What drives the 10 dB greater dyn range for the BB60D?

[andrewclegg]

I was watching the video of Justin describing the differences between the BB60C and the BB60D. I’m wondering what drives the 10 dB difference in dynamic range. Is it the preselector filters, or is it the different circuit design? The reason I ask is that if it is due to the preselector filters, then I wouldn’t expect to see that 10 dB difference if the signals at issue are all within the same preselector frequency range. On that note, is there a list of the ranges covered by the preselector filters in the 60D?

Edit: A specific example I’m dealing with is trying to monitor the 3.55-3.7 GHz CBRS band at a site where a high-power base station in the adjacent 3.7-3.98 GHz band has come online nearby. This is causing much more frequent ADC overload now, even when my sweep range is limited to below 3.7 GHz, and even when limited to below just 3.65 GHz. Will the 60D give me a little more headroom in this situation? I realize it won’t be a magic bullet, but would it help some?

Thanks.

• This topic was modified 1 month, 2 weeks ago by andrewclegg. Reason: Added example use case

Andrew,
The BB60D was a complete overhaul of the C. Every part was selected to optimize dynamic range for the power budget. The first thing people notice is that full sensitivity is reached with a -30 dBm reference level instead of a -50 dBm, so signals have to be 20 dB stronger to overload. The second is with preselection, signals at 1/2x or 2x your signal of interest are filtered before any amp or mixer.
Being that close, the jammer won’t be filtered out by the preselector, but the extra 20 dB before overload will make a big difference.
It looks like the preselector band breaks didn’t make it into the manual. They are at 130, 210, 310, 450, 650, 950, 1350, 1950, 3010 and 4210 MHz.

Thank you for the detailed response, Justin. Very helpful.

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