The conceptual feasibility of an active spectroscopic diagnostic on reversed field experiment (RFX) to measure the radial profiles of ion temperature, toroidal and poloidal drift velocities, and main impurity densities is examined. In particular a charge exchange recombination spectroscopy experiment is simulated for carbon and helium impurities. The motional Stark effect on the beam atoms injected into RFX is estimated as a means to measure the magnetic field pitch and intensity. A modulated beam injector (500 Hz) with 2 A of equivalent current and an energy of 50 keV/amu appears to be adequate to perform the measurements over a reasonable range of operational regimes. (C) 1999 American Institute of Physics. [S0034-6748(99)70601-5].