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"John Miles" wrote in message ... In article , says... johnm wrote in message ... what is a good spectrum analyzer to have for a home shop in your opinion, and also what is a good scope to have and do you have to break the bank on this stuff? thanks. SNIP how about a 8569b ? some guy has one on ebay now for about $3,000.00......i might pull the trigger on that one.....I would be using it for hf work. I was considering a 141t from tucker . it cost more but at least you know it works. i was going to get the 8552b and 8553b plugins with it. then you have to round up the connecting cables and manuals for them. comments? oh by the way i have read good things about the hp 8569b's. if they work. My guess is that the 8569b would be a very passable unit. Its specs seem competitive with an optioned-out Tek 492 in most respects, except that it only goes down to 10 MHz (perhaps there's an underrange capability that lets it see lower frequencies?) That might be a concern if you're going to be using it mostly for HF work. SNIP The 141Ts at Tucker seem like a pretty good deal. I believe they all come with new CRTs. I personally like to buy broken models on eBay and fix them up. It's cheaper, you get really familiar with the gear inside and out, and you always have spare parts on hand. But that strategy isn't for everybody. -- jm As I have HP-141's, an HP-8569, an 8566B and an 8562A, let me drop a few comments here. The 141's are the best deal for a hobbyist. You can acquire the slightly better 8552B IF section, and then get only the RF plug-in that suits your needs (an 8556, with it's built-in tracking generator, for a few Hz to 300 kHz, or an 8555, for 10 MHz through umpteen GHz, assuming you also get the external mixers). Unfortunately, by the time a hobbyist gets one of these, it has been abused and neglected by its last commercial owner. CRT burns are common, and the flood-gun analog memory may be very quirky. For an advanced hobbyist, either get an associated Polaroid scope camera, or build your own camera hood. You can capture a lot of transient things that way, and you can scan the pixs to input into your computer. Also, HP made a line of oscilloscope plug-ins that fit the 141 mainframe, so you can use the 141 as a multi-channel analog memory oscilloscope too. 141's are a pain in two ways; first, you have to externally store extra plug-ins, and secondly, the hard side handles make carrying one a painful experience beyond about 50 feet. Also, you tend to injure your fingertips sliding those bulky plug-ins in and out past the big metal front handles. The 141 may also be the last of the hobbyist repairable analyzers; newer analyzers use proprietary chips and are built too dense to let you get fingers and probes into them. The 8562A is old (1987) but a superb analyzer, 1 kHz to 18 GHz, all digital and synthesized. This will do everything you want, except drive a parallel or RS-232 printer directly. If you're smart enough to talk to it by IEEE-488, then you can do everything through the computer. Other 856x series units have lesser capabilities, but are still great analyzers, and just might be priced low enough for a very serious hobbyist. Also, the HP-859x series are very good, although some have odd frequency, memory and IO capabilities. All 856x & 859x series units are one-man portables, until your knuckles turn white and numb. The 8569 is, in my opinion, a transitional beast between the analog and digital worlds. It's not as stable and simple as the 8562A, although it's a leap above the 141. Since it's wide, it's also awkward to carry using it's handle. I'm not much of a fan of the 8569. The 8566B is HP's top-of-the-line analyzer. They threw down the benchmark for everyone else to try to meet. Mine is customized a bit, covering 20 Hz to 22 GHz, and with an external tracking pre-selector, optional detectors, programmable attenuators, RF path switching and low-noise pre-amps. My company has a number of somewhat more plain-vanilla 8566B's and 8566A's. There isn't anything I need to do that these units fall short of (uhh, with the help of some external IEEE-488 linked computers). OTOH, these are now obsolete, non-supported by Agilent, and need two guys to carry one. Mine is in a 60" tall dedicated rack. Typical used price is around $20k. Most companies will be better served with one of Agilent's newer EPA or SPA analyzers. Anritsu and Rohde & Schwartz are also making fine analyzers. IIRC, Leader makes an analyzer that a hobbyist may aspire to affording. I would say that a 141 is still the best hobbyist choice. A company needs to be sure that they get a usable item for their money, so buying on eBay is a gamble. A company should buy from some place like Tucker, where they get a warranty backed by a reputable source. Yeah, it initially costs more. But it's a lot safer than having to try to repair an analyzer when you need that analyzer to do the real work of your company. A hobbyist can afford to spend 50 to 100 hours to get something going; in a business environment, where the clock is always ticking, that's unacceptable. Ed wb6wsn |
