RF Explorer User Manual
Contents
1. ie Power switch Micro USB connector RF Explorer User Manual v1 05 Page 4 of 13 Features Pocket size and light weight Solid aluminum metal case Spectrum Analyzer mode with Peak Max Normal and Averaging modes Support one of three popular ISM bands of choice 433Mhz 868Mhz or 915Mhz Integrated RF Signal Generator for the ISM band of choice Lifetime free firmware upgrades available Open to new features requested by user community High capacity Lipo for 16hs of continuous run rechargeable by USB Windows PC client Open Source Internal expansion port for future modules will support additional bands including popular 2 4 Ghz RF Explorer User Manual v1 05 Page 5 of 13 Spectrum Analyzer mode Main Screen When RF Explorer starts it goes automatically to Soectrum Analyzer mode 452 167 430 500 As you can see on the screen there is an X and Y axis being X for frequency in MHZ and Y for power in dBm In this case the frequency span goes from 430 5 MHz to 439 5 MHz and the amplitude dynamic range goes from 50 dBm to 110 dBm Configuration settings such as amplitude reference and frequency span are preserved between sessions The main screen automatically displays a small marker with a triangle shape This will indicate the peak amplitude in the current frequency span being the first line the frequency and the second line the amplitude at that particular point The scree2. Analyzer ver HI R Ar dic 16 Wull FT exe llorer com You can exit from any menu anytime by using the Return key Note the last one is not actually a menu but a display of the current firmware version installed You can see this same version screen when RF Explorer starts RF Explorer User Manual v1 05 Page 7 of 13 Frequency Menu The first and probably most used menu is the one you can use to change frequency settings FREQUENCY MENO The first time you open a Menu in a RF Explorer session it will go to the Frequency Menu This may change as we will see later so everytime you click on Menu from Spectrum Analyzer main screen you actually re open the last menu you were working with In this way you save time by not having to navigate through all the menus to go the same place where you were before While you are at Frequency Menu you can change the selected frequency band to display in two different but complementary ways e Center Span This is the traditional Spectrum Analyzer format all engineers are used to You basically select the Center frequency at which the band will be displayed and then a Frequency Span Note this is limited to the range 430 439 995 Mhz or equivalent in other models and 0 1 9 995Mhz for the span e Low High This is unusual despite its convenience in most commercial Spectrum Analyzers It is just another way to select the same parameters which in the end is what will be di
3. of Eric Pan and team in Seeed Studio Technology really want to thank him for his dedication as well as Kevin and Icing for the many hours resolving implementation issues to produce this unit with high quality components at a very affordable price We all hope you find it useful and make Radio Frequency more accessible to the non experts everywhere We are committed to create tutorials projects and kits to help you tinkering and experimenting in the RF space If you think you can contribute on RF tutorials and examples let us know at http groups google com group rf explorer Regulatory Warning This equipment is intended for use in a laboratory test environment only It generates uses and can radiate radio frequency energy and has not been tested for compliance with the limits of computing devices pursuant to subpart J of part 15 of FCC rules which are designed to provide reasonable protection against radio frequency interference Operation of this equipment in other environments may cause interference with radio communications in which case the user is required to take whatever measures may be required to correct this interference his own expense License RF Explorer embedded firmware is copyrighted by Ariel Rocholl 2010 2011 RF Explorer PC Client is Open Source under GPL v3 so you are free to modify distribute and use it based on GPL terms
4. RF Explorer User Manual v1 05 Page 1 of 13 RF Explonen Updated to firmware v1 05 Edition date 2011 Mar 01 www rf explorer com Please consider the environment before printing this manual RF Explorer User Manual v1 05 Page 2 of 13 Table of Contents Jee eil tee EE 3 EE 4 Specirum Analyzer mode EIN EE 5 Bern TEE 6 Reie inter NEE 7 Arenu or Me EE 9 CONT SUPAUION MENU iscas cnsscrsaruebancadaciennndeinatadcdesaeasetionsatuentrcuesmiaenhbansataals A aasa A ANE AAEE ESAE NERES 10 RF Generator ue Le 11 ite er e 1 EE 12 A ERONI 1 85 49 EE 13 SEI EA EE 13 Biet 13 RF Explorer User Manual v1 05 Page 3 of 13 Introduction RF Explorer has been designed to be intuitive and easy to use There is no need to learn large user manuals to get advantage of its advanced functionality Most of the complexity inherent to full sized Spectrum Analyzers is simplified by the firmware For instance you do not need to adjust Resolution Bandwidth RBW everytime you select a different frequency span Actually you do not even need to know what RBW is We welcome your feedback and look for ideas to make this manual more useful Let us be in contact through official discussion list http groups google com group rf explorer SMA connector RF IN OUT 50Q LCD screen with backlight RFExplonen Handheld Spectrum Analyzer me 8 Aluminium case EH gt p BATTERY 7 A ON OFF USB 2 0 4 L Keyboard
