Spectrum Analyzer or Oscilloscope?
 

Which of these would be the most useful to the Radio Amateur? Also when
deciding upon one or the other, what specs should one look for in
purchasing one for Ham radio applications, given basic needs for now
but with enough capabilities to handle more advanced Ham radio needs in
the future? Thank you for any help. B. Taylor

wrote in message
oups.com...
Which of these would be the most useful to the Radio Amateur? Also when
deciding upon one or the other, what specs should one look for in
purchasing one for Ham radio applications, given basic needs for now
but with enough capabilities to handle more advanced Ham radio needs in
the future? Thank you for any help. B. Taylor

If you have to ask then you don't need either one.

It depends on what you want to do. I have several scops around the house
and don't use either of them very much. I have had access to a SA and have
used it very little.

Scopes are most useful at audio frequencies and the SA is good for RF
applications.

Ralph Mowery wrote:
wrote in message
oups.com...
Which of these would be the most useful to the Radio Amateur? Also
when
deciding upon one or the other, what specs should one look for in
purchasing one for Ham radio applications, given basic needs for
now
but with enough capabilities to handle more advanced Ham radio
needs in
the future? Thank you for any help. B. Taylor

If you have to ask then you don't need either one.

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. Thank you,
B. Taylor

Hi B. Taylor,
You really are asking the proverbial "how long is a piece of string"
question.
Might I suggest you spend some time and money on a
good electronics course.
If courses are not offered in you area try your local library,
Is their someone who can mentor you?


wrote in message
oups.com...

Ralph Mowery wrote:
wrote in message
oups.com...
Which of these would be the most useful to the Radio Amateur? Also
when
deciding upon one or the other, what specs should one look for in
purchasing one for Ham radio applications, given basic needs for
now
but with enough capabilities to handle more advanced Ham radio
needs in
the future? Thank you for any help. B. Taylor

If you have to ask then you don't need either one.

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. Thank you,
B. Taylor

I would buy both of them. An oscilloscope is something you really need for
doing signal tracing, etc. while a spectrum analyzer is a must if you are
doing synthesizer/oscillator/transmitter design. I have both of them and use
them all of the time. Other good things to have are an RF power meter,
modulation meter, frequency counter, broadband noise source, RF generator,
DVM, VOM, and a good variable power supply. This just scratches the surface,
depending on your needs.

Pete

"John Doe" wrote in message
u...
Hi B. Taylor,
You really are asking the proverbial "how long is a piece of string"
question.
Might I suggest you spend some time and money on a
good electronics course.
If courses are not offered in you area try your local library,
Is their someone who can mentor you?


wrote in message
oups.com...

Ralph Mowery wrote:
wrote in message
oups.com...
Which of these would be the most useful to the Radio Amateur? Also
when
deciding upon one or the other, what specs should one look for in
purchasing one for Ham radio applications, given basic needs for
now
but with enough capabilities to handle more advanced Ham radio
needs in
the future? Thank you for any help. B. Taylor

If you have to ask then you don't need either one.

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. Thank you,
B. Taylor

wrote:
Which of these would be the most useful to the Radio Amateur? Also when
deciding upon one or the other, what specs should one look for in
purchasing one for Ham radio applications, given basic needs for now
but with enough capabilities to handle more advanced Ham radio needs in
the future? Thank you for any help. B. Taylor


If you just want a cool toy, get a scope with a FFT function.
You'll be the envy of all your ham buddies.
Got a nice one for sale he
http://nm7u.tripod.com/homepage/sale.html
Priced at 25% of what you'd pay at a dealer.
mike


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"Pete KE9OA" wrote in
:

I would buy both of them. An oscilloscope is something you really need
for doing signal tracing, etc. while a spectrum analyzer is a must if
you are doing synthesizer/oscillator/transmitter design. I have both of
them and use them all of the time. Other good things to have are an RF
power meter, modulation meter, frequency counter, broadband noise
source, RF generator, DVM, VOM, and a good variable power supply. This
just scratches the surface, depending on your needs.

Pete



The choice between the two depends on what you are most interested in
doing. Since both these instruments are designed for different tasks.
However if you are looking for a good all purpose Swiss Army knife sort of
tool for general ham useage, I would look at a gadget called a service
monitor. Depending on make and model, you can find one that combines the
features of most of the instruments on Pete's list :) They usually have a
scope that will do af and also act as a spectrum analyzer along with power
meters,signal generator,frequency/modulation meter perhaps a DVM etc. All
in one handy dandy portable package.

