A spectrum analysis engine (SAGE) that comprises a spectrum analyzer component, a signal detector component, a universal signal synchronizer component and a snapshot buffer component. The spectrum analyzer component generates data representing a real-time spectrogram of a bandwidth of radio frequency (RF) spectrum. The signal detector detects signal pulses in the frequency band and outputs pulse event information entries output, which include the start time, duration, power, center frequency and bandwidth of each detected pulse. The signal detector also provides pulse trigger outputs which may be used to enable/disable the collection of information by the spectrum analyzer and the snapshot buffer components. An alternative pulse detection module is provided that tracks signal pulses by comparing peak data from successive FFT cycles with existing signal pulse data that is derived from comparing peak data for prior FFT cycles. Peaks for new FFT cycles are matched to data associated with signal pulses determined to be occurring over many FFT intervals.