Aaronia SPECTRAN HF-2025E Manual
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Aaronia SPECTRAN HF-2025E Manual

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Summary of Contents for Aaronia SPECTRAN HF-2025E

  • Page 1 Test Equipment Depot - 800.517.8431 - 99 Washington Street Melrose, MA 02176 TestEquipmentDepot.com...
  • Page 4 Test Equipment Depot - 800.517.8431 - 99 Washington Street Melrose, MA 02176 TestEquipmentDepot.com...

  • Page 6: Scope Of Delivery

    (5) Battery charger / mains adapter (6) SMA tool (7) SPECTRAN HF-xxxx device (8) SMA adapter (9) SMA rod antenna - Aaronia 1300mAh Power battery (already fitted) - Express manual - This manual - Registration card - Aaronia product information and respective pricelist...
  • Page 7 3.0 LC Display BATTERY display BARGRAPH (50 segments) Bargraph scaling (6 number blocks) STATUS field: SETUP, REF, UNCALL, OVERLOAD!, NUMERIC ENTRY, MIN, MAX LOW, HIGH, MAX-MIN, ZOOM, USB/PC AUDIO Status field AM/FM, LEVEL, NORM MODE Status field: AVG, PEAK, HOLD, TIME, MIN, MAX MARKER block 1 Graphics display (Pixel display)

  • Page 8: Key Layout

    4.0 Key layout (1) Numeric block (Hotkeys) Scan 0-1 GHz Scan 1-2 GHz Scan 2-3 GHz Scan 3-4 GHz Scan 4-5 GHz Scan WLan (2,4GHz) Scan GSM900 (D1 & D2 Cell towers, no cellphones!) Scan GSM1800 (E-Plus Cell towers, no cellphones!) Scan UMTS (UMTS cell towers, no cellphones!) DECT-Analyser (Measure DECT phones) (2) On-/Off button...
  • Page 9 5.0 Your first measurement / Modes To explain how to use SPECTRAN, we will perform measurement of a cell tower. Doing this, you will get to know the 3 different operation modes of SPECTRAN, including the important HOLD function and the “panning approach”: It is really very simple, just follow these instructions step by step:...

  • Page 10: Operation Mode Spectrum Analysis

    5.0 Your first measurement / Modes The SPECTRAN devices offer 4 different OPERATION MODES: - SPECTRUM analysis - EXPOSURE LIMIT calculation - AUDIO output - Broadband PEAK-Detector (Powermeter) (Option. Only 2025E Rev3 up) You can change the operation mode at any time using the Enter-key. 5.1 Operation mode Spectrum analysis: (The DISPLAY MODE status field shows “SPECTRUM”) Now press the Enter key until the...

  • Page 11: The Hold Function

    5.0 Your first measurements / Modes Directly beneath, a max. of 3 so-called “Markers” are being displayed. They show the frequencies and levels of the strongest signal sources. In our example, we got two Markers: Marker1 at 930MHz at -75dBm and Marker2 at 950MHz at -45dBm (-45dBm also being the strongest signal and thus also shown on the Main display).
  • Page 12 5.0 Your first measurements / Modes If you press the dot key for a second time, “HOLD” disappears again from the MODE status field, and the HOLD mode is deactivated. For finding the absolu- te maximum, the so-called “panning approach” is used: 5.3 The “panning approach”...

  • Page 13: Operation Mode Exposure Limit Calculation

    5.0 Your first measurements / Modes 5.4 Operation mode Exposure limit calculation: (The Display status field shows “EXPOS.-LIMITS”) Now press the Enter-key until the Display Mode status field shows “EXPOS.-LIMITS”. Firstly, the strongest signals are shown along with their frequencies and levels using markers, just like in spec- trum mode.
  • Page 14 999,99%, “***.**” is displayed. This means overflow. HINT: You can download new and/or updated exposure limits (which con- stantly change!) from Aaronia’s homepage and keep SPECTRAN up-to-date at any time. You should also check out our PC analysis software, which offers a whole range of additional features.

