Hello Ivan,

There are no arbitrary limitations on the BB60C RBW as there are on the SA44/SA124 for the standard spectrum analysis.

Regards,
A.J.

Hello Phil,

All versions of Spike should work on Windows 10. There are only some driver issues with the BB60C pre version 3.0.12. If you are not using the BB60C, then you should have no issues.

If you are running Spike and the software is immediately crashing, you may not have the proper GPU support. The Spike software requires OpenGL 2.0 support from your graphics card. If you can share more information about the PC in question, I can look and see if the PC has the ability to run our software and maybe find any drivers that may resolve this. I would need the Make and Model preferably.

Also can you take a screenshot of the software right after is crashes with the error message. You can post it in the forums here.

Hopefully we can resolve this quickly.

Regards,
A.J.

Hello Jose,

I am initially unable to re-create the issue with my SA124A. Can I have you tell me what firmware version you are using and what version of Spike you are using. You can find the firmware version in the lower right hand corner of the Spike application, and the software version can be found in the Help->About menu.

If you determine you are using a version of Spike before 3.0.5, try updating to the latest version by downloading 3.0.13 here, http://www.signalhound.com/Spike.

Regards,
A.J.

Hi Jyaron,

The armed message indicates a trigger was not found for the specific capture but it is still looking for the next trigger. If you were to press “Single” then the software would update until the first trigger was found and stop. We determined updating the screen with the armed message is a good way to show the user the software is still looking for a trigger without pausing the software completely.

Hey Richard,

As of right now the software limits the zero-span view to 64k samples. We have talked about removing this limitation and it may happen in a future update. This limitation only applies to viewing the signal though. The capture toolbar along the bottom can be configured to record up to 1sec of data. When you have set it up to save your capture length, pressing record saves the next triggered trace. So if you had video trigger active, it would save the next trigger event. If you had it on free run, then it would save the next trace on the screen.

I hope this helps. Let me know if you have further questions.

Regards,
A.J.

Thanks for the heads up jyaron

Hello zhubajei,

The sa_api version 3.# does not have direct functions for calculating the values you are looking for. We calculate the values directly in the Spike application from the I/Q data received from the saGetIQ functions. I do not believe the two APIs can be used in conjunction.

Calculating these values might be very easy in Labview with the built in functionality.
You will need to collect data with the saGetIQ functions,
then FM demodulate the data. Once you have the FM data, you can perform the necessary statistics on the data, such as averaging the FM array and finding the peaks.

You can see our implementation here
https://github.com/SignalHound/BBApp/blob/master/BBApp/src/model/demod_settings.cpp
In the IQSweep::Demod function, you can see how we demodulate to FM. Then in the IQSweep::CalculateReceiverStats function, between lines 337 – 379, you can see our main FM calculations.

We do our calculations on about 1/4 second of contiguous data.

Regards,
A.J.

Hey John and Andy,

John, thanks for working with the unit and giving us the feedback. I’m glad you found the RF adjustment, it’s definitely required for the low level signals. The RF adjustment is the equivalent of changing the reference level from 0 dBm (0) to -50 dBm (50) in our spectrum analysis software.

Andy, I don’t have much experience with other SDR hardware and I don’t have access to anything like the SDRPlay. It is possible there is still some more optimization to be had for the SA44/BB60 in the HDSDR software. I only utilized the basic interface functions. I took a look at the Ext I/O button. The Ext I/O button is going to be hardware dependent. For the SDRPlay, the window that pops up was developed by those guys. It allows you to control the full RF path. I added the RF button and slider for our device which accomplishes similar functionality. Changing the RF slider adjusts the internal attenuators and pre-amp for the SA44. Repeated from the response to John, the RF adjustment is the equivalent of changing the reference level from 0 dBm (0) to -50 dBm (50) in our spectrum analysis software.

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

Hi Jyaron,

We do not provide any utilities for such a task. Our SA series devices would be responsive to powering down a USB port but the BB series devices would not. For all purposes, our devices are considered to be always on when connected via USB.

By the way, did the USB drivers resolve the issues you were experiencing?

Regards,
A.J.

[Andrew]

Hello jyaron,

Based on the description of the issue, it sounds like it could be a USB 3.0 issue. A number of our customers with Dell PCs are able to use the BB60C after updating to the latest USB 3.0 drivers.

Here is the latest USB 3.0 driver from Intel for your hardware configuration.
https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/22824/USB-3-0-Driver-Intel-USB-3-0-eXtensible-Host-Controller-Driver-for-Intel-8-9-Series-and-C220-C610-Chipset-Family

Let me know if installing this resolves this issue. Ensure the BB60C is disconnected when updating, and it will require a PC restart.

Hopefully we can resolve this quickly.

Edit: Additionally, if you have any heavy duty anti-virus software running, you might try disabling it. Software like Norton or MacAfee have given us grief in the past.

Regards,
A.J.

• This reply was modified 9 years, 8 months ago by Andrew.
• This reply was modified 9 years, 8 months ago by Andrew.
• This reply was modified 9 years, 8 months ago by Andrew.

