2.4G noise floor degradation following Firmware upgrade?

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Dave B

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Dec 21, 2020, 10:05:54 AM12/21/20
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Hi Group.
I recently bought a used  'as new' RF Explorer 2.4G wishing to use it with a Windows PC.
When it arrived it appeared to be working perfectly and I was impressed with the sensitivity and noise floor. (With hindsight I should have written the noise floor value down!)
However, I installed RF Explorer for Windows and upgraded the 2.4G's firmware to 1.31 thinking this was a clever thing to do :-(
I had to install the upgrade a couple of times to get the S/N Init message to clear but once this was done the device seemed to be working again.
However I now notice that the noise floor is raised to -90dBm whereas I am almost certain it was somewhere between -100 and -120dBm.
All measurements taken with 50 Ohm SMA terminator on antenna connector.

Is this a known problem with firmware upgrades?
How do I fix it, can one go back to an older firmware version?

As I said (bracketed above), I cannot be definite about the noise floor before I upgraded the firmware but I am pretty convinced it was.
Also I have a brand new 3G Combo with a N/F around -100 to -120dBm.
Comments please.

Thanks in anticipation...
Dave

RF Explorer

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Dec 21, 2020, 7:37:35 PM12/21/20
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Hi Dave,

The RF Explorer model 2.4G has a higher noise floor than 3G Combo. The main reason is the RBW is significantly higher due to electronic component limitations, this is a lower cost model when compared to 3G Combo or 2.4G PLUS models. The firmware version should not have an impact on this.

Feel free to run and submit report using the tool www.rf-explorer.com/check so we can confirm your device status is ok.

Regards,
RF Explorer Team

Dave B

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Dec 26, 2020, 8:51:26 AM12/26/20
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Hi RF explorers,
So now I have my gadgets back from Santa's elves (I had them wrapped for Christmas) I have had more time to experiment.
I discovered the menu items 'Offset dBm' and 'Frequency Span' affect the visible noise level on the screen w.r.t. the Y axis so it may have been that, when delivered, the pre firmware upgrade settings were different to the post firmware settings.
It seems I may have been fooling myself?

So, now I have two RF Explorers, a 2.4G and a brand new Christmas 3G Combo, but I now have a new dilemma.
Having learned my previous lesson about making sure all settings are identical between both machines..LOL!

So I have been looking at signals in the 2.4GHz band and comparing sensitivity between the two RF Explorers.
If I generate a 2.4GHz signal from my ADF4351 signal generator and feed it into first one RF Explorer and then the other I find that the 3G Combo reads 10dBm higher than my older 2.4G RF Explorer.
I have tested the brand new 3G Combo at 'spot' frequencies from HF to 1GHz with my Marconi 2019A and the levels are within +/- 0.5dBm so that's great.

So I can only conclude that my older 2.4G model is reading 10dBm low
Now having discovered the 'Offset dBm' menu I could compensate for this and 'fool' the 2.4G Explorer but this complicates measurements if I need to add external attenuators in later measurements.
There is a health check link somewhere where you can send a test log back to RF Explorer I think?
Would this discover a low gain RF Explorer I wonder?
Thanks in anticipation
Dave


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RF Explorer

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Dec 27, 2020, 4:30:03 PM12/27/20
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Hi Dave,

Please open a ticket at https://support.rf-explorer.com so we can check your unit configuration and calibration details.

Regards,
RF Explorer Team
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