  • Page 15: Operation Mode Audio Output (Demodulation)

    5.0 Your first measurements / Modes 5.5 Operation mode audio output (Demodulation): (The DISPLAY MODE status field shows “AM” or “FM”) All SPECTRAN units offer a so-called Demodulator. The demodulator makes pulsing and modulation of a signal source audible (if it exists). The frequency-exact, selective acoustic reproduction of a signal can be very helpful with identifying and finding a signal source.
  • Page 16 5.0 Your first measurements / Modes Often, you will not be able to exactly “hit” the center frequency of a signal, and demodulation is bad or impossible. Thus, you can fine-tune the center fre- quency using the right/left arrow keys. The step width used is derived from the selected filter.
  • Page 17 5.0 Your first measurements / Modes 5.6 Operation mode broadband detector (RF power detector): (The DISPLAY MODE status field displays “RF”) All SPECTRAN models with power detector option fea- ture a integrated PEAK power detector (power meter), allowing you to do BROADBAND PEAK measurements of high-frequency power up to 10GHz (12GHz) in dBm or dBµV.
  • Page 18 5.0 Your first measurements / Modes density [W/m²] or field strength [V/m; A/m] from power [dBm]. Have a look on page 63/64 in chapter 18.3. There you get the needet formula, sample calcula- tions and a easy to use conversion table too. To detect a signal maximum, you should definitely use the HOLD function (see chapter 5.2) and the so-called “panning approach“...
  • Page 19 6.0 Setting a custom frequency range So far, we have only used the preset frequencies available on the various hot- keys. However, you can also set a highly precise frequency range (so-called sweep-range) manually. Like this, the frequency range can be configured for one particular application to measure only these signals.
  • Page 20 6.0 Setting a custom frequency range A zero appears in the main display. Additionally, the status field reads STOP. Now, enter the STOP frequency, in full MHz, using the number keys. In our case, we want to measure up to 2.120,2MHz. So, enter 2121 (rounded up) and press Enter again for confirmation.

  • Page 21: The Main Menu

    7.0 The main menu By pressing the menu key, you get to the heart of SPECTRAN: the menu system. Here, you can control the entire device, change various settings, but also do things like starting the datalogger or save and recall your own programs. By pressing the menu button again, you can exit the menu at any time.

  • Page 22: Center (Center Frequency)

    7.0 The main menu There are TWO ways to manually set the frequency range: - Center (Center frequency) and Span (Frequency range width) - fLow & fHigh (Start and stop frequency) 7.1 Center (Center frequency) Chooses the frequency displayed in the middle of the readout. When changing the Center frequency, the SPAN parameter (see following description) is pre- served.

  • Page 23: Flow & Fhigh (Start & Stop Frequency)

    7.0 The main menu 7.3 fLow & fHigh (Start & Stop frequency) fLow (start frequency) sets the frequency where the sweep should begin, whe- reas fHigh (stop frequency) sets its ending frequency. From these two, the com- plete frequency range which gets sweeped is derived. Please note that a large frequency range will badly squeeze the display hori- zontally (in the X axis) and thus significantly reduces measurement accuracy.
  • Page 24 7.0 The main menu 7.5 VBW (Video filter) The so-called Video filter is intended for optical smoothing of the signal. The lower the Video filter setting, the broader and “smoother” the display of the sig- nal becomes. Using this filter, you can mostly suppress unwanted noisefloors, harmonics or sporadic peaks.