5. between the different menus available till you get to the Config menu COMFIG MENO BCE ach Contrast 3 USE Bauds SHREK DRS There are a few configuration settings available in the RF Explorer to customize your unit based on your preference or usage conditions e Operational Mode Currently available are two modes but more are coming with new Firmware upgrades o Normal SA This is the standard Spectrum Analyzer mode the RF Explorer always selects by default when you restart the unit o RF Gen RF Signal Generator for more info please refer to specific section later in this document e Backlight Several levels of display backlight RF Explorer has good visibility indoor and outdoor including direct sunlight The level of backlight should be the appropriate for each condition and you may want to limit backlight brightness to preserve battery capacity e Contrast There are 10 different display contrast levels to choose from e USB Bauds Default is 500Kbps which is also the recommended setting In the rare case you experience a problem when connecting with the PC you may want to change this to 2400bps slower speed However this is not recommended as the connection will go really slow so do this only if there is a good reason to The port speed in the RF Explorer and PC Client settings must match to properly establish a connection RF Explorer User Manual v1 05 Page 11 of 13 RF Generator mode RF Explorer can ge
6. el occupancy o Average Arithmetic media average is calculated over the last sweep Iterations You will likely use this mode to average noise floor out particularly useful in constant wave CW signals display o Normal No calculation is done just raw data as result of the sweep e Top Bottom dBm Use these options to change the lower and higher display margins for the amplitude reference These are limited from 1 to 110 dynamic range boundaries e iterations The number of sweep data iterations to perform calculations on It goes from 2 to 32 For a simple test do a change on Top dBm reference and define it as 70 dBm Then click on Return to go back to Spectrum Analyzer main screen As you can see the reference is now lower and signal goes higher in the display particularly the noise floor 434 S55U5e 434 99905 45 6 47 0 432 750 433 750 As this is something you will like to change very frequently the RF Explorer Spectrum Analyzer main screen offers two keyboard shortcuts Up and Down arrow keys can be used to increase or decrease Top dBm respectively by 5dBm each time This shortcut together with Left and Right for moving Center Frequency as described before are very convenient to make configuration changes real time with no need to visit the Menu RF Explorer User Manual v1 05 Page 10 of 13 Configuration Menu Same as you did with other menus just click on Menu as many times as needed to rotate
7. n also includes an icon for USB connection when connected to a PC as in this case or a battery icon when the battery power switch is in ON position If you connect the RF Explorer to USB and the power switch is in ON at the same time you are charging the internal battery and in that case the USB and battery icon will blink to indicate that There are three basic RF Explorer models available one for each popular ISM frequency band as follows e 433M 430 440Mhz or e 868M 860 870Mhz or e 915M 910 920Mhz Each one of these models can only operate on the respective band In this manual we will concentrate all examples and pictures on 433M only but 868M and 915M operate exactly the same except they work ina different band We are working on internal expansion modules for your RF Explorer in case you want to work on multiple bands with the same unit so you can leverage additional power to your RF Explorer for a very reasonable cost increase whenever you need it RF Explorer User Manual v1 05 Page 6 of 13 Using menus There are several menus in RF Explorer They are organized on different screens which you can iterate through by using the Menu key If you click Menu button multiple times you will visit every one of them FREQUENCY MENU Low Frea Hiah Frea ATTENUATOR MENU OF m Bottom dBm 116 Iterations Ha CONFIG MENU Sele Ieee ach Contrast 3 USE Bauds SHREK DFS AF ExPlorer SFectrum
