Say The Magic Word, And The TinySA Goes Ultra

We’ve appeared at the TinySA spectrum analyzer in the earlier. Nevertheless, the modern Ultra edition features an boost in assortment from 800 MHz to 6 GHz. How does it perform? [IMSAI Guy] tells us in a latest video clip that you can check out underneath. In addition to an enhanced frequency array, the new unit offers a larger sized display screen and enhancements to the signal generator and bandpass filtering. It also has an optional LNA. All this, of course, is at a value due to the fact the Extremely sells at a very little more than twice the initial unit’s value. Even now, $120 or so for a 6 GHz spectrum analyzer is not undesirable.

For some rationale, you have to place a passcode in to empower the Extremely method, despite the fact that the passcode seems to be common know-how and offered on the device’s wiki. You can presume they could, at some issue, make this function or other folks demand a paid passcode, but for now, it is just a minimal inconvenience. Reminds us of a selected oscilloscope which is come to be really common in our group.

1 point you ought to be conscious of, on the other hand, is that the Ultra manner utilizes a mixer to downconvert the incoming signal to the standard 800 MHz range. That implies, as you can see in the online video, that the local oscillator places out some sign at the input. The amount is relatively reduced, but continue to one thing to be informed of if you are hoping to make a precision measurement.

The video compares the unit to an HP 8591E spectrum analyzer. It tops out at 1.8 GHz and runs about $2,500 new. Even on eBay, you can count on to shell out concerning $500 and $1000 for 1 of these. The effects seem to be similar, for the most section.

We looked at the device’s predecessor back in 2020. We also did a full-blown overview a little little bit later on.