  • Page 25: Range (Dynamics)

    7.0 The main menu HINT: Using the up/down arrow keys, you can directly move the position relati- ve to the Reference level. Reflev (Reference level) 7.8 Range (Dynamics) Range sets the “size” of the visible range. Setting Range to 100dB (maximum) will give you the best possible overview of all signal sources.
  • Page 26 7.0 The main menu In contrast to simple broadband detectors, demodulation only takes place aro- und the center frequency! The bandwidth can be set with RBW. Thus, you can “tune in” to individual, small frequency ranges very selectively. Though, in this mode, the filter is a bit “weaker”.
  • Page 27 7.0 The main menu 7.12 Hold (activate HOLD mode) With On, you can activate the HOLD mode and the Mode status field will read “HOLD”. With Off, the HOLD mode is turned back off. In HOLD mode, the spectrum display does not get erased anymore, thus all measured signals (peaks) stay visible all the time.
  • Page 28 7.0 The main menu Hint2: Using this function, you can also convert units. Simply “freeze” the rea- ding with HOLD, and then choose a different unit. The conversion is being shown immediately! Hint3: You can force display of the selected unit in the large Info field by pres- sing the menu key twice.

  • Page 29: Bright (Set Display Brightness)

    7.0 The main menu 7.17 AntTyp (Choose connected antenna) AntTyp needs to be used to set the connected antenna, as otherwise, serious mismeasurement can occur! Here, “HL7025” is used for HyperLOG7025 etc. If there is no antenna connected, choose “None” as type. 7.18 Cable (Choose connected cable or attenuator) Cable needs to be used to set the connected cable (leading from SPECTRAN to the antenna), as otherwise, serious mismeasurement may occur! Here, “1m...

  • Page 30: Setup & Configuration

    7.0 The main menu display on each log event (counter). This allows you to monitor how long the recording is still going to take. Furthermore, on every log event, a short beep is emitted. When recording is complete, “RECORD” disappears from the memory status field and the data can be read out using our free PC analysis software “LCS”: Just start the “LCS”...

  • Page 31: Correct Measurement

    8.0 Correct measurement Note that when measuring high frequency radiation, you will encounter some “strange characteristics” which can be pretty irritating particularly for novices: In practice, high frequency radiation rarely constantly fades with distance from the source: due to reflections, diffusion and diffraction (by houses, trees, walls etc.), massive selective concentration (so-called “Hot Spots”) is often noti- ceable, especially inside rooms.
  • Page 32 8.0 Correct measurement 8.2 Aliases and mirror frequencys Those are typical effects found in spectrum analysers: when you find a rather strong signal, additional “phantom” signals appear next to the actual signal, at fixed distances. These are not “real” signals! A 400MHz signal also shows up at 800MHz, 1200MHz, 1600MHz, a 1800MHz signal also at 3600MHz and 5400MHz.

  • Page 33: Measurement Inaccuracy

    “2GHz” than at “6GHz” with the same filter settings, etc. 8.5 Measurement inaccuracy Aaronia states a typical accuracy for each SPECTRAN model. However, this means that higher deviations are entirely possible. Especially when you approach the so-called noise floor or the maximum sensitivity of a spectrum ana- lyser, accuracy decreases by principle.
  • Page 34 8.0 Correct measurement 8.6 The cursor and zoom functions Using the Jog dial, you can activate a cursor in spectrum analysis mode. This cursor allows you to display the exact frequency and signal level of a certain point on the display.

  • Page 35: Tips And Tricks

    9.0 Tips and tricks Quick Zero-span sweep (Time Domain Mode) A quick measurement at a fixed frequency almost in realtime is achievable with the so-called zero-span. Should you have found a signal on e.g. Hotkey 7 (GSM900), simply set the correct center-frequency using the cursor. Now, set Span to “0”...
  • Page 36 9.0 Tips and tricks DECT analysis Using the “0” key, you can call up the DECT analyser to measure active DECT phones. By pressing the DECT key (0 key) more than once, you can even ana- lyze all 10 channels (display reads: “DECT 0-9”) INDIVIDUALLY. You will quick- ly be able to see which of the 10 channels is currently being used and when channel hopping occurs.

