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Boor
Man's
Spec
rum
Ana
--
another
73
reakthrough
Frank
H.
Perkins
WB51PM
Box
13642
Arlington
TX
76073
ams enjoy making alltypes of electricalmeasurements. In fact, it'sone of our favorite pas-times and topics of conver-sation. Fortunately, good,low-cost oscilloscopes,DVMs, and other instru-ments are available to usfor measuring voltage, cur-rent, power, swr, frequency,and so on.There is one instrument,however, that has been be-yond the reach of most ofour budgets
-
he spectrumanalyzer. Commercial ver-sions of this useful ri nstru-ment start at $2500, whichis a little steep for most ofus. lt is possible for you tobuild a simple spectrum an-alyzer for about $150 thatworks with a low-cost oscil-loscope. The analyzer canbe used to check HF trans-mitting equipment, amongother applications. Its use,theory of operat~on, andconstruction are discussedin this article.
Spectrum
Analyzer
Operation
A
spectrum analyzer is aspecial receiver that allowsPhoto
A.
High frequency spectrum analyzer covers
0
to
60
MHz.
10
73
Magazine
9
August,
1982
you to view the frequencycomponents of its input sig-nal on an oscilloscope CRT.The spectrum analyzer re-~eatedlv unes across thekrequency band you havechosen with its center-fre-quency and frequency-spancontrols. For example, ifyou set the center-frequen-cy control for 20 MHz andadjust the frequency-spancontrol for a tuning rangefrom 10 MHz below to 10MHz above the center fre-quency, the analyzer willrepeatedly tune the10-MHz-to-30-MHz band.As the analyzer tunesfrom the low end to thehigh end of the band, itmoves the CRT trace fromleft to right. The S-meteroutput from the analyzermoves the CUT trace up-ward from the bottom ofthe CUT screen accordingto signal strength. A spec-trum analyzer display usu-ally looks like a number ofspikes. The farther to theright a signal (spike) ap-pears on the CRT, the high-er its frequency; thestrength of the signal is indi-cated by its height. Thereusually appears to be some"grass" along the bottom ofthe CRT display. This is dueto noise. You probably haveseen spectrum analyzer dis-plays in ham gear sales liter-ature and some magazinearticles.To appreciate how usefula spectrum analyzer canbe, let's first look at Photo
5,
an rf signal on a normaloscilloscope. To me it lookslike a clean sine wave.What do you think?Now let's look at PhotoC, the same rf signal on ourspectrum analyzer. Thehalf-spike on the left is ourzero-frequency reference.The next signal to the right,which is the tallest, is thefundamental component ofour rf signal. The three sig-nals to the right of the fun-damental are the 2nd, 3rd,and 4th harmonics.If the spectrum of ourtransceiver or linear ampli-fier output looked the sameas this photo, we would notbe complying with FCCRegulation
97.73,
eventhough our fundamentalsignal was properly withinan HF amateur band.To understand what'swrong, compare the heightof the 2nd harmonic signalto the fundamental. Thesecond harmcnic is about2.6 CRT divisions shorterthan the fundamental. Witha 10-dB-per-division verticalcalibration, the second har-monic is 24
dB
below thefundamental.FCC Regulation
97.73
re-
 
D'?
5
,
,
~iials vrewed on an ord~nary scrlloscope
Is
riil
,i;nal?
yiii;e~
i,:-,;oshier transmit-
t2r5
>
---:
,
,
,
Watts to sup-
,
.
pre:~
i:
.iii,nal frequency
coin;:c.r;:?i;:5
(spurs) outside
.';-'
il!e
TIT
of operation at
jCZCt
,;1
.-
;2
L
-.
,
._
below the fun-
d~.j.;i~!-;i
i
.
:,i
a transmitter
f
rci--!
1
-:>
.;::(I
/?iatts, this fig-
ui-0
:.:
.;.,
:.:%,
For a 1000-
mi;:
ii..r;i!tter or linear
..,.
ar-i;~i;ii:l:
..h:e
figure
is
43
dB.
.
I:i:.$:-k!~gur photoagar,
,d..;
:ioiice that the
3:~';
i,
;ri;i?j(lic signal is
abiii::
,c
jilJ
below the fun-
dam<-!iir,-i.
Jl/e1re also goingto
i,
..=
.
