ThinkRF R5750 User manual
ThinkRF R5750
Real-Time Spectrum Analyzer
with GNSS
User Guide
Version 1.0
March 2019
Document no. 75-0040-190401
Copyright © 2019 ThinkRF Corporation, All rights reserved.
All product names are trademarks of their respective companies.
Important notice
The information in this
guide is furnished for
informational use only
and is subject to change
without notice. ThinkRF
Corporation assumes no
responsibility or liability
for any errors or
inaccuracies that may
appear in this document.
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prior written permission
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logo and E300 Enabler
are trademarks of
ThinkRF Corporation.
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trademarks of their
respective companies or
owners:
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Microsoft Corporation
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ThinkRF Corp
390 March Road
Kanata, ON K2K 0G7
(613) 369-5104
HARDWARE WARRANTY AND LIMITATION OF LIABILITY
Read this warranty carefully before you use the product.
R5750 Real-Time Spectrum Analyzers with GNSS are warranted for workmanship
and materials for a period of one (1) year from the date of shipment as identified by
the Customer’s packing slip or carrier waybill. ThinkRF reserves the right to void the
warranty on any equipment that has been altered or damaged due to Customer
negligence, unauthorized repair, misuse of equipment, evidence of physical or
environmental damage, transportation abuse or removal of any ThinkRF
identification labels or serial numbers.
It will remain the responsibility of the Customer, having obtained a Return Material
Authorization (RMA) and shipping instructions from ThinkRF, to return, at the
Customer's expense, the defective unit to ThinkRF’s repair facilities. ThinkRF will
incur shipping charges for the return of warranty repaired equipment. The RMA
number can be secured by calling ThinkRF Customer Service and Support (1-613-
369-5104). If the product does not fall within ThinkRF’s warranty period or the
product is found to be functioning as designed, then under the terms of ThinkRF’s
warranty policy, all costs of repairs and shipping will be charged directly to the
Customer. ThinkRF will warrant repaired units for a period of 90 days from date of
shipment from ThinkRF to the Customer. If the remaining period on the original
hardware warranty is greater than 30 days, then ThinkRF will honor this remaining
warranty period.
THINKRF EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ALL OTHER WARRANTIES AND
CONDITIONS, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WITHOUT
LIMITATION, WARRANTIES, CONDITIONS OR REPRESENTATIONS OF
WORKMANSHIP, MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE,
DURABILITY, OR THAT THE OPERATION OF THE HARDWARE OR LICENSED
SOFTWARE WILL BE ERROR FREE. IN NO EVENT WILL THINKRF BE LIABLE
FOR INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES.
USE OF PRODUCTS IN HIGH RISK ACTIVITIES
THINKRF PRODUCTS ARE INTENDED FOR STANDARD INDOOR COMMERCIAL
USE. WITHOUT THE APPROPRIATE NETWORK DESIGN ENGINEERING, THEY
MUST NOT BE USED FOR ANY “HIGH RISK ACTIVITY”, as described in this
paragraph. Customer acknowledges and agrees that the products supplied
hereunder are not fault-tolerant and are not designed, manufactured or intended for
use or resale as on-line control equipment in hazardous environments requiring fail
safe performance including but not limited to the operation of nuclear facilities,
aircraft navigation or communication systems, air traffic control, direct life support
machines, or weapons systems, in which the failure of products could lead directly to
death, personal injury, or severe physical or environmental damage, all of which are
examples of “High Risk Activity”. THINKRF AND ITS SUPPLIERS EXPRESSLY
DISCLAIM ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTY OF FITNESS FOR HIGH
RISK ACTIVITIES.
GNU General Public License
This device contains free firmware: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the
terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software
Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later version. This
program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY
WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS
FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more
details. GNU General Public License is available at http://www.gnu.org/licenses/.
Table of Contents
Preface ...........................................................................................................................5
Audience ........................................................................................................................ 5
Conventions ................................................................................................................... 5
Obtaining the Latest Documentation and Software......................................................... 5
Document Feedback ...................................................................................................... 6
Obtaining Technical Assistance ...................................................................................... 6
Overview of the ThinkRF R5750...................................................................................7
Getting Familiar with the ThinkRF R5750 ....................................................................... 8
Installing the ThinkRF R5750 ..................................................................................... 11
Preventing Electrostatic Discharge Damage..................................................................11
Unpacking the Box ........................................................................................................12
Connecting the Antennae, Ethernet and Power Cables .................................................12
Choosing the Mount Location for the R5750..................................................................13
Connecting to the ThinkRF R5750.............................................................................14
Determining Your Network Topology and IP Address Allocation .....................................14
Connecting Directly to the R5750 ..................................................................................15
Connecting to the R5750 across a Network...................................................................17
Using the ThinkRF R5750 Administration Console..................................................19
Viewing Device Status...................................................................................................19
Configuring R5750 Time Synchronization ......................................................................20
Configuring the R5750 IP Address.................................................................................21
Updating the R5750 Firmware.......................................................................................22
Customizing R5750 Calibration Settings........................................................................23
Restarting the R5750.....................................................................................................26
Using the ThinkRF R5750 USB Console ...................................................................27
Installing USB drivers ....................................................................................................27
Connecting to the USB Console ....................................................................................27
Configuring the R5750 IP Address.................................................................................29
Using the GNSS Module .............................................................................................30
Configuring the ThinkRF R5750 GNSS Module.............................................................30
Selecting the GNSS 10MHz Reference Source .............................................................30
Getting Real-Time Geolocation Data .............................................................................31
Resetting the ThinkRF R5750 to Factory Settings ...................................................33
Status Indicator LEDs .................................................................................................34
Power (PWR) Indicator LED ..........................................................................................34
Status (STS) Indicator LED ...........................................................................................34
Reference (REF) Clock Source LED .............................................................................35
LOCK Indicator LED ......................................................................................................35
LINK Status LED ...........................................................................................................36
ACT Indicator LED.........................................................................................................36
Hardware Reference....................................................................................................37
System Specifications ...................................................................................................37
SMA Connectors ...........................................................................................................37
Ethernet RJ-45 Port Pinout............................................................................................38
GPIO Port Pinout...........................................................................................................39
USB Console Port Pinout ..............................................................................................40
RJ-45 Straight-Through Ethernet Cable.........................................................................40
RJ-45 Crossover Ethernet Cable ...................................................................................40
Operational Considerations and Maintenance ...............................................................41
ThinkRF R5750 Real-Time Signal Analyzer User Guide 5
Preface
This section describes the audience for, the organization of, and conventions used in this
document. It also identifies related documentation and explains how to access electronic
documentation.
