开云体育

Doh!? Forgot to attach the images...?

Yes - the antenna was connectd in both images - sorry if that wasn't clear.

I took some time today and took equivalent pics in several configurations with both firmware versions, placed in roughly the same location.? I am attaching them - hopefully the filenames are self-explanatory --?
with antenna (multiples with different marker positions), with NO antenna, and with the 30Mhz cal output turned on.

The levels for the 30Mhz signal were:
FW1.1-52: -25.4 dBm
FW1.3-265: -25.0 dBm

I was running under the assumption that those were real FM signals, as the high peak (old firmware) was at about 95.7 MHz (which is a local FM broadcast freq).? I also found that when I brought the TinySA outside my home office/work area peaks on the right end settled down a bit.? There is a LOT of stuff in that office (3D printer which was actively printing), multiple PCs, LED lighting, IoT stuff, etc.

Two additional "newb" questions on this:
- What does the 'afrgnb' represent between the LOW annunciator and the FW version on the display?
- I noticed a difference in the display output between the two firmware versions (yellow top text, and one showed a prefix of '1T' and the other was '1R').? Is this a sign that I may not have had identical settings between the pics?

On Wed, Jul 21, 2021 at 02:56 PM, Reginald Beardsley wrote:

I've been sweeping the 40 m allocation from 7-7.3 MHz with a 3rd order Cauer filter I designed with Elsie for a Chinese Pixie 2 kit in the output line.

With the filter all spurs are down 50 dB or more. Close in phase noise is <-60 dBc measured at an RBW of 100 Hz w/ an 8560A.

I just bought 2 more tinySAs so I can measure mixer performance :-)

I plan to make a suite of BP filters for each of the HF allocations and the common LO & IF frequencies.

This appears to be headed towards an Android tablet connected to three tinySAs, a nanoVNA. Rzero and a Hantek 2D42 DSO-DMM-AWG all linked via USB. That could automate many complex measurements very easily at low cost.

Reg,
? Sounds like an interesting project.? Be sure to post how things work out for you or if you run into any issues that Erik might consider addressing in the next tinySA version.?

? Pretty much the only feature Erik has said is definitely not under consideration for the next hardware version is a tracking generator.? Probably a nice opportunity for someone with hardware design experience to build a tinySA tracking generator add-on accessory.? The nanoVNA does a nice job of measuring filters but does not have the dynamic range to measure the -3dB and -60dB points across its entire range.? With a properly designed tracking generator, I would think the tinySA should be able to achieve 80dB dynamic range on the LOW input port.

Herb

On Wed, Jul 21, 2021 at 02:37 PM, Ted Chesley wrote:

Hi Erik, as a further test, I turned off Channel Power and went to a normal spectral screen. As seen in the attached photo, all is now normal, the marker freq and levels are shown as well as the MK#2/MK#3 Delta. Apparently the Marker readouts are disabled when in Channel Power mode (and perhaps other modes as well).?

?

Ted,
? You have to take into consideration the purpose of the automatic Channel Power Measurement feature which is to measure the percentage of the total power in each band.? Since this measurement is integrated across each band, a single point marker reading is not really applicable.? This is pretty much standard for any? spectrum analyzer with an automatic Channel Power Measurement feature and not particular to the tinySA.

? If you are interested in a in only a single point power measurement then it is more appropriate to disable the Channel Power Measurement and return to normal swept measurements as you did in your second example.

? If you have a special need for measuring marker frequencies that you have turned on while in the automatic Channel Power Measurement mode, and you are connected to a PC, you can read the marker frequencies and level in dBm using the marker?console command.? As an example, marker 1 should return info in the following format,??
? ?
? ? ? ? 1 50 489170379 -95.91? -? marker# index# frequency_in_Hz level_in_dBm

Herb

I've been sweeping the 40 m allocation from 7-7.3 MHz with a 3rd order Cauer filter I designed with Elsie for a Chinese Pixie 2 kit in the output line.

With the filter all spurs are down 50 dB or more. Close in phase noise is <-60 dBc measured at an RBW of 100 Hz w/ an 8560A.

I just bought 2 more tinySAs so I can measure mixer performance :-)

I plan to make a suite of BP filters for each of the HF allocations and the common LO & IF frequencies.

This appears to be headed towards an Android tablet connected to three tinySAs, a nanoVNA. Rzero and a Hantek 2D42 DSO-DMM-AWG all linked via USB. That could automate many complex measurements very easily at low cost.

Thanks for a very fine product.

Have Fun!
Reg

Hi Erik, as a further test, I turned off Channel Power and went to a normal spectral screen. As seen in the attached photo, all is now normal, the marker freq and levels are shown as well as the MK#2/MK#3 Delta. Apparently the Marker readouts are disabled when in Channel Power mode (and perhaps other modes as well).?

