Hi Danny,

I’ll add to what KB0NE said.
For the latest Intel processors, the dual core i5 and i7 processors are good enough to run our software. If you plan on running other heavyweight software in parallel with ours you should consider the higher end processors. The latest Intel processors also have integrated graphics capabilities which are more than adequate for our video requirements. People run into issues with video requirements on old hardware (>5-10 years old). You shouldn’t have to worry about this.

SSDs are common and nice in laptops now, but they are not required for our software.

Let me know if you have further questions.

Regards,
A.J.

[Andrew]

Hi Tisha,

I really like all of these suggestions. Thank you for taking the time to write these out, and thank you for using our products.

I keep track of all customer requests and try to implement a few for each release. Obviously I can’t guarantee I will get to all of them.

A quick note, the VSG does drift for several minutes while warming up. Is it possible this is what you were seeing? Once warmed up, the frequency should not drift enough to need to reconfigure the demod settings. I would try to plug in the VSG for ~15 minutes before using it for frequency-sensitive applications. If you see large frequency drifts even after this period, let us know. Also, there is the adjustment screw on the VSG, which allows you to manually adjust the time base after warm-up. A small adjustment will generally get you within 1 ppm. Just set it to 1 GHz CW and use the BB60C with a 50 kHz span and adjust to center.

Thanks again for the feedback.
Regards,
A.J. & Justin

• This reply was modified 9 years ago by Andrew.

Hi Tisha,

Our locking cable is shorter than 1 meter, I think around 20 inches. The locking cable is custom, due to the spacing of the screws. We used to provide a full 1 meter non-locking USB 3.0 cable before the locking cable, and the part number/manufacturer for that is, (Superlink, NR-CAB3943).

If you are looking for something longer, it is difficult to find the y-cable variant without getting something custom. Also, signal loss occurs quite often on USB 3.0 on longer cables. You could consider active USB 3.0 cables if you need very long cables. Customers have used with success, SIIG USB 3.0 5-20m active cables, Cable matters USB 3.0 10m active cables, and Cornings 20m USB 3.0 to optical cable. We do not have experience with these cables and cannot guarantee they will work with your system, only that customers have reported success.

We have a few extra 1 meter non-locking cables if you want one. Email us at support at signalhound and we can send you one.

Regards,
A.J.

Hi facotl,

In our last software update, we added 6dB bandwidth RBWs, which are commonly used in EMC/EMI measurements. We currently offer only basic spectrum analysis measurements and not the EMC features people expect, such as segmented sweeps (sweep lists), peak tables, quasi-peak detectors, etc. We may have something for BB60 users in the near future, but the SA44B and its software image rejection do not make it well suited for EMC measurements.

If you have further questions, let me know.

Regards,
A.J.

Hello Facotl,

If you would like, you could send us an image of the spectrum. You can save an image using the file menu in Spike. You can also check the signal strength with channel power. The channel power should roughly equal the output power of the VSG. You could also attempt to demodulate the signal with Spike to ensure it is what you expect. You can also send us a screenshot of the current configuration of the VSG. It is possible the configuration you have used is one we haven’t checked and isn’t working properly.

I look forward to your response.

Regards,
A.J.

Hi dwc,

We offer calibration services. If you are in the US, you can send the unit in and for a small fee, the unit will be calibrated. If you purchased through a distributor, you will need to contact a distributor and they will help you through the process. If in the US, call us at either 1800-260-TEST or email us at support at signalhound and we can give you a price and shipping instructions.

Regards,
A.J.

Hi Guenther,

Thank you very much for the feedback. I like all of your points. I will make note of them, and maybe we can get them into future releases.

Regards,
A.J.

Hello PGA,

I apologize, we found your email and will be sending you a response shortly.

Regards,
A.J.

Hello PGA,

Are you in the United States? If so, please email support@signalhound.com and ask for shipping instructions for a repair unit. I will verify that we did not miss your email. If you have already sent an email, I apologize, we may have missed it. If you want to provide your email address in the forums I can ensure we send you instructions.

If you are outside the United States and purchased through a distributor then you will need to contact your distributor, and they will give you instructions for setting up a repair.

