads

BB60C STEP Files

Additional Downloads

BB60C Firmware Updates

  • See the change log for version information. Determine your device’s current firmware version in the Spike software (lower right hand corner in the status bar).
  • Contact Signal Hound if you need functionality provided by a firmware update.

HDSDR Compatibility Files (Updated 11/11/2020)

  • Everything needed to use the HDSDR software with the BB60C/A spectrum analyzer. Includes setup manual, interface files, and source code.

BB60A Software version 1.2.3 – (Updated 4/3/2015)

BB60A Firmware Update Version 5 (Updated 9/29/2015)

  • To run the firmware updater you must install the MS Visual Studio 2008 x86 libraries.
  • Check your firmware version in the lower right corner of Spike.
  • Version 5 – 9/29/2015: Adds support for TG44 and TG124 to perform scalar network analysis. Requires Spike Version 3.0.15 to take advantage of this functionality.
  • Version 4 – 9/13/2013: The device no longer needs to be power cycled after restarting the PC.

BB60C/A Demo Programs (Updated 6/15/2015)

  • Uses legacy BB60 API.
  • Two applications which demonstrate streaming IF/IQ from the API.
  • VS 2008 / MFC / C++ applications,  open source, with simple recording functionality.
  • Requires an active BB60 software installation.

BB60C/A client/server demo application (Updated 4/3/2015)

  • Uses legacy BB60 API.
  • Open source client/server demo utilizing the BB60 API for remote operation.