The importance of quickly tracking down signals that may be used for disruptive, illegal purposes has grown significantly in recent years. Wireless bugs, malicious remote control RF links, illicit activities using wireless devices or unintentional emissions that hamper infrastructure operation are often of great interest. Finding and physically locating RF emitters that are misusing the radio spectrum can be a challenging process, especially when risk mitigation and time to response are critical.

"The addition of the H600 RFHawk to Tektronix' spectrum analyzer portfolio provides unprecedented power to the surveillance customer in the field," said Bob Hiebert, General Manager, Wireless Field Test, Tektronix Communications. "Many covert signals are designed to avoid detection by hiding among legitimate transmissions. We developed the RFHawk based on customer input for the specific challenges of field operations, combining high performance RF measurements with advanced signal classification and location tools."

Utilizing the H600 RFHawk, surveillance engineers and field operators can quickly and effectively spot and locate illegitimate analog and digital RF transmission sources in the field. The battery operated, rugged solution provides field-proven signal hunting, mapping and documentation tools, offering unparalleled performance for rapid targeting of illegitimate signals.

The touch-screen user interface offered by the H600 RFHawk is designed for field conditions and optimized for scanning the RF environment, classifying the known signals and locating the unknown or illegitimate analog and digital RF transmission sources. The spectrogram mode feature of the H600 RFHawk allows customers to see the true signal shape through FFT-based spectrum analysis capabilities. This is especially useful for bursty signals such as WiFi, hopping such as GSM, or intentionally sporadic signals. The H600 RFHawk allows logging of these signals and storing geographic reference data per measurement.

A simple but powerful user interface allows for a specific region of interest to be clearly defined and isolated for scanning, analyzing, and storing. Within that region of interest, the RFHawk uses a DSP technique -- spectral correlation analysis -- to look at internal frequencies within the signal. By using this technique, it is possible to find a digital signal's symbol rate, other repetitive internal rates and compare the signal to known valid signal types.

When an unrecognized signal is defined as a potential threat, the H600 RFHawk provides a field-proven set of signal hunting tools. Directional antenna and signal strength readings linked to built-in GPS referenced or in-building maps enable rapid narrowing of the search area, leading to the target. Users can easily plot the direction from which a suspicious signal is emanating. High sensitivity and low noise floor allow tracking of faint signals better than most traditional handheld spectrum analyzers.

Prior to Tektronix' H600 RFHawk handheld solution, precise location and identification of signals was typically accomplished through the use of a combination of lab-grade spectrum analyzers, oscilloscopes and off-line analysis capabilities using a PC. The increased portability and rugged features offered by the handheld H600 RFHawk overcomes the limitations associated with analysis equipment not specifically designed for field use.

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