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Pentek, Inc. has announced its model RTS 2721 portable signal recording and playback instrument. It weighs only 23 pounds and measures 16.8 inches wide, 5.7 inches deep and 11.5 inches high. With recording and playback rates up to 500 MB/s, the unit is well suited for a broad range of communications and radar applications that require acquisition, downconversion, analysis, upconversion and reproduction of baseband and IF signals.

The RTS 2721 incorporates Pentek's high-performance model 7641 software radio transceiver. Two 14-bit A/D converters digitize two analog input signals at sample rates up to 125 MHz, thus handling either IF input signals with center frequencies as high as 300 MHz or baseband signals up to 60 MHz.

Multiple digital downconverters (DDCs) translate tunable frequency slices of the input spectrum down to baseband and then filter the output. With programmable DDC decimation factors from two to 32,768, DDC output signal bandwidths can range from 8 kHz to as high as 60 MHz.

Both A/D samples and DDC output samples can be recorded continuously in real time to internal hard disk RAID arrays at aggregate sustained rates up to 500 MB/s. Flexible modes support synchronous multichannel recording for beam-forming applications and independent recording of multiple channels, each at different data rates.

Fully supported by Pentek's model 4990 SystemFlow instrument software, the RTS 2721 features a Windows-based graphical user interface (GUI) that provides a simple means to configure and control the instrument.

The SystemFlow signal viewer includes a virtual oscilloscope and a virtual spectrum analyzer for detailed signal analysis in both the time and frequency domains.

Packed into the RTS 2721 enclosure are 13 2.5-inch hard drives, one of which handles the operating system. The other 12 drives are configured as dual RAID arrays, dedicated exclusively for real-time recording and playback functions.

The price of the model RTS 2721 portable signal recording and playback instrument, including the model 4990 SystemFlow instrument software, carrying bag, keyboard and mouse, is typically $59,995 depending on options. Delivery is 10 to 12 weeks ARO.