  • Page 37: Exposure Limits

    10.0 Exposure limits 10.1 Exposure limits (for personal safety) For radio transmitters (including mobile phones/cell towers), internationally approved exposure limits, but also various precautionary limits and recommen- dations exist. Depending on the context and country, however, exposure limits and recommendations differ vastly. The German limits are defined by the “Regulierungsbehörde für Telekommuni- kation und Post (Reg TP)”, a subsidiary of the “Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Arbeit (BMWA)”.

  • Page 38: Device Exposure Limits

    10.0 Exposure limits Also, the difference between the exposure limits for a certain group of people and the corresponding “maximum limits” are well visible. Some math: For D-Net (GSM900) cell towers, this means that the electrical field strength needs to stay below 1,375 * 935 MHz or approx.
  • Page 39 10.0 Exposure limits 10.3 Architecture-biological limits The architecture-biological limits are vastly different to the official personal safety limits: They are mostly significantly stricter. Well, this would be fine on its own. However, to our big surprise, in contrast to the highly complex official ICNIRP limits (which are also authoritative in Germany), they have no “frequency com- ponent”...
  • Page 40 11.0 Antenna mounting and handling At your choice, you can use SPECTRAN either for a quick frequency measure- ment with the small SMA rod antenna or, for professional measurement, with the HyperLOG antenna: 11.1 Single-hand operation with the SMA rod antenna: The quickest and easiest way to measure frequen- cies with SPECTRAN is using the small included SMA rod antenna.
  • Page 41 11.0 Antenna mounting and handling 11.2 Handling with two hands using the HyperLOG antenna: First, carefully screw the included SMA cable to the SMA plug on the SPECTRAN. Screwing should be possible easily and without force. Do not apply excessive force! As soon as there is resistance, slightly tighten the plug using the SMA tool.
  • Page 42 Using the grip on the HyperLOG antenna, the com- plete package can easily be adjusted as needed. After unmounting the grip, the measurement package can be stowed completely as-is into the Aaronia carrycase. As such, it is ready-to-use for the next time without further hassle.
  • Page 43 SPECTRAN on an external, large battery, which would be able to operate SPECTRAN for several weeks. We particularly recommend the Aaronia “powerbag” or a comparable third party product. These offer a regular 12V car adapter and thus can be used directly with our car power adapter cable.

  • Page 44: Audio Output

    12.0 Connections 12.2 Audio output This is a standard 2,5mm STEREO phone jack that can be connected to any device which offers an audio input. Depending on model and manufacturer, these are labeled differently: e.g. PHONO, CD, LINE IN, MIC etc. Depen- ding on the kind of input, you need a fitting adapter cable, which you can purchase from any third party dealer.

  • Page 45: Hardware Setup

    Otherwise, SERIOUS mismeasurement can occur, as every antenna and every cable has totally different characteristics. All Aaronia antennas and cables have thus been calibrated. You can select these pre-defined calibration data on SPECTRAN, but also load your own custom cali- bration settings.