;
groblern with the3rd
i,?.;-:::>r~ic
if we are run-niu?g
',
'!ia:ts
oi more pow-er.
7::
;it!-I
harmonic is no
prcoie.-:-;
:,ii~ce t's about
55
dl?
.',i?icj>,v
ihe fundamental.
5-i
:
correct the prob-
letri
:?v
ddding a filter be-
t\*~~~~-,
id(-
,
transceiver or lin-
:.
,
--is-
-
.it,(:
~.$
c
antenna. How-e\:i?:., ,:niess we are able tocheci;
rile
output spectiurnof transmitting equip-rnC17i,
.NC?
may never I<nowwe
a
pl.oblen3 --until'ieighbors start corn-or we get a "friend-
I\/
adx:isory" from the local
Fc:C
:;;:)nitoring station.
-,
1
;!;?re
are many uses for a
Spec.iiun
analyzer besidesmOn!:cring transmitter out-PQts, >tit t.his use alone can
%a!<?
32
l-iF
spectrum an*
lyre7
nonstruction project"or-ri?whlie.
If
you build
One.
yocr'll probably be the
firs;
oil
your blo~kor inyour favorite net or club) tohave one of your owlt!
Spectrum
Analyzer.
Hookup
Fig.
1
shows how
to
hookup the high frequency spec-tru~n nalyzer for rnonitor-rng the cutput spectrcrni ofa trarlsrnitter or linear am-plifier. Kemernber, the ana-lyzer
is
a receiver. it re-quires a very srnall sampleof power for operation. Thisis done with an L-pad Sam-pler. 1-he sampler will notinterfere with normal trans-mitting or transceiving op-eration The output frornthe L-pad is further reducedwith a step attenuator tomatch the full-scale input-power requirements of theanalyzer
(114
to 1/10 of amilfiwatt). The spectrum isdisplayed on the oscillo-scope being used with thespectrum analyzer.It is important to observegood safety practices whenusing the L-pad, attenuator,and spectrum analyzer. Besure all station equipment,the L-pad, attenuator, ana-lyzer, and oscilloscopecases are properly ground-ed. Use the proper L-pad foryour power range. Double-check your hookup beforeapplying power. If the out-put of a transmitter was di-rectly connected to the an-alyzer by accident,
it
wouldinstantly be damaged whenthe transmitter was keyed.Photo
C.
Same
rf
signal on
rhe
speiiriini
analyzer.
Seconci
harrilonic 1sonly
26
dB
beloiv
the
iundan?ei~ta/.2ori't
QLII
this signal
~II
he
air!
Overail
Circuit
Operaiie~n
Let's first discuss Fig
2,
the spectrum analyzerbloc!< diagram. We willthen look at the circuits ineach block in detail. Noticethat the analyzer block dia-gram looks similar to thatof a s~ngle-conversion su-perheterodyne receiver.The i-f frequency of thespectrum analyzer is
90
MIHz.The sampled input signalfrom the L-pad
is
adjustedto the proper power level
with
the step attenuator, aswe discussed before. Thesignal is titen taker1 througha low-pass filter with a60-MHz cutoff frequency.The low-pass filter prevents90-MHz signals from leak-ing into the analyzer and"confusing" it. The input is
I-iext
rnixed with the
90-Mlir
to
150-MHz
voltage-con-trolled oscillaior- (vco)
in
the double-balanced mixer.
-
I
he,differ.ence output fromthe mixer, which
is
the de-sired I-f signal,
is
then fil-tered by the 90-MHz band-pass filter. The bandpass fil-ter provides the necessaryselectivity lor the spectrumanalyzer.
The
90-MHz sig-nal from
tiit;
bandpass filteris preamjsiitied and appliedto the
Iog
ampiifier. Theoutput
ot
the log amplifieris logarithmic signalstrength video for the oscii-loscope vertical
(Yj
axis.The voltage-controiledoscillator frequency
is
con-trolled by the sweep gener-ator, which simultaneouslycontrols the horizontal (or
X
axis) of the oscilloscope.Note that when the vco is
OSCILLOSCOPESAMPLED
Er-
e
x's
HF
SPECTRUM
rt
NALYZER
WlDTH
CENTER
Note
I.