"John Miles" wrote in message ... In article , says... johnm wrote in message ... what is a good spectrum analyzer to have for a home shop in your opinion, and also what is a good scope to have and do you have to break the bank on this stuff? thanks. SNIP how about a 8569b ? some guy has one on ebay now for about $3,000.00......i might pull the trigger on that one.....I would be using it for hf work. I was considering a 141t from tucker . it cost more but at least you know it works. i was going to get the 8552b and 8553b plugins with it. then you have to round up the connecting cables and manuals for them. comments? oh by the way i have read good things about the hp 8569b's. if they work. My guess is that the 8569b would be a very passable unit. Its specs seem competitive with an optioned-out Tek 492 in most respects, except that it only goes down to 10 MHz (perhaps there's an underrange capability that lets it see lower frequencies?) That might be a concern if you're going to be using it mostly for HF work. SNIP The 141Ts at Tucker seem like a pretty good deal. I believe they all come with new CRTs. I personally like to buy broken models on eBay and fix them up. It's cheaper, you get really familiar with the gear inside and out, and you always have spare parts on hand. But that strategy isn't for everybody. -- jm As I have HP-141's, an HP-8569, an 8566B and an 8562A, let me drop a few comments here. The 141's are the best deal for a hobbyist. You can acquire the slightly better 8552B IF section, and then get only the RF plug-in that suits your needs (an 8556, with it's built-in tracking generator, for a few Hz to 300 kHz, or an 8555, for 10 MHz through umpteen GHz, assuming you also get the external mixers). Unfortunately, by the time a hobbyist gets one of these, it has been abused and neglected by its last commercial owner. CRT burns are common, and the flood-gun analog memory may be very quirky. For an advanced hobbyist, either get an associated Polaroid scope camera, or build your own camera hood. You can capture a lot of transient things that way, and you can scan the pixs to input into your computer. Also, HP made a line of oscilloscope plug-ins that fit the 141 mainframe, so you can use the 141 as a multi-channel analog memory oscilloscope too. 141's are a pain in two ways; first, you have to externally store extra plug-ins, and secondly, the hard side handles make carrying one a painful experience beyond about 50 feet. Also, you tend to injure your fingertips sliding those bulky plug-ins in and out past the big metal front handles. The 141 may also be the last of the hobbyist repairable analyzers; newer analyzers use proprietary chips and are built too dense to let you get fingers and probes into them. The 8562A is old (1987) but a superb analyzer, 1 kHz to 18 GHz, all digital and synthesized. This will do everything you want, except drive a parallel or RS-232 printer directly. If you're smart enough to talk to it by IEEE-488, then you can do everything through the computer. Other 856x series units have lesser capabilities, but are still great analyzers, and just might be priced low enough for a very serious hobbyist. Also, the HP-859x series are very good, although some have odd frequency, memory and IO capabilities. All 856x & 859x series units are one-man portables, until your knuckles turn white and numb. The 8569 is, in my opinion, a transitional beast between the analog and digital worlds. It's not as stable and simple as the 8562A, although it's a leap above the 141. Since it's wide, it's also awkward to carry using it's handle. I'm not much of a fan of the 8569. The 8566B is HP's top-of-the-line analyzer. They threw down the benchmark for everyone else to try to meet. Mine is customized a bit, covering 20 Hz to 22 GHz, and with an external tracking pre-selector, optional detectors, programmable attenuators, RF path switching and low-noise pre-amps. My company has a number of somewhat more plain-vanilla 8566B's and 8566A's. There isn't anything I need to do that these units fall short of (uhh, with the help of some external IEEE-488 linked computers). OTOH, these are now obsolete, non-supported by Agilent, and need two guys to carry one. Mine is in a 60" tall dedicated rack. Typical used price is around $20k. Most companies will be better served with one of Agilent's newer EPA or SPA analyzers. Anritsu and Rohde & Schwartz are also making fine analyzers. IIRC, Leader makes an analyzer that a hobbyist may aspire to affording. I would say that a 141 is still the best hobbyist choice. A company needs to be sure that they get a usable item for their money, so buying on eBay is a gamble. A company should buy from some place like Tucker, where they get a warranty backed by a reputable source. Yeah, it initially costs more. But it's a lot safer than having to try to repair an analyzer when you need that analyzer to do the real work of your company. A hobbyist can afford to spend 50 to 100 hours to get something going; in a business environment, where the clock is always ticking, that's unacceptable. Ed wb6wsn |
"Ed Price" wrote in message news:tPmtb.4837$cX1.463@fed1read02...
