Benefits of Dual-Channel Spectrum Recording

Many applications such as analyzing aircraft radar cross-section and monitoring of wireless networks to find and identify interference, can significantly benefit from recording two channels of spectrum synchronized in time, from seconds to minutes or even longer. This is not practical using a signal analyzer as the breadth of spectrum to be analyzed typically exceeds the instrument’s capture bandwidth, causing signals of interest to be missed.

Signal analyzers are also designed to store only recordings of short duration, so they are unlikely to detect signals that randomly or intermittently. However, with two signal analyzers acting as front end, preselector, and digitizer streaming their output to a spectrum record and playback system, all transient emissions can be accounted for. The application note details the dual-channel measurement technique and provides examples of how and where it can be used.