A microwave radio path data acquisition system

A microwave radio path data acquisition system (PDAS) is described, and the various formats for the types of data collected are illustrated. This PDAS is a computer-based system, composed of standard off-the-shelf subsystems. It is designed to be installed at the microwave radio site. Although it has been used for a number of propagation experiments, the primary application is with operating in-service paths. The computer base for the system can be any IBM-type PC or clone. The analog-to-digital conversion hardware provides the capability for monitoring up to 128 analog voltage outputs such as AGC (automatic gain control) in the plus/minus 10-V range. This allows all operating channels to be monitored simultaneously. Online data are displayed in several different formats at the collection site. Each input channel is assigned normal operating limits. When these limits are exceeded (as in a fading condition), the data are recorded on a removable high-density disk cartridge. A variety of offline application programs are used to analyze the data in detail