Hi Erik, THX for the reply. The pix is of a channel power plot of part of a digital spectrum. The markers can be selected and show on the plot as normal i.e. peak search and variable. However, the freq and pwr readout does not appear on the screen, just the single text line at the top with the channel band data. All works normally except the marker value? readouts are not shown. I never noticed this before as I was only interested in the channel power data. It's not an issue I'm just curious.

Look in the wiki specification page onder low output

On Wed, Jul 21, 2021 at 10:24 AM, Ted Chesley wrote:

I am assuming when using the Channel Power function and selecting markers, the markers do not display on the screen, as in the attached pix

Correct
?
--

Do you have the small antenna connected?
With the new FW, can you enable the cal output, connect to the low input and check the level?
The signal at 96MHz with the old FW is probably an MCU spur that is eliminated by the new FW
--

Hello all,

I am new to the TinySA community (just an amateur hobbyist), and recently ordered a TinySA from Amazon ("SDRGEEK").? I commented on a post that Erik made on youtube, and he stated that this was likely a legit product based on my serial number, and added that I should post here with some questions I had about mine (copied verbatim from my youtube video comment below)...

First off, the firmware that came installed on my TinySA was 1.1-52, and I backed this up prior to upgrading...

When I installed the latest firmware (1.3-265), I no longer see the typical peaks when it first starts up (with antenna connected) for the local FM radio stations that I was seeing before I did the update. I completed the self test and the level calibration successfully after the firmware update. I need to recheck this again, as I am typing this from my "noisy" (RF) basement to see if they appear upstairs. In this basement environment, I just see some peaks around 244 MHz (which I think may be from the internal clock harmonics?).

Today, I downgraded the firmware (restored the backup I made) and those peaks are showing up again in the 88-108MHz range, so this does seem to be something that changed in the firmware between the installed version and the latest version.? Is this something to be concerned about, and is there something in the default settings that changed to cause this?? I took a photo of the screen showing the condition prior to the downgrade (using latest firmware), and another after the downgrade (using 1.1-52), and attached to this post.

Thanks!

Sorry Erik, I meant the marker values don't display on the screen. The icons do appear and can be set.

-----------------------------------------

From: "Ted Chesley"
To: "[email protected]"
Cc:
Sent: Wednesday July 21 2021 10:24:08AM
Subject: Re: [tinysa] RF source evaluation

Erik, Just a quick question: I am assuming when using the Channel Power function and selecting markers, the markers do not display on the screen, as in the attached pix. . Am I correct?

Erik, Just a quick question: I am assuming when using the Channel Power function and selecting markers, the markers do not display on the screen, as in the attached pix. . Am I correct?

Hi Erik!
I wonder if it's possible to change the response from the tinySA when the unit is in generator mode and you send "frequencies" to the unit? The response no is "a bunch" of the same the same value. I'm making a small program to control the generator functions in the tinySA - only low output - and as the smallest step is a bit "odd", it would have been nice to just send the wanted frequency to the unit and read back the actual frequency.

Are the frequency steps (smallest) constant over the whole range (LOW OUTPUT)?

Karl Jan

lowest level is -76dBm, you will need 50dB external attenuation
--

What's the lowest level you can achieve? Need to do some sensitivity (SINAD) testing of my HF receiver, so I'll need to be able to go all the way to -110dBm (uV or so). I have no problem adding additional attenuator, just need to know how low can the tinySA go so I can plan what will I need :)?

On Tue, Jul 20, 2021 at 02:26 PM, Reginald Beardsley wrote:

I was thinking in terms of synchronizing a 2nd tinySA as an external sweeper for mixer testing from the SA side.

Look here:?https://tinysa.org/wiki/pmwiki.php?n=Main.Mixer
?
--

I was thinking in terms of synchronizing a 2nd tinySA as an external sweeper for mixer testing from the SA side. However, likely better to do it from a PC.

Have Fun!
Reg

I've been testing with my 8593A today and having a lot of fun.

The high port has serious spurious frequency issues including the dominant frequency being higher than the entered frequency :-(

The low port is impressive. The spurs vary wildly as is to be expected, but all of my tests have spurious emissions -35 dB or lower. Typical is -40+ dB. So to put things in an audiophool context the maximum THD is 0.01 - 0.05%. Naturally, if you lower the output level it gets better.

Well done!

Have Fun!
Reg

New version of tinySA menu map uploaded. Thanks to Jean-Roger - F6EGK - for pointing out errors in the "CONFIG/EXPERT CONFIG/LEVEL CORRECTION" path!

Karl Jan - LA3FY