How Much Hard Disk Space Is Required for Recording?

How Much Hard Disk Space Is Required for Recording?

The required disk space depends mainly on bandwidth, sample format, and number of channels.
A quick rule of thumb:

IQ recording size ≈ 2 × sample rate × bits per sample

Below are typical values for 1 channel (IQ):

Typical disk usage per hour:

Bandwidth 8‑bit IQ 16‑bit IQ 24‑bit IQ
250 kHz ~1.8 GB/h ~3.6 GB/h ~5.4 GB/h
1 MHz ~7.2 GB/h ~14.4 GB/h ~21.6 GB/h
5 MHz ~36 GB/h ~72 GB/h ~108 GB/h
10 MHz ~72 GB/h ~144 GB/h ~216 GB/h
25 MHz ~180 GB/h ~360 GB/h ~540 GB/h

gosignals with Option Wideband Recording

  • Add about 10% extra if FFT data is stored.
    This speeds up load times when the data needs to be displayed later

Last update on 2026-03-26 by Rolf Haenggi.