  • Page 46: Spectrum Analysis Basics

    14.0 Spectrum analysis basics What is a frequency range? Imagine a giant motorway, several kilometers wide, with thousands of lanes. On this motorway, every imaginable kind of vehicle can be found: motorcycles, cars, trucks, etc. To not let them get into each other’s way, every lane is reserved for only a single group of road users: e.g., lane 1 ONLY for cyclists, lane 3 ONLY for pedestrians, lane 40 ONLY for trucks etc.
  • Page 47 14.0 Spectrum analysis basics 2.) You would like to measure the exposure caused by each of the radio appli- cations separately, e.g. for evaluating exceeding of exposure limits. Regarding 1): Let’s reconsider our ‘giant motorway’ example: Remember that every lane was only intended for use by a single kind of vehicle. Now imagine that a huge bridge crossed this motorway, with you standing on the bridge and looking down on the motorway.
  • Page 48 14.0 Spectrum analysis basics But let’s go on: The different kinds of vehicles are called radio applications and have their own abbreviations: e.g. the radio application “UMTS” (the new, digi- tal mobile communications standard) has its own frequency range which spans 1.900 to 2.200MHz (1,9-2.2GHz).
  • Page 49 14.0 Spectrum analysis basics 6GHz 1GHz Well, this was again pretty simple. And finally, we display the strength of each of the 3 readings as vertical bars on the Y-axis: 6GHz 1GHz Additionally, we have also adapted the width of each vertical bar to the width of the respective frequency range of each radio application (the so-called band- width): DECT only has 20MHz (1.880-1.990MHz=20MHz) of bandwidth, a very small range.
  • Page 50 (see also our fre- quency tables on pages 64-65 or the more extensive frequency tables on the Aaronia homepage). On the basis of these frequency tables, we can determine for e.g. 942MHz: 937,6 to 944,8MHz = GSM 900 (DL) T-Mobile meaning that this is a GSM900 celltower (DL=Download) of the provider T-Mobile.
  • Page 51 15.0 RF exposure in practice In the real world, you will find hundreds of different high-frequency radiation sources. In the following pages, we have collected the “most popular” ones, explaining a few peculiarities about each of them. We will be especially precise with cell towers and cell phones, as that is the field where we receive the largest amount of inquiries: 15.1 Portable phones (CT1+ &...
  • Page 52 15.0 RF exposure in practice 15.2 GSM and UMTS cellular phones So-called “cellphones” are getting more and more popular and already surpassed the number of conventional telepho- ne network subscribers in 2005. With cellphones, radio trans- mission is digital and mostly “pulsed”. UMTS, however, is “not pulsed”.
  • Page 53 15.0 RF exposure in practice 15.3 Cell towers Cell towers can be seen nearly everywhere these days. There are only a few places (like large woodlands) which are still “radiation free”. The most obvious installations are the up to 100m high cell towers (base-stations).
  • Page 54 15.0 RF exposure in practice The range of these radio cells (also called “radius”) is hig- hly variable. In good geographic conditions and with small amounts of users, the radius of such cells can span sever- al km. So, in rural areas, you might travel several km until the phone changes cells.
  • Page 55 15.0 RF exposure in practice 15.4 TV and radio broadcast towers TV and radio broadcast towers are a relic from the “stone age” of information transmission. They are among the strongest radiation sources in existence. The highest transmitting powers are used by TV broadcast stations, which may employ more than 1000kW! (for comparison: a cell tower uses about 40 watts=0,04kW).
  • Page 56 15.0 RF exposure in practice 15.6 Radio amateur and CB radio Radio amateurs are allowed transmitting powers of up to 750W divided into two license classes. CB radio, however, is limited to a maximum 4W of trans- mitting power, even though sometimes, significantly higher transmitting powers are used by illegally employing power An amateur radio stati- amplifiers.

  • Page 57: Microwave Ovens

    CPU or insert cards. Because of this, computers and auxiliary equipment should be operated with screened cables (see Aaronia price list and cable bro- chure). 15.09 Microwave ovens The “microwave”, loved by almost everyone, actually is just a high-frequency transmitter with extremely high trans- mitting power.
  • Page 58 15.0 RF exposure in practice 15.10 Radio-controlled (alarm) clocks These devices do not emit radio waves themselves, they just receive them. Radio-controlled clocks do not emit radio waves themselves. They only receive them.
  • Page 59 The only way to effectively screen against magnetic fields is the utilization of Aaronia Magno-Shield foil or panels. High-frequency fields As electric and magnetic fields do not form separately anymore at higher fre- quencies, they are mostly measured as the sum of both field types, expressed as power flux density (W/m²...