Regards,
A.J.

Hi PGA,

Thank you for providing this. Based on the image, we suggest ensuring your connectors are tight and cables are verified good. If you can verify them, then I would suggest sending in the unit for repair. There could be a potential issue with the RF front end. If you can rule out your setup, then call us up at 1-800-260-TEST or email us at support@signalhound.com and we can help you in the next step.

Regards,
A.J.

Hello Fabrice,

The trace averaging, (aka setting the trace ‘type’ to average) is simply an average of the log traces, (average of the log).

Let me know if you have any other questions. Thank you for the kind words.

Regards,
A.J.

Hello Fabrice,

Unfortunately at this moment, the sweep times are limited in selection. You could try to simulate this in a few ways.

If you are looking for the peak occupancy of this signal, you could setup the peak detector with a max hold trace.

If you are using the average detector, you could lower your VBW which would increase sweep time and use trace averaging.

You could use the average detector setup to get your channel power to create your mask, and then the peak detector setup to ensure no violations occur, if this is in fact your task.

Regards,
A.J.

[Andrew]

Hi Andy,

So, currently, I have been unable to duplicate this with my SA44B, but I may be using a setup where it doesn’t appear. If you could provide me with a specific setup, I could try to duplicate this.

Also, if you think it is version specific, here is a link to the 3.0.21 software.
signalhound.com/sigdownloads/Spike/Spike(x64)_3021.zip
I would interested to know if this resolves your issue.

If this doesn’t work, email support at signalhound dot com with your serial number and we can send you the cal files for your device, in the event the current ones on your system got corrupted.

I look forward to your response.

Regards,
A.J.

• This reply was modified 9 years, 1 month ago by Andrew.
• This reply was modified 9 years, 1 month ago by Andrew.

Hello Eduk,

Yes there is a way to do this. There is an ‘Export’ button on the trace controls, which will allow you to export a CSV of the form

MHz, min(dBm), max(dBm)
MHz, min(dBm), max(dBm)
…

This will export the current trace selected in the trace combo box. You can export any configured trace this way.

Let me know if you have further questions.

Regards,
A.J.

Hello bbowar,

I have no experience using the Borland C++ compiler. I would guess that there is some conflict of calling convention or that there is some configuration issue. Googling something like “Calling Visual C++ DLL from Borland C++” brings up a number of results. I’m sure you could try some things mentioned in these results.

Regards,
A.J.

Hey Everyone,

We released version 3.0.22 of Spike today. It adds a number of features and bug fixes. The major additions are CISPR defined resolution bandwidths and the ability to load multiple path loss tables and an antenna factor correction table. There are a few new sections in the manual that detail the use of these features.

http://www.signalhound.com/Spike

Regards,
A.J.

Hi Ivan,

Yes, that is generally true (do not exceed +20 dBm input) for any combination of preamp/atten settings. It is recommended to stay under the reference level though if you can.

Also, a strong signal within the IF band but not within your visible span can produce IF overload.

The biggest concern is the input into the preamp.

This morning we made an additional note in our product manual that is related to this, for a different customer. See section 3.6

https://signalhound.com/sigdownloads/BB60C/BB60C-User-Manual.pdf

Let me know if you have additional questions or need further clarification.

Regards,
A.J.

Hello Noeldi,

Currently we have no immediate plans to implement the Smith chart in Spike. This is something we have been considering to add to Spike but have not set aside the time to do it yet.

Regards,
A.J.

Hi Richard,

I apologize, I misread your original question. The MRU functions differently in Spike than it does in 2.18. In Spike the Measuring Receiver utility in the file menu is used for measuring generators/attenuators/etc. and as you guessed, requires a CW signal and measures at a very narrow bandwidth. The audio modulation analysis portion of the 2.18 MRU was moved to zero-span in the Spike software. I’m not familiar with the noise figure measurements you are making. Email support at signalhound dot com with your question and Justin will be able to answer your question early next week.

Regards,
A.J.

Hi Richard,

This sounds like it could be related to the image rejection algorithm for the SA44B. Do you get expected results when you disable ‘Spur Reject’ in the ‘Settings’ file menu?

Regards,
A.J.

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