Banggood Geekcreit® Spectrum Analyzer USB LTDZ 35-4400M

13 views
Skip to first unread message

Ray Cannon - W7GLF

unread,
Oct 11, 2019, 12:27:52 AM10/11/19
to PNW Microwave
I ordered one of these to play around with.  Little documentation - It took all night before I figured you need to go to Settings/Options TAB and select 10 in the Frequency Multiply box.
Stumbling around the Internet I discovered documentation on the NWT software at:



I downloaded version 4.11.09 of the software from http://www.giga.co.za/Kit_Drivers/WinNWT5_v5_0_3_1730_setup.zip.  Not sure if it is better but it does have some enhancements for printing/saving the graph.

Anyway the device is pretty deaf but it did work for plotting some of my filters around here which is what I wanted it for.

Here is a plot of my DCI 2 meter filter (since it cannot detect signals less than -60 dBm you are not going to see much hooking directly to an antenna):

Mike Lewis

unread,
Oct 11, 2019, 3:16:08 AM10/11/19
to Ray Cannon - W7GLF, PNW Microwave

I followed the bread crumbs along this link from below

http://www.epanorama.net/newepa/2019/08/10/cheap-spectrum-analyzer-and-signal-generator/

A comment at the very bottom is form the author (VMA in Portugal) of a spectrum analyzer package at this link

https://vma-satellite.blogspot.com/2016/12/vma-simple-spectrum-analyser-download.html

This has software and a manual download link.

 

Reading some of the blogs from 2019 https://vma-satellite.blogspot.com/2019/

Scrolling down he some interesting topics and includes a review of the LTDZ device.  Below that he has a June 5th article talking about incompatibility of a particular Banggood version of the board, at least with his software.  Scrolling further he reviews some other devices.

Then an entry saying he has cleaned up notches in the display and is working very well.

One version (or class of hardware) he tests with is called D6.  He has a warning about which version hardware to look for and avoid others. NWT and SMA are the other major classes.

He does eventually get his software working with the Geekcreit LTDZ in a case from Banggood. Skip below for link.  He makes this post:

 

Warning: Don't buy the cheapest offer of this kind and make 100% sure that you are buying the ST-Link V2 device. My first purchase arrived, but I got a simple USB-RS232 PLL interface, which looks exactly the same. Got a refund from eBay, but still annoying! Look at all the pictures of the offer, as often the first picture shows the ST-Link V2 but the other pictures show what you will be really getting...

 

In one of the 2019 posts he summarizes and has this line comparing the SMA, D6 and NWT.  Already explained was the history of the devices in each class in the previous reading/scrolling.  https://vma-satellite.blogspot.com/2019/09/

This line was in his summary:

The really good device is the NWT4000 by BG7TBL.

 

The 23 July 2019 post is this

Tuesday, 23 July 2019

VMA Simple Spectrum Analyser: Geekcreit® Spectrum Analyzer USB LTDZ 35-4400M is now supported!

 

And notes some firmware additions of recent.  At the end he prefers the performance of the NWT form BG7TBL. 

 

Tons of reading on the subject, sure to keep you busy for many nights.

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "PNW Microwave" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to PNW-Microwav...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/PNW-Microwave/5cbfbb98-1f74-44fb-a2b8-ed7c3055b5e8%40googlegroups.com.

Mike Lewis

unread,
Oct 11, 2019, 3:36:54 AM10/11/19
to Ray Cannon - W7GLF, PNW Microwave

Further info from the VMA software page about the hardware he supports give one good insight to the range of similar devices out there now and their cost.  The NWT6000 uses the Max2870 which is a 6GHz part and can be found in PLL modules from China for about $60 and also happens to be the heart of the DigiLO PLL board.  Of course the prices scale up with capability.

 

  • 138MHz-4.4GHz USB SMA Signal Source Signal Generator Simple Spectrum Analyzer
  • 35MHz-4.4GHz USB SMA Signal Source Signal Generator Simple Spectrum Analyzer
  • 23.5MHz-6GHz USB SMA Signal Source Signal Generator Simple Spectrum Analyzer
  • NWT4000-1 138MHz-4.4GHz Sweep Simple Spectrum Analyzer Signal Generator
  • NWT4000-2 35MHz-4.4GHz Sweep Simple Spectrum Analyzer Signal Generator
  • NWT4000-3 50KHz-4.4GHz Sweep Simple Spectrum Analyzer Signal Generator
  • NWT6000 25MHz-6GHz Sweep Simple Spectrum Analyzer Signal Generator
  • AliExpress D6 JTGP-1033
  • Banggood LTDZ

 

The first two are low-cost models (60-70 Euro) featuring only one ADF4350 or ADF4351 synthesizer chip.
The third one is a low-cost model (110-130 Euro) featuring only one MAX2870 synthesizer chip.

The NWT4000 models (160-350 Euro) have two  ADF4350 or ADF4351 synthesizer chips.

The NWT6000 model (300-350 Euro) has two MAX2870 synthesizer chips

Ray Cannon - W7GLF

unread,
Oct 11, 2019, 4:14:00 PM10/11/19
to PNW Microwave
I got the software link incorrect - it should have been http://www.giga.co.za/Kit_Drivers/winnwt4_v4_11_09.zip

I have read version 5 does not work as well with this device but it seems fine with me..  A comment at page https://www.banggood.in/qa-question-1450129-1.html one user says WINNWT5 appears to work but sensitivity drops off above 446mhz to 0.  I am not sure what he is referring to - I just tried version 5 at 1200 MHz and it worked fine.

Loren Moline WA7SKT

unread,
Oct 11, 2019, 4:32:20 PM10/11/19
to Ray Cannon - W7GLF, PNW Microwave
Hello Ray,
I have had this for a while and when I tested it I was happy for the price I paid.

Loren Moline WA7SKT
Benson, AZ
DM41ux

From: pnw-mi...@googlegroups.com <pnw-mi...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Ray Cannon - W7GLF <w7...@qsl.net>
Sent: Friday, October 11, 2019 1:14:00 PM
To: PNW Microwave <PNW-Mi...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: [PNW Microwave] Re: Banggood Geekcreit® Spectrum Analyzer USB LTDZ 35-4400M
 
I got the software link incorrect - it should have been http://www.giga.co.za/Kit_Drivers/winnwt4_v4_11_09.zip

I have read version 5 does not work as well with this device but it seems fine with me..  A comment at page https://www.banggood.in/qa-question-1450129-1.html one user says WINNWT5 appears to work but sensitivity drops off above 446mhz to 0.  I am not sure what he is referring to - I just tried version 5 at 1200 MHz and it worked fine.

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "PNW Microwave" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to PNW-Microwav...@googlegroups.com.
Reply all
Reply to author
Forward
0 new messages