  • Page 60: Measuring Transmission Power [Dbm; Dbµv]

    17.0 Units of measurement SPECTRAN offers several physical units to choose from. These can be selected at any time in the “Unit” menu. Possible choices are: dBm, dBµV, V/m and A/m. In “Exposure limit calculation mode”, additionally also W/m². 17.1 Measuring transmission power [dBm; dBµV] Measurements of communications equipment often show extremely big diffe- rences between levels.
  • Page 61 18.0 Some high-frequency math Operators, various governmental authorities and also scientists themselves actually have fun jumping around between units wildly in their publications. Con- sequently, the casual reader loses track of the relationships between units com- pletely. To spare you these problems, SPECTRAN offers functionality to convert between units or directly display measurements in the unit of your choice.
  • Page 62 18.0 Some high-frequency math In contrast, if E is not known, calculation of S is still possible as follows: Should you wish to calculate the electric field E, use the following formula: The magnetic field H can be calculated as follows: 18.1 Calculation of wavelength Wavelength can be calculated using the formula: Here, c corresponds to the speed of light in [m/s] (rounded to 300.000km/s in our...

  • Page 63: Calculating The "Close-Up Range" In [M]

    18.0 Some high-frequency math 18.2 Calculating the “close-up range” in [m] If you want to perform a measurement, you need to do this outside the so-cal- led close-up range of the transmitter. The close-up range depends on the trans- mitter frequency. According to the aforementioned formula, the close-up range can be determined quickly.

  • Page 64: Conversion Tables

    19.0 Conversion tables Table 0 Conversion dBm to W/m² with HyperLOG antenna Assuming the use of an idealized HyperLOG antenna with 5dBi gain and an idealized RG316U cable of 1m length and a constant damping of 1dB, the following conversion table can be applied to the signal sources below (all figures in W/m²): GSM900 GSM1800...
  • Page 65 19.0 Conversion tables Table 1 Conversion between W/m², µW/cm² and mW/cm² 0,000.001 W/m² 0,000.1 µW/cm² 0,000.000.1 mW/cm² 0,000.01 W/m² 0,001 µW/cm² 0,000.001 mW/cm² 0,000.1 W/m² 0,01 µW/cm² 0,000.01 mW/cm² 0,001 W/m² 0,1 µW/cm² 0,000.1 mW/cm² 0,01 W/m² 1 µW/cm² 0,001 mW/cm² 0,1 W/m²...
  • Page 66 DECT: Base station always transmits even when not handling calls. 250mW EIRP. DECT2: New generation of cordless phones (“DECT successor”). 25mW EIRP Significantly more extensive lists available on the Aaronia homepage. To get the full “luxury”, get our free PC analysis software directly from there! Test Equipment Depot - 800.517.8431 - 99 Washington Street Melrose, MA 02176...

  • Page 67: Frequency Tables

    Pulsed at 217Hz. Control channel pulsed at 1.736Hz. Power variable between 0,5 and 400W ERP. Range of up to 32km. Significantly more extensive lists available on the Aaronia homepage. To get the full “luxury”, get our free PC analysis software directly from there!
  • Page 68 Pulsed at 217Hz. Control channel pulsed at 1.736Hz. Power variable between 0,5 and 300W ERP. Range of up to 16 km. Significantly more extensive lists available on the Aaronia homepage. To get the full “luxury”, get our free PC analysis software directly from there!
  • Page 69 You can exchange your measurement device against a higher-grade model of the same series at any time by simply paying the price difference. For example, if you have purchased a SPECTRAN HF-2025E and notice that you need a higher sensitivity after some time, you could replace it with the SPECTRAN HF-4060 by just paying the difference to this model.
  • Page 70 22.0 Analyzer & Antenna Frequencychart...

  • Page 71: For Your Notes

    23.0 For your notes Test Equipment Depot - 800.517.8431 - 99 Washington Street Melrose, MA 02176 TestEquipmentDepot.com...
  • Page 72 23.0 For your notes...

This manual is also suitable for:

Spectran hf-6080Spectran nf-5010Spectran hf-2025Spectran hf-4060

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