Tinysa Ultra - new toy

[shufflebeat]

Currently having fun confirming that BBC radio stations are indeed on or around the frequencies they claim to be. I’m terrified to turn it on in what may turn out to be a hostile RF environment and blow up the front end of my new toy so am looking for decent attenuators that don’t also attenuate my wealth too much, any suggestions?

There are a few SoS threads on RF topics which I’ll be exploring but pointage to any other resources gratefully received.

[Philbo King]

If it is competently designed the receiver will include AGC (automatic gain control) that will prevent receiver overload.

[shufflebeat]

Nothing so advanced, unfortunately.

[Martin Walker]

And for those like me who were totally in the dark about shufflebeat's thread, here's what I found with an online search:

Tiny SA ULTRA Spectrum Analyser 50khz to 5.97Ghz

[shufflebeat]

Apologies, Martin, I didn’t give much of a lead-up.

Isn’t it cute?

The aim is to understand the black magic of RF and maybe even to be able to reliably switch it on and off.

[ajay_m]

Although the display isn't as good, the uvk5 radios you can pick up for under £20 when flashed with widely available custom firmware, can do spectrum analysis quite well. It picked up my Sennheiser wireless transmitter and showed the frequency precisely and was able to actually pick up and demodulate the signal as well. They are quite fun little toys but I would set transmit to disabled as they are not legal to transmit except in a few tiny areas of the spectrum.

[Jimmy B]

I’m terrified to turn it on in what may turn out to be a hostile RF environment and blow up the front end of my new toy so am looking for decent attenuators that don’t also attenuate my wealth too much, any suggestions?

There is a selection of SMA attenuators that may be suitable at CPC:
https://cpc.farnell.com/c/cable-leads-c ... sults=true

I wonder what this hostile RF environment is? If it was in my house I might be more concerned about my own safety.

Disclaimer: RF was not my speciality. Hopefully someone more knowledgeable can confirm or refute all of the above.

[Sam Spoons]

Although the display isn't as good, the uvk5 radios you can pick up for under £20 when flashed with widely available custom firmware, can do spectrum analysis quite well. It picked up my Sennheiser wireless transmitter and showed the frequency precisely and was able to actually pick up and demodulate the signal as well. They are quite fun little toys but I would set transmit to disabled as they are not legal to transmit except in a few tiny areas of the spectrum.

I've been toying with buying a scanner for a while now but one of these might do enough so I've got one on the way

[shufflebeat]

I’ve sent off for this small selection:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B07YYM ... 1K1A&psc=1

…based on a recommendation of a Tinysa user, so hoping will be battle tested.

I had a good scan of 4 Sennheiser wireless mics today (sans attenuators) between 863-865MHz and it was really cool to see the theory of RF coordination represented in glorious 4” splendour.

More input welcome, within recommended headroom, of course.

[shufflebeat]

I wonder what this hostile RF environment is?

I’m referring to the possibility of stray RF frying the input stage of the scanner. The designer suggests keeping a 30dB attenuator between the antenna and the input until unknowns can be assessed.

I’m pretty sure we can retire the old tin-foil beanie-liner for now.

[Martin Walker]

I’ve sent off for this small selection:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B07YYM ... 1K1A&psc=1

…based on a recommendation of a Tinysa user, so hoping will be battle tested.

Six attenuators accurate to 0.1dB up to 3GHz for £38.71 - that's around £6 each.

So why do audio frequency attenuators typically sell for three times that price?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Harrison-Labs- ... 106&sr=8-4

Mind you, these are claimed to be 'high speed'

Answers on a postcard please.

[shufflebeat]

Sorry, Martin, don’t have a postcard (whatever that is ) to hand but I’m sure there are perfectly good technical reasons why those are much shinier…, I mean more costly.

Anyroadup - package arrives, eagerly ripped open and deployed - no disasters!

Heartily recommended, albeit from a position of ignorant innocence.

[Sam Spoons]

Although the display isn't as good, the uvk5 radios you can pick up for under £20 when flashed with widely available custom firmware, can do spectrum analysis quite well. It picked up my Sennheiser wireless transmitter and showed the frequency precisely and was able to actually pick up and demodulate the signal as well. They are quite fun little toys but I would set transmit to disabled as they are not legal to transmit except in a few tiny areas of the spectrum.

Mine has arrived and I haven't flashed it with custom firmware. I'm trying tofind out how to disable all TX as I don't need to transmit and don't want to be spraying garbage around the airwaves while I'm working out how to use it. Were you aboe to disable all with the manufacturer firmware (the only vid I could find was running custom and the menu item mentioned does not appear on my radio)?

[BigRedX]

Is this linked to a previous thread I have missed?

I'm struggling to work out what this is for.

[Sam Spoons]

It's a radio frequency scanner, you can scan the venue to see if there are any radio transmissions reaching the room which may interfere with your wireless kit. You can also check/confirm the frequencies your kit is transmitting on.

[shufflebeat]

Mine has arrived and I haven't flashed it with custom firmware. I'm trying tofind out how to disable all TX as I don't need to transmit and don't want to be spraying garbage around the airwaves while I'm working out how to use it.

Guidance I’m following:

https://tinysa.org/wiki/pmwiki.php?n=Main.FirstUse

Is this linked to a previous thread I have missed?

I'm struggling to work out what this is for.

The same link should provide some enlightenment. Searching up (“Tinysa Ultra” +microphone) also leads to a couple of specific online chats.