tiny Spectrum Analyzer

West Chester Amateur Radio Association

Presented by Bob Fay – WBØNPN
February, 2021
 Donated by

Ron Leedy – WB8ONG

• A spectrum analyzer measures the magnitude of an input signal
versus frequency within the full frequency range of the instrument.
The primary use is to measure the waveform and power of the
spectrum of known and unknown signals.
• By analyzing the spectra of electrical signals, dominant
frequency, power, distortion, harmonics, bandwidth, and other spectral
components of a signal can be observed that are not easily detectable
in time domain waveforms.
• The display of a spectrum analyzer has frequency on the horizontal
axis and the amplitude displayed on the vertical axis
Common Experience With Spectrum
Display
 Spectrum Analyzer Uses
• Survey of a broad spectrum.
• Analysis of a developmental
circuit.
• Examination of a transmitted
signal.
 tiny SA Controls
• The tinySA
functions as a Off/On Rocker Selector Switch
receiver and a USB Port Charging light
signal
generator.
• Low level range
100 KHz to 300
KHz sinus.
• High level
range 240 MHz
to 960 MHz
square wave.
tinySA Screen
 tinySA Features
• Spectrum Analyzer with two inputs, high quality MF/HF/VHF input for 0.1MHZ-350MHz,
lesser quality UHF input for 240MHz-960MHz.
• Switchable resolution bandpass filters for both ranges between 2.6kHz and 640kHz
• Color display showing 290 scan points covering up to the full low or high frequency
range.
• Input Step attenuator from 0dB to 31dB for the MF/HF/VHF input.
• When not used as Spectrum Analyzer it can be used as Signal Generator, MF/HF/VHF
sinus output between 0.1MHZ-350MHz, UHF square wave output between 240MHz-
960MHz.
• A built-in calibration signal generator that is used for automatic self test and low input
calibration.
• Connected to a PC via USB it becomes a PC controlled Spectrum Analyzer
• Rechargeable battery allowing a minimum of at least 2 hours portable use
tinySA Measurement Capabilities
•Measuring Harmonics
•Measuring Spectral Purity
•Measuring Phase Noise
•Measuring Third Order Intermodulation
•Measuring IQ Balance
•Measuring Spur Free Dynamic Range
•Measuring Low Frequencies
•Capturing ISM Transmissions
•Tuning Sweep Settings
•Coax Cable Impact
•Measuring the harmonic content of an Ultimate3
transmitter by AE5X
•Measuring FM deviation
•Measuring AM modulation
•Measuring One dB Compression Point
•Adding an LNA
•Using a Tracking Generator to measure a Mixer
•Measuring the Noise Factor of an Amplifier
 Screen Structure

