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TELE-audiovision International— TheWorld‘s Largest Digital TV TradeMagazine
—05-06/2014
TESTREPORT
Professional DVB-CSignal Analyzer - Update
NowEvenBetter: Signal
Analyzer for thePerfect
Installationand Interfe-
renceMeasurement of
CableTVNetworks
VitorMartinsAugusto
Recentlywe introduced the
exceptional cable TV signal
analyzer for DVB-C in the
03-04/2014 issue of TELE-
audiovision. R&S developed
the EFL product line for tech-
nicians who install and test
cable TV installations. The
model EFL210 is especially
interesting because it is spe-
cifically designed tomeasure
interference signals.
The R&S EFL210 is now
even better thanks to a firm-
ware update from Rohde &
Schwarz. The first beta ver-
sionof this newfirmwarewas
made available to us for this
test report. So what‘s new in
this update? What was im-
proved? And above all, how
do you load the new firm-
ware?Well, you‘re in luck!We
have all the answers. Read
on!
A firmware update is al-
ways a good thing. It shows
that the manufacturer con-
tinues to support the product
by eliminating any bugs and,
most importantly, adding
new functions.
But there‘s still a hurdle
that has to be jumped: the
new firmware needs to be
loaded onto the device and
this is a critical step. Before
the new firmware can be
written to the Flashmemory,
the existing firmware must
first be completely deleted.
If any problems occur during
the update, the worst-case
scenario could be that you
have a dead device in your
hands. I addressed this sub-
ject in my Workshop articles
and managed to take sev-
eral devices and bring them
back to life (see, for example,
TELE-audiovision issues 07-
08/2013 and 05-06/2012).
But, of course, it would be
best if the firmware upgrade
took place without any prob-
lems in the first place, espe-
cially if it involves a valuable
instrument like those from
Rohde &Schwarz.
When it comes to firmware
updates, many manufactur-
ers expect the user to copy
the firmware files to a USB
storage device using cryptic
filenames so that they don‘t
accidentally use the wrong
file. Believeme, it‘s not at all
that unusual; it hashappened
tomewhere I‘ve accidentally
loaded thewrongfirmware to
a signal analyzer or receiver.
There aremany different but
similar device models and
firmware versions out there
such that mistakes like this
can happen.
For this reason Rohde &
Schwarz relies on their own
software program to handle
firmware updates. This pro-
gram takes care of the en-
tire process automatically. It
confirms themodel of thede-
vice so that it‘s impossible to
accidentally load the wrong
firmware.
The uploader is a normal
software program for Win-
dows. It needs to be installed
by theuserwhichat thesame
time also installs the neces-
sary drivers so that the R&S
EFL210 can be recognized
by the computer. This is an-
other little tidbit that Rohde
& Schwarz thought about; it
lets you use any computer
or laptop for the firmware
upgrade and not just the PC
that already has the R&S EFL
Suite installed on it.
Finally, you just need to
connect the signal analyzer
to the PC with the included
InTELE-audiovision 03-04/2014stelltenwir dasR&SEFL210vor.
Den vollständigenTestbericht könnenSie auchdirekt lesenüber
diesenLink:
TELE-audiovision.com/14/03/rohde-schwarz
