# RF spectrum analyser

> Resolves a reading into its constituent services and frequencies — the only way to attribute an RF level to a specific band, operator or device.

- Canonical URL: https://emfbase.com/meters/spectrum-analyser
- Collection: Instruments
- Record id: `meters:spectrum-analyser`
- Status: verified
- Last verified: 2026-08-12
- JSON: https://emfbase.com/api/meters/spectrum-analyser
- Also known as: spectrum analyzer, SDR analyser

## Key values

- **Band covered:** instrument dependent
- **Quantities measured:** power density, electric field strength, frequency
- **Typical price:** $500–$20000

## Detects

- Which band and service a reading comes from
- Pulse structure and duty cycle of a source
- Whether an elevated reading is one dominant emitter or many small ones

## Cannot detect

- Absolute exposure, unless used with a calibrated antenna and the correct antenna factor
- Low-frequency magnetic and electric fields

## What to insist on

- A calibrated antenna with a published antenna factor, which matters more than the analyser itself
- Max-hold and trace averaging
- Sufficient upper frequency for the bands in use locally, including C-band 5G

## Related records

- [RF room survey](https://emfbase.com/protocols/rf-room-survey): How to measure radiofrequency exposure in a room so the result is reproducible: peak and average, at body positions, with the dominant direction identified.
- [Macro cell tower (LTE / 5G sector antenna)](https://emfbase.com/emitters/cell-tower): Sector antennas radiate on the order of 1000 W EIRP per sector on the main beam, which is aimed above and away from the tower base — ground-level exposure directly beneath a tower is usually lower than at a few hundred metres away.

## Sources

- `fcc-oet65` Federal Communications Commission, Office of Engineering and Technology (1997). *OET Bulletin 65: Evaluating Compliance with FCC Guidelines for Human Exposure to Radiofrequency Electromagnetic Fields*. https://www.fcc.gov/general/oet-bulletins-line — government, link checked 2026-08-12

Data licence: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Dataset version 2026.08.1. Retrieved from EMFBase, https://emfbase.com.

This record is reference data, not medical or legal advice. Regulatory limits, scientific guidelines and precautionary values are labelled separately and answer different questions.