Here is an example of one of the many on Ebay at present.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...84288 71&rd=1

As a general purpose test and troubleshooting tool I find these hard to beat!!

--
Panzer

They are both useful. You don't even want to know about all the bells
and whistles you can get, let alone trying to figure out how many of
those whistles you can use, not to mention the bells. And the digital
models are like a high end ham rig. You are going to be navigating
tonnes of menus.

I'd go for an analog crt based scope, 20mhz, 50mhz or 100mhz bandwidth.
With a 50volt to 50millivolt input range. Make sure it comes with a
probe with 10:1 input switch. Scopes typically have a 1meg ohm input
impedance so the 10:1 would get you 11 meg input plus the probe offers
frequency compensation.

dbu wrote in
:



I already have a scope which I use on my work bench, but it sits a lot
not being used, so it would be kind of handy to plug in a device which
would enable it to be used as a SA or panadapter type scope for the
shack. This would make my scope much more useful. Anything like that
around?


Alas I am not aware of such an item. But there maybe someone else who
does. :) Heathkit made anumber of these in kit form for thier Amateur
Radio kit and you do see them on Ebay and other places. Designed for use
with the SB-XXX series mostly they do have specific needs as to IF
frequency etc. Thta info is easly available and using it, I'm sure they
could be adapted quite easily to othere readios that have similar IF's.

Scopes are very versatile instruments, and can be used for a number of
purposes right out of the box. The accuracy of results depends on the
"quality" of the instrument. Suitable setup and interpretation of results
will allow you to make Voltage (p-to-p and RMS) frequency, phase
measurements. Newer instruments have these built in and display them on
screen without the need to eyeball the waveform and do mental arithmetic.
Back in the day... the reason an electronics nerd kit included a small
pocket slide rule was to do quick calculations based on the observed
waveform and control setting :) While it was fun, I much prefer the newer
gear, with its on screen of voltage, frequency etc along with the
waveform. :)

For me at least the most useful peice of test gear is the service monitor.
Even if you are using it as test gear it can be used as receiver to tune
in local broadcast stations and send them annoying critiques of their
signal deficencies ;)





--
Panzer

Panzer240 wrote:
dbu wrote in
:



I already have a scope which I use on my work bench, but it sits a
lot
not being used, so it would be kind of handy to plug in a device
which
would enable it to be used as a SA or panadapter type scope for the

shack. This would make my scope much more useful. Anything like
that
around?


Alas I am not aware of such an item. But there maybe someone else who

does. :) Heathkit made anumber of these in kit form for thier Amateur

Radio kit and you do see them on Ebay and other places. Designed for
use
with the SB-XXX series mostly they do have specific needs as to IF
frequency etc. Thta info is easly available and using it, I'm sure
they
could be adapted quite easily to othere readios that have similar
IF's.

Scopes are very versatile instruments, and can be used for a number
of
purposes right out of the box. The accuracy of results depends on the

"quality" of the instrument. Suitable setup and interpretation of
results
will allow you to make Voltage (p-to-p and RMS) frequency, phase
measurements. Newer instruments have these built in and display them
on
screen without the need to eyeball the waveform and do mental
arithmetic.
Back in the day... the reason an electronics nerd kit included a
small
pocket slide rule was to do quick calculations based on the observed
waveform and control setting :) While it was fun, I much prefer the
newer
gear, with its on screen of voltage, frequency etc along with the
waveform. :)

For me at least the most useful peice of test gear is the service
monitor.
Even if you are using it as test gear it can be used as receiver to
tune
in local broadcast stations and send them annoying critiques of their

signal deficencies ;)

Thanks to all for the input, I really appreciate the help. The
Service Monitor idea sounds absolutely perfect! But I was wondering,
because it encompasses so many different instruments into one unit,
does the accuracy or capabilities of each unit suffer a bit, or is it
priced like that of a second home? Who makes a decent Service Monitor
between $3000 to $5000? I tried to follow one response to a link on
Ebay but the item had already expired. Thanks again to everyone.
B. Taylor