Never hooktransmitter or linear directly to step attenuator oranalyzer. Always use L-pad sampler of the proper power rating.Note
2.
Be sure transmitter, linear, L-pad, attenuator, analyzer, andscope are grounded.Fig.
7.
Typical
HF
spectrum analyzer hookup.
73
Magazine August,
1982
'ill
 
tuned to 90 MHz, the ana-lyzer is tuned to zero MHz.When the vco is tuned to120 MHz, the analyzer istuned to 30 MHz. With thevco at 150 MHz, the analyz-er is tuned to 60 MHz.The tuning range of theanalyzer is adjusted withthe center-frequency andfrequency-span controls onthe sweep generator. Thesweep generator automati-cally tunes the analyzeracross its tuning rangeabout10 times each sec-ond. The sweep generatorPhoto
D.
Bottom view of spectrum analyzer chassis. Logclamps or "shorts out" theamplifier is at the top. Power supply and sweep generatorvideo during the retrace be-board is directly below the log amplifier. Vco is next. Thetween each sweep to avoidmixer is directly below the vco. The mixer connects to the a confusing oscilloscopelow-pass filter at the left. Thebandpass filter is at the lower display. This eliminates theright. Preamplifier is on the middle right. need for an oscilloscope
INPUTFROM-PA0
0
TTENUATORSAMPLERFREO. SPAN ADJUSTCENTER FREO ADJUSTTO ANTENNADUMMY LOADTO TRANSMITOR LINEARS
H
IXER
%
H
REAMP
14
LOG AMP
h
ILTER FILTER
RETRACE CLAMP
I
POWER SUPPLYORTERVIDEO TO SCOPE
-,
Y AXIS)2.5VP-PSWEEP TO SCOPE
+
X
AXIS)3vP-P10-12H2
Fig.
2.
Block diagram.
TO ATTENUATOR AND
HF
SPECTRUMANALYZER
d?
100-1000 WATT SAMPLER.25-1 WATT SERIES ELEMENT 1-10 WATT SERIES ELEMENT 10-100 WATT SERIES ELEMENT
Note
1.
Carbon composition (noninductive) resistors.Note
2.
"Fuse" is single, hair-thin copper strand from ac "zip" cord.Note
3.
ConnectSO-239connectors with RG-8 center conductor wire.Note
4.
Test-run sampler before connecting to attenuator.Note
5.
Keep BNC connector 3" away from SO-239s; space resistor sets318" minimum; "fuse" is 112" to314" long.
Fig.
3.
L-pad power samplers.with a Z-axis (blanking)
in-
put. The power supply pro-vides
+
24
V
dc,
+
12
V
dc,and -6
V
dc for the spec-trum analyzer circuitry. Thepower supply operatesfrom 12
V
ac supplied by awall plug transformer.Fig.
3
shows the sche-matic of a 100-to-1000-WattL-pad sampler, with alter-nate circuitry for a 10-to-100-Watt sampler, a l-to-10-Watt sampler, and a0.25-to-I-Watt sampler. Four pairsof 4.7k, I-Watt resistorsform the series element ofthe 100-to-I000-Watt sam-pler.
A
51-Ohm, 112-Watt re-sistor forms the shunt ele-ment. The L-pad resistorsare rated for continuous op-eration.
A
single hair-thinstrand from an old "zip"cord provides some fusingprotection in the event of acomponent failure or cir-cuit fault. The series ele-ments for the other powerratings are shown in Fig.
3.
0-to-59-dB Step Attenuator
Fig. 4 shows the step at-tenuator schematic. Five pi-style resistive attenuatorsare switched in or out asnecessary to achieve theproper attenuation. Switch-es are double-pole, double-throw. Resistors may be 112Watt or 114 Watt, although114-Watt resistors are easierto work with. Note theshielding between sections.Resistors must be 5% toler-ance. (The resistor values foreach attenuator came fromReference
1
)
Low-Pass Filter,Mixer, and Vco
Fig.
5
shows the details ofthese circuits. The low-passfilter consists of three pi-sections, separated byshielding. The cutoff fre-quency of the filter is about60 MHz. Three sections areused to give a high attenua-tion at the 90-MHz i-f fre-quency and above.Each port of the double-balanced mixer is paddedwith 50-Ohm attenuators to
12
73
Magazine
August, 1982
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