02 / Engineering case study
Passive RF Drone Detection Receiver
Passive RF observation and spectral analysis of signals associated with drone communication.
- Engineering domain
- RF reception & signal analysis
- Project status
- Completed
Developed by Mohammed Vashir - Difficulty
- Research Level
Representative imagery — not this 4TECH build.The problem.
Wireless activity changes with time, channel and location. Observing that activity requires a receiver workflow that distinguishes measured spectral features from assumptions about the transmitter.
The engineering approach.
The receiver uses SDR-based acquisition and a signal-analysis interface to inspect activity in the bands supported by the selected RF hardware. Antenna choice and receiver configuration are matched to the measurement question.
The project brings together receiver setup, spectrum visualization and observation of signal activity. Analysis focuses on features in the received data, with awareness that other devices can occupy the same bands and that frequency coverage is a property of the actual receiver chain.
The toolkit.
- SDR
- Receive antennas
- Spectrum analysis
- Python
- RF filtering
Engineering contribution.
Provides a receive-only platform for RF observation and investigation of wireless communication behaviour.
Technical scope & validation
An RF observation is not definitive identification of an aircraft or operator. Detection range, classification accuracy and simultaneous band coverage are not specified.
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