Monitoring

Interference hunting made easy

– with the R&S®HE400 handheld
directional antenna

Fig. 1: Five plug-in modules are currently available for the

R&S®HE400. Shown here is the R&S®HE 400 VHF module
with the R&S®PR100 portable receiver.
The R&S®HE400 handheld directional antenna replaces its highly acclaimed predecessor, the R&S®HE300, whose various
models served the market well for almost 10 years. Used together with the R&S®PR100 portable receiver or the R&S®FSH
and R&S®FPH handheld spectrum analyzers, the antenna can precisely locate transmitters and interference sources.
Many different user groups appreciate portable radiomonitor- GPS/GLONASS receiver. Positions and bearings obtained in
ing equipment that can also be used to (manually) take bear- this manner are transmitted to the connected receiver, which
ings. Users range from mobile network operators and regu- also automatically recognizes the type of antenna module that
latory authorities to facility security companies, armed forces is plugged and the status of the LNA. Field strength values
and intelligence services. Depending on the actual application, are therefore always displayed correctly – without requiring
either the receiver or one of the spectrum analyzers is used – any user settings (Fig. 3).
the new R&S®HE400 antenna is compatible with all of them.
To start a measurement or action that was predefined in the
Lightweight, compact and intuitive to use receiver, the user simply presses the trigger button on the
The R&S®HE400 comes with a handle, a receiver-specific handle. The position of the transmitter can be calculated
cable set and one of five currently available plug-in modules using triangulation and displayed on a map.
that together cover the frequency range from 8.3 kHz to 8 GHz
(Fig. 1). The handle and antenna modules are made of PC/ABS
plastic or aluminum for low weight (approx. 1 kg) combined Modules and cables
with high impact resistance. The antenna is supplied from Fig. 4 shows the available antenna modules. In addition to the
the receiver or spectrum analyzer, which further reduces the familiar loop modules for HF and VHF that were also available
weight since batteries are not required in the antenna. for the R&S®HE300 and a broadband log-periodic module for
UHF and SHF, there are two new modules.
The ergonomic handle rests comfortably in your hand and the
two controls (trigger button and toggle button) are easy to The R&S®HE400UWB ultrawideband module covers the
reach with thumb and index finger. For prolonged work peri- extremely wide frequency range from 30 MHz to 6 GHz. In
ods, the armrest included with the antenna should be used; it many applications, this module greatly simplifies antenna
simply attaches to the handle (Fig. 2). The toggle button acti- handling since it eliminates the need to exchange modules.
vates the low-noise amplifier (LNA) integrated into the handle. The R&S®HE400UWB combines two separate antennas in a
The handle also includes an electronic compass and a dual single radome. The antennas are interconnected via a diplexer.

Fig. 2: The attachable armrest allows fatigue-free operation over long Fig. 3: R&S®PR100 display showing the field strength, compass and
­periods of time. GPS data.
Monitoring

Plug-in modules for the R&S®HE 400

¸HE 400 CEL

¸HE 400 LP

¸HE 400 UWB

¸HE400 VHF

¸HE 400HF

0.01 0.1 1 10 100 1000 10 000

Frequency in MHz

Fig. 4: Available antenna modules by frequency range.

The R&S®HE400CEL cellular module is designed specifically currently supported receiver devices. These cable sets can be
for the cellular bands from 700 MHz to 2.5 GHz. This module quickly assembled by the user and are also easy to exchange
uses a special, more precise direction finding method than, for during servicing.
example, log-periodic or loop antennas. At the press of a but-
ton on the handle, the broadband dipoles that are next to each
other can be switched between normal mode and delta mode.
In normal mode, the dipoles work in-phase, producing a rela-
tively broad radiation pattern to the front. In delta mode, the Radiation patterns of the R&S®HE400CEL module
two dipoles are excited out-of-phase, producing a radiation
pattern with a steep notch in the line-of-sight direction.(Fig. 5).

In practice, normal mode is used to determine the general

direction. The user then switches to delta mode and moves
the antenna only in the angular range of the previously deter-
mined maximum. Thanks to the very narrow notch in the radi-
ation pattern, minimum-signal direction finding can be used
to precisely determine the direction.

Antenna Antenna
Configuration and accessories
Normal mode Delta mode
The R&S®HE400 can be configured to meet customer-spe-
cific requirements. The antenna modules listed in Fig. 4 are
simple to plug in and secure with a locking nut. Receiver-spe- Fig. 5: Delta mode precisely determines the direction of a transmitter
cific cable sets are available to connect to one of the three based on a minimum signal.

52
 R&S®HE400 – key features

Wide frequency range

❙ 8.3 kHz to 8 GHz via five exchangeable
antenna modules
❙ Ultrawideband module from 30 MHz to 6 GHz

Very comfortable to use

❙ Ergonomic shape combined with low weight
❙ Attachable armrest
❙ Easy-to-access controls

Extensive integrated functionality

Fig. 6: Everything ❙ Sensitive preamplifier (LNA)
within reach. The ❙ GPS/GLONASS receiver
transport case has ❙ Electronic compass
room for all of the ❙ Polarization and module recognition
antenna modules and
the receiver. Extremely precise direction finding
❙ Distinctive, forward-directed radiation patterns
❙ Exact minimum-signal direction finding with the
R&S®HE400CEL module’s special delta mode
Available accessories include a rugged transport case with
room for the antenna handle, all antenna modules and the Accessories
R&S®PR100 monitoring receiver (Fig. 6). Two compact trans- ❙ Transport case and various transport bags
port bags for transporting two or four modules are also ❙ Lightweight tripod with spherical head
available. The handle has a threaded socket that is used ❙ Receiver-specific cable sets
to mount the antenna on a tripod such as the lightweight
R&S®HE 400Z4 with spherical head.
Maik Reckeweg

Application examples
Left: R&S®HE400CEL for measurements in the
cellular bands. The removable armrest prevents
fatigue while working with the antenna.
Top right: R&S®HE400UWB ultrawideband mod-
ule during bug hunting.
Bottom right: R&S®HE400HF during interfer-
ence hunting in the cellular range.