Hello Hans,

We have not started development on this yet, and we don’t have a time frame for any of this, but the types of functionality we have discussed here are log frequency sweeps, quasi-peak detectors, 6dB bandwidth filters, more support for correction tables, spectrum masks, and numerous other requests from customers.

This is what we would like to see in the future. When and what actually gets developed is still to be determined.

Regards,
A.J.

Hello Ron,

I apologize for the inconvenience.

Will you try installing one more video driver for the onboard video?

Here is the Dell driver page for your PC. http://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/04/product-support/product/optiplex-9020-desktop/drivers

Under the video tab, the second driver is for the Intel HD 4600 Graphics driver. Try installing this driver and then running the software with your monitor connected to the onboard video again.

Let me know if this changes anything.

Regards,
A.J.

Hi Ron,

Both your integrated GPU and dedicated GPU are more than capable of running our software. Because the error is happening in the OpenGL DLL, it still looks like a graphics issue. At this point I’m not entirely certain the best course of action. There are a couple ideas I have.

You could try to install the latest drivers for your dedicated card direct from AMD, I found the one for your card and OS here http://support.amd.com/en-us/download/desktop?os=Windows%208.1%20-%2064
Feel free to go through the process of finding the driver on the AMD site to ensure I linked the right one.

Do you have any backed up updates through the Windows update utility? It might be worth fully updating just in case.

It would be interesting to see what would happen if you disable/pullout the dedicated card and just use the integrated graphics. If the integrated card works then we have narrowed the problem down to incompatibility with the dedicated GPU.

This is the first time I have seen a capable PC fail in this way.

Additionally, can you send a screen shot of the software as it crashes? Does the UI even appear before crashing? A tell-tale sign of graphics incompatibility is when the center of the application is blank or filled with junk, otherwise, in a normal application, you would see the rendered graticule (grid).

Regards,
A.J.

[Andrew]

Hi Alex,

Try using the Windows+Left, Windows+Right keys to re-position the window. Whatever windows has focus can be moved around this way. You will have to find a way to ensure the Spike window has focus, you could probably select it with the alt-tab method.

Or… Check this link out as well, I think this applies to you
http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows/bring-misplaced-off-screen-windows-back-to-your-desktop-keyboard-trick/

If these do not work, read on, otherwise ignore the rest of this message.

What I think this comes down to, is that Spike remembers where it was last placed, and with your multi-monitor setup it is re-opening in a place that no longer exists or is off screen. You can force Spike to re-open in the middle again with a small amount of work.

Navigate to this directory
C:/Users/YourName/AppData/Roaming/SignalHound/
AppData is a hidden folder, you will need to show hidden folders.
In this folder you should see a file called Layout.ini, you can either delete this file, or edit it in notepad and remove all the info under the [MainWindow] and save the file. The Geometry value is what is storing your window size and location. Launching the application with that deleted should restore the defaults which is centered and full screen on the main display. (If the other screen is still what Windows considers the main display, it will probably still open on the other window).

Regards,
A.J.

• This reply was modified 9 years, 8 months ago by Andrew.

Hello Ivan,

The 20dB store through is just being used internally to calibrate high gain measurements. You will not see the effect you mentioned. It will only affect measurements below -45dB.

Regards,
A.J.

Hi RonTer,

This error makes me think the PC you are using does not have sufficient graphics capabilities. The Spike software requires OpenGL 2.0 support from your GPU, which sometimes is not available on tablets or netbooks, or maybe even a PC that is >5 years old.

Email me at aj@signalhound.com or reply here. Let me know your PC model, be as specific as you can. If you want, in the device manager, find your CPU and graphics card. Let me know what you see. Sometimes updating a graphics driver can resolve the issue.

Regards,
A.J.

Hello Ivan,

Thanks for the heads up. I was able to quickly find the issue with the low frequency network analyzer sweeps. I am planning on releasing an update to the software within the next couple weeks. I can have this fix included. Is this adequate for you?

Regarding your other question, the 20dB store through enables more accurate measurements below -45 dB. Without the 20dB store through, we can only calibrate 0 -> -45dB. Check out the user manual, section 4.4 for more information.
https://signalhound.com/sigdownloads/Spike/Spike-User-Manual.pdf

Regards,
A.J.

Hello Khatana,

Here at Signal Hound we use C++ almost exclusively so we do not have very much experience with C# or any of its available libraries. We do all of the plotting ourselves for our applications.

The best way to find plotting libraries for C# would be to use a search engine. There are likely many free C# graph/plotting libraries available, you will just have to find them.

Regards,
A.J.

Hi JuiceKing,

Thank you for pointing this out. We were unaware of this issue. This is because the harmonic viewer is using a 200kHz span for each patch and at 100kHz center frequency, the previous harmonic is visible in each step. I can look into resolving this for a future update. A viable alternative for now would be to utilize the step entry, and use the arrow keys to step to each harmonic. I apologize for the inconvenience.

Regards,
A.J.

Hello JuiceKing,

See our SA44B hardware manual.
https://signalhound.com/sigdownloads/SA44B/SA44B-User-Manual.pdf
This information is in section 3.1.1 but I realize now there are better places to put this information. I will add this information to the RBW limitations for the future.

Regards,
A.J.

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