Pluto SDR Rx output power and frequency issue

First question, how do you know you generated a 13 dBm signal? If you are using the TX scope in Simulink to measure it, then I highly doubt that occurred. For that scope to have correct units, you would need to provide it accurate voltages to what the radio generates or receives.

I would make the following changes:

- In your signal source, set the sample rate to the same as the radio (1e6). Then set the frequency much further from DC. Start with 100kHz

- Set the TX gain to -10

- Set the RX gain source to Slow attack

-Travis

Hi Travis, thank you for the quick response!

Were you referring to the Tx scope as an oscilloscope? I used a spectrum analyzer (from the DSP System Toolbox) to observe the signal’s power (specifically, the power of the displayed signal). Could you explain in more detail how to provide accurate voltages to the scope?

On the DAC side you would need a physical instrument to get the transmitted power. Then you could correlated an input DAC code to what current/voltage it generates.

-Travis

Thank you! Just one last question: could the reason I'm not getting accurate power readings from the Simulink Spectrum Analyzer be because the Pluto is not calibrated?

The RX side Pluto generates ADC codes. If you want the actual power in dBm you would need to map them to volts. I would suggest reading the doc on the Simulink scope to understand how it calculates what the amplitude values.

TX side is pure simulation in your model.

-Travis