A Brief Tour of Chanalyzer for Mac

As a follow-up to my recent post on Spectools, I decided to post some quick thoughts on Metageek's Chanalyzer for Mac. As a user of Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X, I am very pleased the I can use my Wi-Spy devices on all platforms.

I think the video (above) speaks for itself. Chanalyzer for Mac looks like a great tool for spectrum analysis and has found a place permanently installed on my OS X machines. To recap, the 3 features I like the most are: 

1. Intuitive Interface - If you are familiar with any of the Windows Chanalyzer applications, then you will be able to hit the ground running with Chanalyzer for Mac.
2. Markers - Using the marker feature, it is easy to visually track and locate interference sources.
3. 3D Spectrogram - Epic geekery! Watch the video, you'll see. 

Feature Request and My One Complaint

There is one thing I would really like to see in Chanalyzer for Mac. In addition, there was one issue I had with the application that I hope is remedied in future versions. 

• Coming from the Chanalyzer Pro world, I wish there was a Chanalyzer Pro for Mac. This would add the ability to generate reports. This is a really nice feature when using Chanalyzer in a professional capacity.
• I found the interface a bit laggy and slow to respond. In chatting with other people who have tried the application, I have found that I'm not the only person experiencing this. Hopefully it is a small issue that gets resolved in future versions.

Closing Thoughts

I think Chanalyzer for Mac would make an excellent addition to any Mac OS X user's toolkit. Sure, it's missing some of the Chanalyzer Pro functionality, but don't forget that the Mac version comes with a $0 price tag. My great hope is that a Pro version will eventually be available; that's something I'd definitely pay for.

Daniel

Have you tried Chanalyzer for Mac? What are your thoughts on the features and functionality? Leave your thoughts in the comments section, below, and be sure to share this post with anyone you think might benefit from reading it. 

Spectrum Analysis, Spectools, and Wi-Spy DBx

This January I was lucky enough to participate in a presentation/discussion with some of the Metageek team at Wireless Field Day 2 in Silicon Valley. The delegates were shown Chanalyzer Pro, Eye P.A., and several other goodies the Metageek had in the works. 

After playing around with Chanalyzer Pro, I found myself wishing there was a way I could do spectrum analysis on a linux platform. As luck would have it, Mike Kershaw (dragorn) has written a set of utilities to interface with Metageek's Wi-Spy devices from linux. Here is a brief video I made shortly after installing Spectools.

As you can see in the video, Spectools is pretty basic compared to what you'd be used to if you have experience with Chanalyzer or Chanalyzer Pro. However, I was still impressed with several features of  Spectools:

• It's free! That's a pretty good price.
• I can run it from linux (Backtrack 5 R2 in my case).
• It supports Wi-Spy 900x, Wi-Spy 2.4 GHz, Wi-Spy DBx, and Ubertooth devices.
• The spectool_net utility allows you to setup a spectrum analysis node that can be connected to remotely.

Will I be switching to Spectools as my primary spectrum analysis software? No, of course not, but I think it's pretty handy to have spectrum analysis capabilities native to linux so you don't have to boot to Windows just to have a quick peek at the RF environment. Chanalyzer and Chanalyzer Pro are vastly more feature rich, but I still think Spectools will make a nice addition to my toolkit.

If you want a closer look at the Spectool_GTK interface, I've taken some screenshots:

I'd be interested to hear what your experience with Spectools has been like. I haven't really played around with the remote node capabilities so any comments you might have would be greatly appreciated.

Daniel

Disclosure: As a delegate of Wireless Field Day 2, I received a free Wi-Spy DBx, and Wi-Spy 900x. In addition, I recieved licenses for Chanalyzer Pro, Chanalyzer Lab, and Eye P.A. These were provided for testing purposes and no expectation for positive review of these products was requested and/or promised.