Gain And Attenuation In The Streaming Mode; Audio Demodulation; Scalar Network Analysis - Signal Hound BB60C Programmer's Reference Manual

prevent the circular buffers from wrapping. We suggest a separate polling thread and synchronized data
structure (buffer) for retrieving the samples and using them in your application.
NOTE: Decimation / Filtering / Calibration occur on the PC and can be processor intensive on certain
hardware. Please characterize the processor load.
I/Q streaming is also the only mode in which you can time stamp data (See Appendix:Using a GPS
Reciever to Time-Stamp Data) and determine external trigger locations (See

Gain and Attenuation in the Streaming Mode

Gain and attenuation are used to control the path the RF takes through the device. Selecting the proper
gain and attenuation settings greatly affect the dynamic range of the resulting signal. When gain and
attenuation are set to automatic, the reference level is used to control the internal amplifiers and
attenuators. Choosing a reference level slightly above the maximum expected power level ensures the
device engages the best possible configuration. Manually configuring gain and attenuation should only
be used after testing and observation.

Audio Demodulation

Audio demodulation can be achieved using
. See
bbInitiate() bbConfigureDemod()
Settings such as gain, attenuation, reference level, and center frequency affect the underlying signal to
be demodulated.
bbConfigureDemod()
Once desired settings are chosen, use
streaming it is possible to continue to change the audio settings via
updated center frequency is not +/- 8 MHz of the value specified when
center frequency is specified in
Once the device is streaming, use
rate of 32k.

Scalar Network Analysis

When a Signal Hound tracking generator is paired together with a BB60C spectrum analyzer, the
products can function as a scalar network analyzer to perform insertion loss measurements, or return
loss measurements by adding a directional coupler. Throughout this document, this functionality will be
referred to as tracking generator (or TG) sweeps.
Scalar Network Analysis can be realized by following these steps
1. Ensure a Signal Hound BB60C spectrum analyzer and tracking generator is connected to your PC.
2. Open the spectrum analyzer through normal means.
3. Associate a tracking generator to a spectrum analyzer by calling bbAttachTg. At this point, if a TG
is present, it is claimed by the API and cannot be discovered again until
10 Modes of Operation | Signal Hound
bbConfigureDemod()
to see which types of demodulation can be performed.
is used to specify the type of demodulation and the characteristics of the filters.
bbInitiate()
bbConfigureDemod()
bbFetchAudio()
,
bbFetchAudio()
to begin streaming data. Once the device is
bbConfigureDemod()
bbInitiate()
.
to retrieve 4096 audio samples for an audio sample
).
bbFetchRaw()
, and
as long as the
was called. The
bbCloseDevice is called.