Boy do I agree about the 'real time' band scopes being the way to go. Love
my Kenwood SM-220 on the I.F. of a Icom IC-720. Will keep em both for a long
time to come. Great for tuning shortwave and finding those elusive utility
stations that pop up on the scope after you have just tuned through their
frequency ... hi hi
For another real-time band scope, I use the SDR-IQ. The difference is I dont
have to connect to the I.F. of any radio for it to work (though you sure can
if you wan to). It is a full receiver of its own, with a configurable band
scope / display for various configurations. I use it as a standalone or with
serial ports connected to my FT-1000MP (or TS-480HX). This gives me four
real time frequencies I can listen to (two with in the front end pass band
with the MP, and two with in the pass band using the IQ - and doesnt have to
be with in the pass band of the MP). As the MP is tuned, the IQ follows if
you wish. Just have to be careful about not transmitting into the input of
the IQ (tap the antenna inside the MP on the receive only line, or use
external relays). Directly interfaces with Icom, Kenwood, Elecraft and Yaesu
radios for use as a tracking panoramic adapter.
http://www.rfspace.com/SDR-IQ.html
"The hardware samples the whole 0.0001-30 MHz band using a high performance,
14 bit analog to digital converter (ADC) running at 66.6 MHz. The digital
data from the ADC is processed into I and Q format using a direct digital
converter (DDC). The I and Q data is then sent to the PC for processing
using a USB 2.0 interface. All of the demodulation and spectral functions
are done on the PC side.
The SDR-IQT comes with a High Frequency (HF) amplified front-end with
switched attenuators, switched filters and 1Hz tuning. The SDR-IQT comes
with the latest version of SpectraVueT software. It supports AM, WFM, USB,
LSB, N-FM, DSB and CW with fully adjustable DSP Filter bandwidths and FFT
sizes of 2048 to 262144 points. The resolution bandwidth is as low as 0.031
Hz." "High resolution spectrum display with higher resolution and speed than
those in $10K radios."
Plus I can Record and play back spectrum segments up to 196 KHz wide with
full demodulation and tuning capabilities. That means an RF spectrum
recorded to a file that can be played back with full real-time options to
change modes and filter parameters. Way cool!
Did I mention remote access / control of the IQ over my home wifi lan? Love
setting on the back deck with my laptop and having full access to this
system.
73 from Bill -WD8ARZ
http://hflink.net/qso/
From the web site:
Features
======
-Smallest SDR with RF DSPT that samples the whole HF band at once and
performs the initial filtering at 67 MHz sample rate with 23 bit accuracy.
Uses a high performance Analog Devices 14 bit analog to digital converter.
-Sends 16 bits of I/Q Data to the PC via USB. No messy soundcard cables
required.
-SDR-IQ is USB powered. No power supply is required. Works great with
laptops running on batteries.
-Incredible receive performance.
-High resolution spectrum display with higher resolution and speed than
those in $10K radios.
-RF preselection filters for great IMD performance.
-Serial port to directly interface with radios like the Icom IC-R8500,
IC-R9000, IC-R9500, IC R7000, IC-R7100 and AOR AR-5000.
-50 ohm RF input that can be easily interfaced to antennas, Ultrasonic
transducers, IR detectors, and other RF equipment.
-Open source ActiveX control and ActiveX sample program for easy software
customization. SpectraVue (not open source).
-Windows, Linux and Mac OS drivers for developers.
-Network server that allows remoting of the SDR-IQT. Servers available for
both Windows and Linux.
-Adds the best panoramic display features to transceivers like the Yaesu
FT1000, FT2000, FT9000 and IC-7800 using the RX output connector or RX
loopback
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