8. nerate a RF tone for easy testing other RF devices You can activate RF Generator from the Config menu and return to Spectrum Analyzer mode anytime by using Menu button and changing mode back to Normal SA HE GENERATOR MODE Pe auericys ele Transmitter There are two basic configuration steps you need to know Output frequency and Output power Select the specific frequency you want to transmit and then click on Transmitter to switch it ON RF GENERATOR MODE Frequency 43r HR Power Low Please note an important detail You must have connected a proper 50 ohm antenna before you switch your transmitter on If you switch the transmitter on without a proper antenna you may damage the RF module of your RF Explorer as the power amplifier will not have a load to feed Think of the equivalent to an audio amplifier with no speakers running at full power you are likely damaging the power transistors If you are an RF expert you know you can really connect any 50 ohm load not only an antenna Therefore you can use also a RF 50 ohm dummy load a coaxial with a proper termination etc If you use a load different than 50 ohm the reflected wave may also damage the power amplifier so be sure to use a proper load including a proper antenna There are three power levels corresponding to 0 dBm Low 9 dBm Med and 20 dBm High Except you need full power for a range test we suggest always use the lowest power level to minimize bat
9. requency right or left from the very same Spectrum Analyzer main screen with no need to go to Menu again and again To do that just click on Right or Left while Spectrum Analyzer main screen is active and you will move the Center Frequency to the right or left accordingly by half of the span everytime So in this case where the span is 2 5Mhz you will effectively move the Center Frequency to 1 25Mhz right or left with a simple key press Note you are limited by frequency limits of your RF Explorer model so in this case you cannot go lower than 430 nor higher than 439 995 Mhz This direct method is very convenient when the selected span is narrow RF Explorer User Manual v1 05 Page 9 of 13 Attenuator Menu The amplitude reference settings in the Y axis is what you can change using this menu To get there use the familiar Menu key which will iterate through all RF Explorer menus till you get to the one you want ATTENUATOR MENU ATTENUATOR MENU Calculator Max OF mi Bottom dBm 116 ottom me Iterations D Iterations HA This menu has a few interesting options e Calculator offers three modes to display data to change mode click on Enter key o Max Peak values are used from the last sweep Iterations see menu option at the bottom In this case the Peak values from last 4 sweep iterations This is the standard mode you will want to use to detect rapidly changing DSS signals or find for worst case chann
10. splayed on the Spectrum Analyzer main screen As you edit Center Span or Low High the other values are updated accordingly so feel free to use the method you prefer In general you will use Center Span more frequently when you know the frequency you want to look at and probably Low High when you just want to look at a larger span to see what is happening in a specific range To navigate through the menu just use Up and Down keys to go to the option you want then click on Enter to edit that option Left or Right to go to the digit you want to change and Enter to confirm or Return to cancel Let s change the Span to 6 5Mhz see how Low High Frequency values are updated automatically FREQUENCY MENU Center Frea 4355 HIR ill reqs i Hish Frea 436 25H And now click on Return to close the menu and go back to Spectrum Analyzer main screen RF Explorer User Manual v1 05 Page 8 of 13 452 635 431 750 The new frequency range is in place Let s now repeat the process to change the span to 2 5Mhz Therefore click on Menu again note as the previous menu option Freq Span remains selected and then update it to 2 5Mhz then click on Return to go back to main screen FREQUENCY MENJ 434 SSSUSE Center Frea 4235 00A 749 2 LO reqs High Frea 456 258 433 750 The new frequency range is in place but what is interesting now is how you can actually move the center f
11. tery consumption and EMI radiation Note local regulations must be respected so double check you are not transmitting a tone with power or frequency that may interfere with other equipment The RF Generator is limited to the same frequency band than the Spectrum Analyzer therefore you can transmit any frequency of choice in the specific band of your model RF Explorer User Manual v1 05 Page 12 of 13 Specifications e Currently available in three models based on frequency range o 430 440Mhz o 860 890Mhz o 910 920Mhz e High contrast graphics LCD 128x64 pixels great visibility outdoors even on sunlight e PC Windows client supports WindowsxXP Vista Win7 both 32 and 64bits e Backlight for great indoor visibility e Internal 860mAh high capacity LiPo battery rechargeable by a powered USB e Amplitude resolution 0 5dBm e Dynamic range 110dBm to OdBm e Absolute Max input power 5dBm e Average noise level typical 105dBm e RF Generator amplitude OdBm to 20dBm e Standard 50 ohm SMA connector e Matching 50 ohm calibrated antenna included e Frequency stability and accuracy typical 10ppm e Amplitude stability and accuracy typical 3dBm e Frequency resolution 1Khz e Resolution bandwidth RBW automatic 2 6Khz to 80Khz e Weight 185g e Size 113x70x25 mm RF Explorer User Manual v1 05 Page 13 of 13 Acknowledgments RF Explorer couldn t be a reality without the seriousness and high levels of professionalism
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