Demonstration of my Spectrum Analyzer project

A demonstration of my Spectrum Analyzer project built using the Beaglebone Black and a USB DVB-T digital television receiver. The receiver is based on Realtek RTL2832U accessed using RTL-SDR library. The demonstration shows the RF spectrum of various sources.

UPDATE:
~~If you are interested in this project, I’ll be releasing the application and source code in GitHub so you can build your own. Probably in a month or two, or sooner, or later.~~
You can now run this software – ViewRF – on your own hardware. See http://robotics.ong.id.au/2013/08/25/viewrf-rtl-sdr-spectrum-analyzer-for-bbb-software/

14 thoughts on “Demonstration of my Spectrum Analyzer project”

martin July 30, 2013 at 6:06 pm

Excellent device, well done Stephen.

Question, software used for fft?

Regards,
M:)

Reply ↓

stephen Post authorJuly 31, 2013 at 8:01 am

Thanks! I am currently testing the Libav and the Kiss FFT for fft routine.

Reply ↓

paresh thakkar July 31, 2013 at 8:24 pm

Hey Stephen,

just stumbled across this demo, and am amazed at the video…could you by any chance, point me towards a complete bill of material of hardware and software modules used to get the results as found in this video? am dreaming of making one for using with my RFID practice to check radiation strength…I use 865Mhz to 867Mhz, and need a cheap spectrum analyser… am sure building one would be very exciting…

thanks in advance…

Reply ↓

stephen Post authorAugust 2, 2013 at 11:12 pm

The main component is the RTL2832U based TV tuner. The RTL-SDR library will allow you to retrieve sampled IQ signal from the tuner (see the linked page for what tuners you can use). Fourier transform is then used to convert this signal into frequency domain which is then displayed on the screen.

My project was inspired by this spectrum analyzer project. Take a look at his site, he has documented it well.

Reply ↓

James Rington August 2, 2013 at 1:12 pm

I also am interested in the details of the contruction and software used. -Thanks

Reply ↓

sigmounte August 19, 2013 at 11:08 pm

Hi ! I would love to mount one myself , just curious for now , what is the hardware for touchscreen / display ??
Thanks

Keep my up to date for testing the release !

Reply ↓

stephen Post authorAugust 19, 2013 at 11:12 pm

It’s a LCD7 cape. I’ll let you know when it’s ready.

Reply ↓

OctavioN August 21, 2013 at 5:05 pm

Hi Stephen,

If you can tell me what use to do the GUI, it’s amazing … I see you use Amgstron Distr. The app runs when you power on the BBB, you need to start desktop or directly from terminal (I want to do some GUI to not require use desktop only runs from terminal to acquire temperature )?

OctavioN

Reply ↓

Rex Markesteijn August 28, 2013 at 8:15 pm

Steven

first off all thumbs up for the great work

can give me some information about the rest off the function buttons in the gui

and maybe can you help me to make an output for a tracking generator so i can use your amazing project
for my home made setup so i can tune rf filters

many thanks in advance

email:rmarkesteijn79atgmaildotcom

Reply ↓

Jonathan September 1, 2013 at 6:06 am

Hello!
Very nice work! Congratulations!

Is that possible to compile for a Linux on a Intel based arch for use in a old laptop instead of the Beaglebone?

Reply ↓

stephen Post authorSeptember 1, 2013 at 10:22 pm

Thanks Jonathan. Yes, it is possible to compile the software for Linux on x86. Matt Porter has done exactly that.

Reply ↓