wrote in message
...
It seems to me that fast cheap A/D, storage, processing power, and
memory take us to the place where commercially mainstream hardware can
implement a software defined radio where one or more whole bands or
frequency segments can be recorded to storage media, much like a TiVo.

Of course, the ability to convert b - (b+K) Mhz to 0 ... K Mhz and
sample at 2K Mhz, has been technologically possible for quite some
time now, but also quite expensive.

So my question is: how long before some high-end manufacturer of
either scanner, SWL, or ham gear introduces the ability to record a
band segment and "replay" the whole segment to let you tune into any
signals in the band at will from the recording?

Has it been done yet? If not, I wonder how long it will be.

The SDR-IQ at around $500 has been out for well over a year now, along with
its higher priced brother- both from RF Space.
Both allow wideband spectrum recording. We used the IQ to record a 100KHz
portion of a 1296 MHz EME contest 2 years ago and then play it back laeter
digging out signals we did not even hear in the live contest.

Alternatively, devices like the Time Machine are stand alone inexpensive
receivers that also allow this. The Time Machine has been on the market for
at least 5 years, likely more.

Dale W4OP

In article Z1oxj.6679$xg6.908@trnddc07,
"Dale Parfitt" wrote:

wrote in message
...
It seems to me that fast cheap A/D, storage, processing power, and
memory take us to the place where commercially mainstream hardware can
implement a software defined radio where one or more whole bands or
frequency segments can be recorded to storage media, much like a TiVo.

Of course, the ability to convert b - (b+K) Mhz to 0 ... K Mhz and
sample at 2K Mhz, has been technologically possible for quite some
time now, but also quite expensive.

So my question is: how long before some high-end manufacturer of
either scanner, SWL, or ham gear introduces the ability to record a
band segment and "replay" the whole segment to let you tune into any
signals in the band at will from the recording?

Has it been done yet? If not, I wonder how long it will be.

The SDR-IQ at around $500 has been out for well over a year now, along with
its higher priced brother- both from RF Space.
Both allow wideband spectrum recording. We used the IQ to record a 100KHz
portion of a 1296 MHz EME contest 2 years ago and then play it back laeter
digging out signals we did not even hear in the live contest.

Alternatively, devices like the Time Machine are stand alone inexpensive
receivers that also allow this. The Time Machine has been on the market for
at least 5 years, likely more.


This concept has been around for decades and has been done using
magnetic tape to record over the air telemetry from remote locations of
what you might call one time "events" of military interest.

--
Telamon
Ventura, California

Telamon wrote:
In article Z1oxj.6679$xg6.908@trnddc07,
"Dale Parfitt" wrote:

wrote in message
...
It seems to me that fast cheap A/D, storage, processing power, and
memory take us to the place where commercially mainstream hardware can
implement a software defined radio where one or more whole bands or
frequency segments can be recorded to storage media, much like a TiVo.

Of course, the ability to convert b - (b+K) Mhz to 0 ... K Mhz and
sample at 2K Mhz, has been technologically possible for quite some
time now, but also quite expensive.

So my question is: how long before some high-end manufacturer of
either scanner, SWL, or ham gear introduces the ability to record a
band segment and "replay" the whole segment to let you tune into any
signals in the band at will from the recording?

Has it been done yet? If not, I wonder how long it will be.
The SDR-IQ at around $500 has been out for well over a year now, along with
its higher priced brother- both from RF Space.
Both allow wideband spectrum recording. We used the IQ to record a 100KHz
portion of a 1296 MHz EME contest 2 years ago and then play it back laeter
digging out signals we did not even hear in the live contest.

Alternatively, devices like the Time Machine are stand alone inexpensive
receivers that also allow this. The Time Machine has been on the market for
at least 5 years, likely more.


This concept has been around for decades and has been done using
magnetic tape to record over the air telemetry from remote locations of
what you might call one time "events" of military interest.
IF Shifted to fit the 4.5 mHz video passband band on old video tape
recorders, no?

dave wrote:

Telamon wrote:
In article Z1oxj.6679$xg6.908@trnddc07,
"Dale Parfitt" wrote:

wrote in message

...
It seems to me that fast cheap A/D, storage, processing power, and
memory take us to the place where commercially mainstream hardware can
implement a software defined radio where one or more whole bands or
frequency segments can be recorded to storage media, much like a TiVo.

Of course, the ability to convert b - (b+K) Mhz to 0 ... K Mhz and
sample at 2K Mhz, has been technologically possible for quite some
time now, but also quite expensive.

So my question is: how long before some high-end manufacturer of
either scanner, SWL, or ham gear introduces the ability to record a
band segment and "replay" the whole segment to let you tune into any
signals in the band at will from the recording?

Has it been done yet? If not, I wonder how long it will be.
The SDR-IQ at around $500 has been out for well over a year now, along
with its higher priced brother- both from RF Space.
Both allow wideband spectrum recording. We used the IQ to record a
100KHz portion of a 1296 MHz EME contest 2 years ago and then play it
back laeter digging out signals we did not even hear in the live
contest.

Alternatively, devices like the Time Machine are stand alone inexpensive
receivers that also allow this. The Time Machine has been on the market
for at least 5 years, likely more.


This concept has been around for decades and has been done using
magnetic tape to record over the air telemetry from remote locations of
what you might call one time "events" of military interest.
IF Shifted to fit the 4.5 mHz video passband band on old video tape
recorders, no?

Don't forget the video recorders, at least the consumer models, have limited
S/N characteristics and dynamic range. They are also designed to work with
signals that have sync bars. There would be interruptions in the signal as
the heads switch.

In article ,
dave wrote:

Telamon wrote:
In article Z1oxj.6679$xg6.908@trnddc07,
"Dale Parfitt" wrote:

wrote in message
...
It seems to me that fast cheap A/D, storage, processing power, and
memory take us to the place where commercially mainstream hardware can
implement a software defined radio where one or more whole bands or
frequency segments can be recorded to storage media, much like a TiVo.

Of course, the ability to convert b - (b+K) Mhz to 0 ... K Mhz and
sample at 2K Mhz, has been technologically possible for quite some
time now, but also quite expensive.

So my question is: how long before some high-end manufacturer of
either scanner, SWL, or ham gear introduces the ability to record a
band segment and "replay" the whole segment to let you tune into any
signals in the band at will from the recording?

Has it been done yet? If not, I wonder how long it will be.
The SDR-IQ at around $500 has been out for well over a year now, along
with
its higher priced brother- both from RF Space.
Both allow wideband spectrum recording. We used the IQ to record a 100KHz
portion of a 1296 MHz EME contest 2 years ago and then play it back laeter
digging out signals we did not even hear in the live contest.

Alternatively, devices like the Time Machine are stand alone inexpensive
receivers that also allow this. The Time Machine has been on the market
for
at least 5 years, likely more.


This concept has been around for decades and has been done using
magnetic tape to record over the air telemetry from remote locations of
what you might call one time "events" of military interest.

IF Shifted to fit the 4.5 mHz video passband band on old video tape
recorders, no?

That part I could not tell you about.

--
Telamon
Ventura, California