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What is a Spectrum Analyzer
A spectrum analyzer is an instrument used to convert a signal from the time domain (amplitude-vs-time) to the frequency domain (amplitude-vs-frequency). If you are familiar with an ordinary oscilloscope you know what a time domain display looks like. A frequency domain display is known as a spectrum. Unless you are measuring a single tone, an oscilloscope provides little in the way of frequency information; however, a spectrum analyzer clearly reveals this information.
What Can it Do?
A Spectrum Analyzer is very useful for measuring the fundamental frequency components which are contained in a signal. It can accurately measure the frequency of single or multiple tones and the frequency difference between them.
How does it work?
The program works in conjunction with a DT 9800 data acquisition module. SpectraPLUS -DT then performs an "Analog-to-Digital" conversion on the analog signal. This digitized signal is then passed through a math algorithm known as a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) which converts the signal from the time domain to the frequency domain. The CPU on your computer is used to perform this transformation.
See also: Performance Issues