Recorder captures tunable IF signals up to 360MHz

30th July 2014

Pentek Inc

Siobhan O'Gorman

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A recorder, capable of capturing a wide band of signals in real time to disk, has been introduced by Pentek. The RTR 2729A, designed for Talon RF/IF signal recording and playback systems, is equipped with a 3.6 GHz 12-bit A/D converter. With its DDC, the recorder can capture tunable IF signals with bandwidths up to 360MHz continuously, for over four hours.

To provide data streaming for it's high-speed A/D converter, the RTR 2729A uses a high-powered Pentek Virtex-7-based Onyx software radio board with a PCIe Gen. 3 engine. Combined with a PCIe Gen. 3 SATA III RAID controller, the recorder is capable of streaming contiguous data to disk in real time at rates up to 4.8GB/sec, 2.4 times faster than the previous generation.

I/O includes audio and VGA video, six USB 2.0 ports, two USB 3.0 ports and dual Gigabit Ethernet connections. Hot-swappable SSDs are available in 7.6 TB and 15.3 TB configurations and support RAID levels 0, 1, 5, or 6. These SSDs exhibit high immunity to shock and vibration.

The RTR 2729A is built on a Windows 7 Professional workstation with an Intel Core i7 processor and provides both a GUI and API to control the system. Pentek's SystemFlow, the recorder's supporting software, provides a GUI with point-and-click configuration management and can store custom configurations for single-click setup. As well as this, the software includes a virtual oscilloscope and signal analyser to monitor signals before, during and after data collection.

The recorder is both lightweight and shock absorbent, weighing less than 30lbs and featuring rubber corners and a protective glass for its 17" monitor. The recorders, which are suitable for military and aerospace applications, are priced at $74,995.

"Even though the RTR 2729A is 25% smaller than its predecessor, it delivers twice the storage capacity and more than double the recording speed. In addition, the DC power supply option makes it ideal for use in vehicles,” said Chris Tojeira, Recording Systems Director, Pentek. “Getting an ultra-high performance recorder into the field right at the antenna has never been easier,” he added.