I’ve been looking for some time for an affordable (i.e. used) and useful ranged (i.e. not cheap!) spectrum analyser. Obviously I want DC to light but don’t need it and don’t want to sell the house for a bit of test gear. I have a TinySA which is good to 960MHz but I will need a higher frequency range as I fiddle more with microwaves.

The ultimate, e.g. a Rigol or Siglent LCD type device is just far too expensive. Nice to have yes but something one would need to be using all the time in order to justify it. Then I came across Satsagen – http://www.albfer.com/en/2020/02/21/satsagen-2/

Satsagen runs under Windows and by default uses an Adalm Pluto as its interface to the real world. The software even does the necessary to upgrade the Pluto to the ‘full’ range of 70MHz to 6GHz (you can do this easily by hand but it’s nice of the software to do it anyway). The software has three basic function too – spectrum analyser, spectrum analyser with tracking, and generator. So, one PC, one Pluto, Satsagen and you get a pretty decent 70MHz to 6GHz spectrum analyser, tracking generator and signal generator.

I have not yet delved into all the functionality and only carried out a couple of quick tests on a handheld and on my 70MHz transverter, plus a very quick test of a FPV transmitter (TS832) up at 5.6GHz.

It will work with other devices such as the HackRF and the RTL dongle but it seems so useful I purchased a Pluto just for it (yeah, ok, I can use it for other stuff too but hey)