This article appeared in Microwaves & RF and has been published here with permission.
In its new Talon Model RTR 2628 RF signal recorder, Pentek (recently acquired by Mercury Systems) offers a spectrum-monitoring tool aimed squarely at beamforming, direction finding, phased-array radars, and multi-antenna diversity receivers. The 4U 19-in. rackmount recorder with integrated RF tuners and analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) accepts signals from eight antennas to provide eight channels of phase-coherent RF signal recording. Each channel is tunable up to 6 GHz and captures up to 80 MHz of instantaneous bandwidth.
Each input channel includes a 250-MHz, 16-bit ADC and an FPGA-based digital down-converter with programmable decimations from 2 to 65536 for instantaneous bandwidths from 80 MHz down to 3 kHz. RF signals up to 6 GHz in frequency can be tuned, sampled, digitally down-converted, and streamed to disk in real-time at sustained aggregate recording rates up to 3.2 GB/s. RF tuning frequencies, A/D sampling rates, DDC decimations, and trigger settings are among the selectable system parameters.
The RTR 2628 is configured with hot-swap data drives, front-panel USB ports, and I/O connectors on the rear panel. It’s optimized for cooling and ruggedized to operate in challenging environments. Systems are scalable to accommodate multiple chassis to increase phase-coherent channel counts and aggregate data rates. All recorder chassis are connected via Ethernet and can be controlled from a single GUI either locally or from a remote PC.
Up to 32 hot-swappable SSDs provide flexible storage capacities up to 122 TB. The 2.5-in. SSDs can be easily removed or exchanged during a mission to retrieve recorded data. Multiple RAID levels, including 0, 5, and 6, provide a choice for the required level of redundancy.
All Talon recorders are built on a Microsoft Windows platform and include Pentek’s SystemFlow software, featuring a GUI (graphical user interface), Signal Viewer and API (Application Programming Interface). The GUI provides intuitive controls for out-of-the-box turn-key operation using point-and-click configuration management.
Pentek offers a free trial package of its Talon Recording System Simulator for evaluation of the SystemFlow software package. The RTR 2628 RF signal recorder is available for delivery in 16 weeks ARO.