A blind source separation (BSS) system comprises means for gathering wideband signal power spectral information without using special Fourier transform hardware/software systems and without using extremely large signal memories. The method involves taking the combined energy output of a large set of BSS filters that are operating under a blind source separation algorithm that looks for signals of interest, along with instantaneous filter characteristics such as center frequency, bandwidth and spectral response, and records a weighted spread energy into a frequency- and time-based histogram. This information can then be used to compare against the BSS signal output and signal energy which does not correspond to existing signal output is added to additional BSS signal output. This system can operate in real time, but uses long-term averaging to enhance signal detection.