For high-frequency, high-speed waveform capture, the Model RTR 2742 rack-mount RF/IF recorder from Pentek can record and play back wideband signals on one or two channels. The latest addition to the company’s Talon series of RF/IF recorders (see figure) can perform sustained recording of 2.4-GHz signal bandwidths at sampling rates to 6 GB/s using two 12-b, 6.4-GHz analog-to-digital converters (ADCs). It can be configured as a one- or two-channel system and can record real samples or digitally downconverted samples. With a 6.4-GHz, 16-bit digital-to-analog converter (DAC), it can play back analog bandwidths as wide as 1.28 GHz.
Pentek vice-president Rodger Hosking observed: “Many communications and radar applications operate across ultra-wideband frequencies. Now we can satisfy the many customers who need to digitize and record these signals with bandwidths as high as 2.4 GHz.” He added, “With the Talon RTR 2742, engineers can capture the whole spectrum in a single wideband channel, eliminating the need to break up the signal into smaller bands, covering adjacent slices of the spectrum.”
The RTR 2742 can be equipped with as much as 122 TB of solid-state memory, removable from the front panel. Data are stored in the New Technology File System (NTFS) standard format, allowing users to remove drives from the instrument and read waveform data using standard Windows-based systems, eliminating the need for file-format conversion. The chassis is equipped with front-panel USB ports and rear-panel input/output (I/O) connectors. The digital recorder is based on a Microsoft Windows operating system (OS) and operates under control of Pentek’s SystemFlow software with its graphical user interface (GUI), Signal Viewer software, and application programming interface (API).
Pentek, www.pentek.com