Pentek Introduces Rugged Portable RF/IF High-Bandwidth Signal Recorder

• Samples signals up to 500 MHz with built-in digital down-conversion
• Up to two channels of recording with SSD storage to NTFS RAID
• SystemFlow GUI control panel for fast, intuitive operation
• Remote system control and custom integration using SystemFlow API

Pentek, Inc., recently announced the new Talon RF/IF signal recording and playback system: the Model RTR 2727 rugged portable recorder suitable for military and aerospace applications. The system features recording and playback of IF signals up to 700 MHz with signal bandwidths to 200 MHz. It can be configured with 500 MHz 12-bit A/Ds or 400 MHz 14-bit A/Ds and an 800 MHz 16-bit D/A. Pentek’s SystemFlow software allows turnkey operation through a graphical user interface (GUI), while the SystemFlow application programming interface (API) allows easy integration of the recording software into custom applications.

At the heart of the recorder are the Pentek Cobalt Series Virtex-6 software radio boards featuring A/D and D/A converters, DDCs (digital downconverters), DUCs (digital upconverters), and FPGA IP. This architecture allows the system engineer to take full advantage of the latest technology in a turnkey solution. Optional GPS time and position stamping captures this critical signal information within the recording.

The RTR 2727 has a portable, lightweight chassis with up to eight hot-swap solid state drives (SSDs), front panel USB ports and I/O connections on the side panel. Its extremely rugged, 100% aluminum alloy case is reinforced with shock absorbing rubber corners and an impact-resistant protective screen. Shock- and vibration-resistant solid-state drives (SSD) with combined capacity to 3.8 TB make the RTR 2727 a reliable, portable field instrument.

Available I/O includes audio and VGA video, RS-232/422/485 serial, multiple USB 2.0 and USB 3.0, eSATA, and dual GbE connections.

“The rugged nature of this portable recorder makes it ideal for the military field environment where shock and vibration comes into play,” noted Rodger Hosking, vice president of Pentek. “The RTR 2727 is light enough to take anywhere to acquire wideband RF or IF signals and then carry back to a field lab after the mission for immediate analysis or archival of the data. The recorded files are stored in the native Windows NTFS (new technology file system) format, allowing them to be immediately used without the need for post-recording file conversion.”

Ruggedized Construction
By using hot swappable SSDs, the recorders exhibit high immunity to shock and vibration for ground vehicles, ships and aircraft. The drive array capacity can be as large as 3.8 TB and supports RAID levels 0, 1, 5, or 6.

Ease of Operation
The built-in Windows 7 Professional workstation with an Intel Core i7 processor gives the user total flexibility in routing data to various drives, networks and I/O channels. Also, the user can install post-processing and analysis tools on the system itself to operate on the recorded data. The RTR 2727 is fully supported with Pentek’s SystemFlow software for system control and turnkey operation. The software provides a GUI with point-and-click configuration management and can store custom configurations for single-click setup. The software also includes a virtual oscilloscope and spectrum analyzer to monitor signals before, during and after data collection.

Pricing and Availability
The RTS 2727 starts at $39,995 USD. Delivery is 10-12 weeks ARO.

About Pentek
Pentek, an ISO 9001:2008 certified company, designs, manufactures and markets innovative COTS and rugged DSP boards and system recorders for commercial, government and military systems, including radar, communications, medical and industrial control applications. Pentek offers powerful VME, VPX, VXS, PMC, XMC, cPCI, PCI, PCIe and AMC boards for data acquisition, software radio and digital signal processing featuring Xilinx FPGAs. Pentek’s high-speed real-time recording systems are pre-configured and can be used in the lab or deployed in the field. Pentek equips all boards and recorder products with high-performance I/O including gigabit serial interfaces, powerful software development tools and offers strong DSP software support.