DATE:        March 02, 2014

TO:    Dave Michelson, Ph.D, P.Eng.

FROM:        Remy Savard, EECE 380 Team L2B2

SUBJECT:     Spectrum Analyzer Project Update – Week of Feb 24.

This week we resolved a major issue that was causing difficulties interfacing with the signal generator. We then assembled and tested the entire system and it functions well for signals with power greater than -23dB. We tested multiple Butterworth filter/amplifiers but had difficulty achieving gain in the region of 10MHz and are now going to try a simpler non-inverting amplifier configuration to help us reach our target input signal power of -60dB.

The issue holding us back was the presence of a series capacitor in the output of the signal generator. As a result, with no path to ground at the input of the peak detector, the circuit would not function properly. We resolved this by placing a 100 Ohm resistor shunted to ground at the input of the peak detector. The circuit now functions as desired.

Attendance this week was better overall and we narrowly missed our goal of not needing any last-minute lab time before presenting. As of now, we will still need to meet one more time in order to test the amplifier and ensure that our demonstration routine functions as expected.

This is the final memo for this project. The prototype will be documented and ready for demonstration on Wednesday morning at 8:00am.