Audience
This document is written for technical people who have basic understanding, familiarity
and experience with network test and measurement equipment.
Conventions
The following conventions and notations are used in this document:
Note: This symbol means take note. Notes contain helpful suggestions or references to
additional information and material.
Caution: This symbol means be careful. In this situation, you might do something that
could result in equipment damage or loss of data.
Warning: This symbol means danger. You are in a situation that could cause bodily
injury. Before you work on any equipment, be aware of the hazards involved with
electrical circuitry and be familiar with the standard practices for preventing accidents.
Obtaining the Latest Documentation and Software
Please visit the ThinkRF website at https://www.thinkrf.com/documentation/ to obtain the
latest R57500 documentation. Latest software and firmware releases are also available
on the ThinkRF website at https://www.thinkrf.com/download-updates/.
Preface
6 ThinkRF R5750 Real Time Signal Analyzer User Guide
Document Feedback
Please send your comments about this document or any ThinkRF documentation to
[email protected]. We appreciate your feedback.
Obtaining Technical Assistance
The ThinkRF Support website provides online documents for resolving technical issues
with ThinkRF products. Visit https://www.thinkrf.com/documentation/ for more information.
For all customers who hold a valid end-user license, ThinkRF provides technical
assistance 9 AM to 5 PM Eastern Time, Monday to Friday. Contact us at
Before contacting support, please have the following information available:
•R5750 serial number (located on the identification label on the R5750 device’s
underside)
•The product version
•The firmware version running on the R5750
•Versions of ThinkRF software you are using, potentially including the API libraries
to third-party applications
•Operating system and version on your PC
ThinkRF R5750 Real-Time Signal Analyzer User Guide 7
Overview of the ThinkRF R5750
The R5750 Real-Time Spectrum Analyzer (RTSA) with Global Navigation Satellite
System (GNSS) is a high-performance software-defined RF receiver, digitizer and
analyzer with integrated GNSS technology to offer location and time information in one
package.
It is designed for stand-alone, remote, distributed, and/or embedded real-time spectrum
analysis, monitoring and intelligence applications.
ThinkRF has patented software-defined RF receiver technology that provides industry
leading combined sensitivity, tuning range, instantaneous bandwidth and scan rate.
Additionally, the R5750 provides real-time sophisticated triggering, search and loss-less
capture of signals of interest using an integrated patented digital signal processing
engine.
The R5750 is ideal for monitoring, management and surveillance of transmitters, whether
they are in-building or spread across a geographic area. Applications include but are not
limited to spectrum analysis, 5G wireless technology, research, test and measurement,
spectrum monitoring and OEM integration. When the GNSS module is enabled, GNSS
position and time information is sent to users through VRT context packets roughly every
second.
Overview of the ThinkRF R5750
8 ThinkRF R5750 Real Time Signal Analyzer User Guide
In addition to the two internal and external 10 MHz reference clock sources, the GNSS
module also provides a third 10MHz reference clock source option for synchronized time-
stamps on VRT packets.
The R5750 Real-Time Spectrum Analyzer provides Gigabit Ethernet for stand-alone,
remote and distributed applications. ThinkRF supports a rich set of industry-leading
standard protocols and APIs, enabling the R5750 to easily integrate into your new or
existing applications.
Standard protocols include the Standard Commands for Programmable Instruments
(SCPI) protocol for controlling and obtaining status from the R5750 and the VITA 49
Radio Transport (VRT) protocol for digitized data and its associated context information.
APIs are provided for interfacing and performing data acquisition and spectral analysis
with Python™, C/C++, MATLAB® and LabVIEW®.
Applications can also be built within the PyRF development framework. PyRF is built on
the Python programming language and is open-source under BSD licensing. PyRF
handles the low-level details of real-time acquisition, signal processing and visualization,
and provides feature rich libraries, example applications and source code, all specific to
the requirements of signal analysis.
Getting Familiar with the ThinkRF R5750
This section provides information about the front and rear panels, connection ports and
identification label of the R5750 Real-Time Spectrum Analyzer.
Note: The type and placement of connectors and components on the panels and the
case may vary depending upon the product variant and version.
Overview of the ThinkRF R5750
ThinkRF R5750 Real-Time Signal Analyzer User Guide 9
Front Panel
The front panel of the R5750 contains the power switch, status indicator LEDs, and the
input connector for the RF antenna port.
Rear Panel
The rear panel of the R5750 contains the power input, 10 MHz reference clock I/O,
hardware reset button, input connector for the GNSS antenna, USB console (CNSL) port,
Ethernet port, and GPIO port.
Underside
The underside of the ThinkRF R5750 includes a label that identifies the device. The
information on the label may vary depending on your product variant and version. The
product “Version” number is important for identifying which firmware can be used to
update your product.
Overview of the ThinkRF R5750
10 ThinkRF R5750 Real Time Signal Analyzer User Guide
Table of contents
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