It's not a matter of need. I don't actually "need" to be involved
with Amateur Radio period. It's something I "choose" to be involved
with. I asked the question strictly on the basis of if I were to
purchase either one of these pieces of test equipment for typical
Amateur radio uses, which one would be more useful to me in general
terms as a typical ham that likes to tinker and experiment.

Really depends on the depth and nature of your tinkering. Are you
talking component level equipment building/modifying? A scope would be
more useful than an SA. If you are talking about VHF/UHF system
building/tuning or RFI investigations, etc, then perhaps a Spectrum
Analyzer would be more useful.

However, I'd like to point out that you can get a good scope for less
than 1/10th the cost of a reasonable Spectrum Analyzer, so if your budget
allows for a Spectrum Analyzer, then you can probably afford a used but
good scope, too.


Ed K7AAT