I wonder if anyone has successfully converted a
thrown-away cell-phone into a spectrum analyser?

We would seem to have all the necessary components
in there for free - keyboard, graphical display,
post-demodulation DSP, Frequency Synthesizer,
RF good up to 1 GHz (2G5Hz if an ex-WCDMA unit)

Here would seem to be an opportunity to equip
all Radio Hams with a reasonably state-of-the-art
piece of test gear, that when coupled with an
IF generator would give us all a network analyser
into the bargain!

Polymath wrote:

I wonder if anyone has successfully converted a
thrown-away cell-phone into a spectrum analyser?

We would seem to have all the necessary components
in there for free - keyboard, graphical display,
post-demodulation DSP, Frequency Synthesizer,
RF good up to 1 GHz (2G5Hz if an ex-WCDMA unit)

Here would seem to be an opportunity to equip
all Radio Hams with a reasonably state-of-the-art
piece of test gear, that when coupled with an
IF generator would give us all a network analyser
into the bargain!

Many years ago it was done with junked Video Tape Recorders and, from
what I saw and read, very successfully too.

Dave

Dave Holford wrote:
Polymouth wrote:

I wonder if anyone has successfully converted a
thrown-away cell-phone into a spectrum analyser?

We would seem to have all the necessary components
in there for free - keyboard, graphical display,
post-demodulation DSP, Frequency Synthesizer,
RF good up to 1 GHz (2G5Hz if an ex-WCDMA unit)

Here would seem to be an opportunity to equip
all Radio Hams with a reasonably state-of-the-art
piece of test gear, that when coupled with an
IF generator would give us all a network analyser
into the bargain!

Many years ago it was done with junked Video Tape Recorders and, from
what I saw and read, very successfully too.

Don't hold your breath, as there seems to be a raft of projects ahead
of this one: his own XRC machine, an ATU made from discarded CDs, a
DSP project using an FT-707, and of course, the mathematical basis for
the Big-K approach to DSP to be proved, peer-reviewed, and then
published.

from
Aero Spike

Spike wrote:

Don't hold your breath, as there seems to be a raft of projects ahead
of this one: his own XRC machine, an ATU made from discarded CDs, a
DSP project using an FT-707, and of course, the mathematical basis for
the Big-K approach to DSP to be proved, peer-reviewed, and then
published.

You also forget the gauntlet he laid down in the newsgroups to design a
transceiver that was roughly based upon re-inventing the wheel.

When people took his suggestion somewhat seriously, he backed away, and,
as it the case with all Bean-powered projects, let the subject die.

Wankel Rotary wrote:

Spike wrote:

Don't hold your breath, as there seems to be a raft of projects ahead
of this one: his own XRC machine, an ATU made from discarded CDs, a
DSP project using an FT-707, and of course, the mathematical basis for
the Big-K approach to DSP to be proved, peer-reviewed, and then
published.

You also forget the gauntlet he laid down in the newsgroups to design a
transceiver that was roughly based upon re-inventing the wheel.

When people took his suggestion somewhat seriously, he backed away, and,
as it the case with all Bean-powered projects, let the subject die.

His philosophy seems to boil down to "Don't do as I do, do as I say" -
the motto of the hypocrite.

from
Aero Spike

Many years ago it was done with junked Video
Tape Recorders and, from what I saw and read,
very successfully too.

If this is the same project that I remember, it's based mostly around
the TV tuner module from an old VCR.

The TV tuners work real nicely as they have a well-defined interface to
the VCO control voltage, mixer in, and mixer out. The VCO is also the
"right range" (VHF-Lo, VHF-Hi, UHF covers a lot of frequency!) at least
for 50MHz up to the top of the UHF TV band. I don't know what they did
for frequencies below 50MHz.

The TV tuner module is also nicely interface to (a handful of easily
soldered-to pins.)

Cellphones don't really have a well-defined module like the TV tuner in
them. They aren't broadband in the same way. Their synthesizers are
not broadband either.

Tim.

"Tim Shoppa" wrote in message
oups.com...

Cellphones don't really have a well-defined module like the TV tuner in
them. They aren't broadband in the same way. Their synthesizers are
not broadband either.

You obviously not seen the design to make a Nokia 3310 into a Cellphone
jammer. - Simple sweep osillator curcuit built on veroboard into the battery
compartment ? Just plug the mains addaptor into a stangard 240v 13A
GNER/VIRGIN power outlet and enjoy hours of
non-mobile-phone-interrupted-journey.


--
73deG1LVN
http://www.outpimp.com/?x=481566961

G1LVN:

Such things can be done, but that certainly sounds much less than workable!

The plans there might better function as a "Burnt Wiring Smell Generator!"
I have built a few of 'em, most likely there are still a few left waiting
to be built in my future...

John

On Sun, 21 Aug 2005 00:36:03 +0000, G1LVN (for it is he) wrote:

Nokia 3310

You obviously not seen the design to make a Nokia 3310 into a Cellphone
jammer. - Simple sweep osillator curcuit built on veroboard into the
battery compartment ? Just plug the mains addaptor into a stangard 240v
13A GNER/VIRGIN power outlet and enjoy hours of
non-mobile-phone-interrupted-journey.
=======
For US based readers of this NG : GNER= Great North East Railways . VIRGIN
= Virgin Trains (from the same stock as Virgin Atlantic)
The trains running from London - Edinburgh -Aberdeen vv apparently have
240V-AC sockets for hooking up laptops and other electrical devices.

Frank GM0CSZ / KN6WH

Polymath wrote:

I wonder if anyone has successfully converted a
thrown-away cell-phone into a spectrum analyser?

We would seem to have all the necessary components
in there for free - keyboard, graphical display,
post-demodulation DSP, Frequency Synthesizer,
RF good up to 1 GHz (2G5Hz if an ex-WCDMA unit)

Here would seem to be an opportunity to equip
all Radio Hams with a reasonably state-of-the-art
piece of test gear, that when coupled with an
IF generator would give us all a network analyser
into the bargain!

Bargain - of course - that's after the Radio Amateur has equipped his
shack with a very expensive SMD rework station....

Would it not be wiser to suggest the building of an interface so the
shack PC could be used to do such a task as spectrum analysis?

Beanie/Polymath - Once a dumbass, always a dumbass.