SDR: ham waterfall display

[last updated: 2019-05-15]
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My first foray into SDR's is motivated by building a frequency spectrum analyzer, also called a waterfall display, or a panadapter. With appropriate software, this will display a graph showing all RF signals and their magnitude that are being received in a selected band. So as a ham, if you want to work, say, 6M band, and you want to see if anyone else is within your range, the waterfall will show you how strong their signals are and what frequency they're using. This saves a LOT of time vs. the other option of just listening as you roll the frequency knob on your radio.

Waterfall displays are usually connected to the IF signal in your transceiver, so that the center frequency of the waterfall is the same frequency you are using on your transceiver. If you tune your transceiver to a different frequency, the waterfall will 'track.'
However SDR waterfalls/panadapters can also be set up as standalone, with their own control (hardware or software) for selecting their center frequency.
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