• Info panel at the left

• Marker info at the top
• Scan info at the bottom
• Measurement panel in the middle
• Menu at the right
 Menu Structure
• PRESET loads or saves configurations.
• FREQ sets everything related to the frequency range to scan.
• LEVEL sets everything related to the level of the signals being measured.
• DISPLAY controls various aspects of how the signals are being displayed.
• MARKER controls the markers on the display.
• MEASURE helps to quickly set the tinySA for certain measurements.
• CONFIG activates the configuration menu.
• MODE activates the mode switching menu
•PRESET loads or saves configurations.LOAD
STARTUP reloads the startup presets.
•LOAD X loads the settings from slot x
•STORE supports updating the stored presets
• STORE AS STARTUP sets the current settings as
the startup preset.
• STORE X stores the current settings in slot X.
• FACTORY DEFAULTS resets the startup preset to
the factory defaults
•FREQ sets everything related to the frequency range to
scan.START sets the scanning to start/stop mode and
sets the start frequency
•STOP sets the scanning to start/stop mode and sets the
stop frequency
•CENTER sets the scanning to center/span mode and
sets the center frequency
•SPAN sets the scanning to center/span mode and sets
the frequency span
•ZERO SPAN sets the scanning to center/span mode,
sets the span to 0Hz and sets the center frequency
•RBW sets the resolution bandwidth. Keep in mind a low
RBW may increase scanning time substantially.
•SPUR REMOVAL activates the two spur removal
mechanisms.
•LEVEL sets everything related to the level of the signals
being measured.REF LEVEL sets the level in selected
unit of the top of the display.
•SCALE/DIV sets the amount of selected unit per division
of the display.
•ATTEN sets the amount of attenuation applied to the low
input/output.
•CALC selects various calculation options over time such
as averaging or max hold.
•UNIT selects the display unit. dBm, dBmV, dBuV, Volt or •TRIGGER selects the trigger modeAUTO is the normal
Watt spectrum analyzer scanning mode, triggering is not active.
•EXTERN AMP sets the level offset in dB caused by an •NORMAL will display a new scan as soon as a signal in
external amplifier or attenuator. the scan causes a trigger event.
•SINGLE will wait for a signal to cause a trigger event and
display the scan.
•LEVEL activates a keypad for entering the trigger level.
•UP EDGE generates a trigger event when the input level
goes from below the set trigger level to above the set
trigger level
•DOWN EDGE generates a trigger event when the input
level goes from above the set trigger level to below the set
trigger level
•DISPLAY controls various aspects of how the signals are
being displayed.PAUSE SWEEP pauses the scanning
•STORE TRACE writes the current measurement to the
blue trace. Click again to store again.
•CLEAR STORED removes the stored trace
•SUBTRACT STORED subtracts the stored trace from the
current measurement.
•NORMALIZE will store the current scan and subtract this
stored scan from future measurements.
•WATERFALL displays the power level over time in a
waterfall map.
•SWEEP SETTINGS menu contains various settings on
how to sweep the selected frequency or time span.
• NORMAL sets the default sweeping mode
• PRECISE sets the precise scanning mode.
• FAST sets the fast sweeping mode.
• SWEEP TIME sets the target time for a complete
sweep in seconds.
• SWEEP POINTS allows setting the number of
sweep points.
• FAST SPEEDUP allows setting the acceleration
factor for fast sweeping.
•MARKER controls the markers on the display.
• MODIFY MARKER allows selecting a marker and
shows a submenu to modify the MARKER TYPE.
• MARKER OPS allows setting the frequency
display range based on the active marker
• SEARCH MARKER allows positioning a non-
tracking marker on signal maxima or minima.
•MEASURE helps to quickly set the tinySA for certain
measurements.
• OFF switches of any measurement related setting
and behavior and returns the tinySA to regular
operation
• HARMONIC switches to a marker configuration for
measuring the level of harmonics of a signal
• OIP3 switches to a marker configuration for
measuring the Output IP3 level of a signal
• PHASE NOISE switches to a marker configuration
for measuring phase noise of a signal
 •EXPERT CONFIG activates the expert configuration
•CONFIG activates the configuration menu.TOUCH menuLO OUTPUT enables the output of the first LO
CAL enables the calibration of the touch panel. The though the high connector
results are stored in NVM. •ACTUAL POWER allows calibration of the dBm reading
•TOUCH TEST is used to verify touch calibration. by entering the know level of the signal under marker 1.
•SELF TEST is used after a cable is used to connect the •IF FREQ allows entering the IF frequency used in low
low and high input/output. mode.
•LEVEL CAL is used to calibrate the power measurement •SCAN SPEED allows setting the speed of scanning.
levels. •REPEATS sets the number of repeat measurements at
•VERSION shows the SW version information each frequency.
•MIXER DRIVE sets the power output to the mixer.
•AGC enables/disables the build in Automatic Gain
Control.
•LNA enables/disables the build in Low Noise Amplifier.
•BPF enables measurement of the performance of the
internal Band Pass Filter.
•BELOW IF switches the LO to below the IF when
measuring below 190MHz.
•HOLD TIME sets the number of scans after which a
maximum measured with MAX DECAY will start to decay.
•NOISE LEVEL sets the expected noise band in dB.
•ACTUAL FREQUENCY sets the measured frequency of
the 10MHz CAL OUTPUT
•MODE activates the mode switching menu.LOW
INPUT activates the 0.1-350MHz input mode
•HIGH INPUT activates the 240MHz-960MHz input mode
•LOW OUTPUT activates the 0.1-350MHz output mode
•HIGH OUTPUT activates the 240MHz-960MHz output
mode
•CAL OUTPUT controls the build in calibration reference
generator.
Self Test
Menu Structure – Screen Frequency
Keypad

Gigahertz

Megahertz

Kilohertz

x1
Center Frequency 146.430 MHz - Span 500KHz
tinySA Signal Generator
tinySA Signal Generator
tinySA Signal Generator
 tinySA Information Sources

www.tinysa.org

With links to instruction manual and a multitude of U-Tube videos

tiny Spectrum Analyzer

West Chester Amateur Radio Association

Presented by Bob Fay – WBØNPN
February, 2021