1 Introduction
This article describes the first maintenance release of the S240v5 Real-Time Spectrum Analyzer (RTSA) software, version 5.0.1. It supersedes S240v5 version 5.0.0.
This software is distributed as a single Microsoft Windows binary file S240v5_RTSA_v5.0.1_Installer.exe.
Reminder: S240v5 supports current RTSA devices such as R5500, R5550, R5700, & R5750, but not obsoleted WSA products such as the WSA5000. End of life products are still supported by the S240 application.
2 Fixed Defects
S240v5 version 5.0.1 is concurrently released with PyRF3 3.0.1. PyRF3 is a Python 3 release of the original Python 2 version of PyRF. Version 5.0.1 specifically addresses the following issues:
- Auto RBW was still operating when unchecked. It now does not. However, RBW can still change when the current value is out of the calculated acceptable range.
- Canceling an attempted connection was pausing the current capture. It no longer does that.
- When pausing a capture, traces were removed from the plot. Now they are displayed correctly for deeper examination.
- GPS reports were sporadic. They now appear as soon as generated, approximately one per second for any R57x0 device.
- The marker table format was messy, with inaccurate and uninformative headings and with incorrect units displayed in some field. They are completely redesigned and both on screen and saved formats are now informative and accurate.
- Only the original Peak Find command was able to display the correct Power and to plot the marker at the right power level on the graph. Other variants would appear to function, but the power levels were wrong and thus the marker was usually too high or too low when it moved. All variants (e.g. find next peak left) will now do this correctly.
- Fonts for device location display on the main panel and the dialog were different from those used elsewhere. They have been brought into line with the rest of the UI.
- The ability to select digitizer modes remained active in playback mode, which would completely confuse the application. The menu items are now disabled in playback mode.
- The Marker and Trace panels had significant clarity and alignment issues. The UI has had significant alignment improvements and some fields have moved around to improve clarity.
- Side panels would scramble their contents as the main window was shrunk in either direction. The side panels are less prone to scrambling in this version.
- Down sampled spans from 25MHz down to 101kHz were trimming significant amounts of data from the edges such that a signal disappeared off the edge sometimes at only have the bandwidth distance from center. Edges are no longer trimmed excessively.
- The frequency start field can no longer go negative. All fields in the Frequency panel track each other accurately now, choosing to preserve the most obvious related field until forced to change (effectively becoming elastic) when a limit is reached. For example, changing the Start frequency attempts to preserve the Stop field, and vice-versa for the Stop frequency attempting to preserve the Start field. When either Start or Stop moving hits the edge of the device’s bandwidth range, they stop. When they are shrinking the Span elastically, the Span could hit its minimum, in which case Center will begin to move.
- Preset All froze no longer freezes the application.
- Spur Mitigation no longer freezes the application.
3 New Features
The following new features and capabilities appear in this release version.
- A time limit field has been added to control the duration of recordings automatically. This helps prevent a full disk. Note that enabling the timer will count down to zero, at which time the recording terminates automatically. Disabling the timer will count up to remind the user that data is being collected and to show how long the recording has been running. The default time is 10s and the timer defaults to ON.
- A Ratio field has been added to the Bandwidth settings panel. The VBW field is no longer changeable on its own, but instead follows the RBW based on the selected ratio. This simplifies the operation of the radio and allows the user to automate VBW tracking or turn it off by setting ratio to 1.
- Occupied bandwidth is no longer limited to the center of the plot. This feature has been reimplemented to track signals wherever they appear on the display. A spike can be shown as a single vertical line if it comprises the majority of the power and if the percent bandwidth is small enough. Single stepping through captures will show the correct occupied bandwidth for each plotted signal.