"John Miles" wrote in message ... In article , says... johnm wrote in message ... what is a good spectrum analyzer to have for a home shop in your opinion, and also what is a good scope to have and do you have to break the bank on this stuff? thanks. SNIP how about a 8569b ? some guy has one on ebay now for about $3,000.00......i might pull the trigger on that one.....I would be using it for hf work. I was considering a 141t from tucker . it cost more but at least you know it works. i was going to get the 8552b and 8553b plugins with it. then you have to round up the connecting cables and manuals for them. comments? oh by the way i have read good things about the hp 8569b's. if they work. My guess is that the 8569b would be a very passable unit. Its specs seem competitive with an optioned-out Tek 492 in most respects, except that it only goes down to 10 MHz (perhaps there's an underrange capability that lets it see lower frequencies?) That might be a concern if you're going to be using it mostly for HF work. SNIP The 141Ts at Tucker seem like a pretty good deal. I believe they all come with new CRTs. I personally like to buy broken models on eBay and fix them up. It's cheaper, you get really familiar with the gear inside and out, and you always have spare parts on hand. But that strategy isn't for everybody. -- jm As I have HP-141's, an HP-8569, an 8566B and an 8562A, let me drop a few comments here. The 141's are the best deal for a hobbyist. You can acquire the slightly better 8552B IF section, and then get only the RF plug-in that suits your needs (an 8556, with it's built-in tracking generator, for a few Hz to 300 kHz, or an 8555, for 10 MHz through umpteen GHz, assuming you also get the external mixers). Unfortunately, by the time a hobbyist gets one of these, it has been abused and neglected by its last commercial owner. CRT burns are common, and the flood-gun analog memory may be very quirky. For an advanced hobbyist, either get an associated Polaroid scope camera, or build your own camera hood. You can capture a lot of transient things that way, and you can scan the pixs to input into your computer. Also, HP made a line of oscilloscope plug-ins that fit the 141 mainframe, so you can use the 141 as a multi-channel analog memory oscilloscope too. 141's are a pain in two ways; first, you have to externally store extra plug-ins, and secondly, the hard side handles make carrying one a painful experience beyond about 50 feet. Also, you tend to injure your fingertips sliding those bulky plug-ins in and out past the big metal front handles. The 141 may also be the last of the hobbyist repairable analyzers; newer analyzers use proprietary chips and are built too dense to let you get fingers and probes into them. The 8562A is old (1987) but a superb analyzer, 1 kHz to 18 GHz, all digital and synthesized. This will do everything you want, except drive a parallel or RS-232 printer directly. If you're smart enough to talk to it by IEEE-488, then you can do everything through the computer. Other 856x series units have lesser capabilities, but are still great analyzers, and just might be priced low enough for a very serious hobbyist. Also, the HP-859x series are very good, although some have odd frequency, memory and IO capabilities. All 856x & 859x series units are one-man portables, until your knuckles turn white and numb. The 8569 is, in my opinion, a transitional beast between the analog and digital worlds. It's not as stable and simple as the 8562A, although it's a leap above the 141. Since it's wide, it's also awkward to carry using it's handle. I'm not much of a fan of the 8569. The 8566B is HP's top-of-the-line analyzer. They threw down the benchmark for everyone else to try to meet. Mine is customized a bit, covering 20 Hz to 22 GHz, and with an external tracking pre-selector, optional detectors, programmable attenuators, RF path switching and low-noise pre-amps. My company has a number of somewhat more plain-vanilla 8566B's and 8566A's. There isn't anything I need to do that these units fall short of (uhh, with the help of some external IEEE-488 linked computers). OTOH, these are now obsolete, non-supported by Agilent, and need two guys to carry one. Mine is in a 60" tall dedicated rack. Typical used price is around $20k. Most companies will be better served with one of Agilent's newer EPA or SPA analyzers. Anritsu and Rohde & Schwartz are also making fine analyzers. IIRC, Leader makes an analyzer that a hobbyist may aspire to affording. I would say that a 141 is still the best hobbyist choice. A company needs to be sure that they get a usable item for their money, so buying on eBay is a gamble. A company should buy from some place like Tucker, where they get a warranty backed by a reputable source. Yeah, it initially costs more. But it's a lot safer than having to try to repair an analyzer when you need that analyzer to do the real work of your company. A hobbyist can afford to spend 50 to 100 hours to get something going; in a business environment, where the clock is always ticking, that's unacceptable. Ed wb6wsn didn't the 141t's come out in the late 60's? I believe I read somewhere that the hp 8566b came out in 1995 and cost around $75,000 new, and like you stated I have read that it is the best spectrum analyzer ever built. I see them for about $10,000.00 to $12,000.00 starting on ebay but I would have some serious problems laying out that kind of money for a item on ebay. Thanks for the info. For all I know the 141t might serve my purposes just fine. I will look and see if tucker has one of those 8562a's though. |
"Ed Price" wrote in message news:tPmtb.4837$cX1.463@fed1read02...
"John Miles" wrote in message ... In article , says... johnm wrote in message ... what is a good spectrum analyzer to have for a home shop in your opinion, and also what is a good scope to have and do you have to break the bank on this stuff? thanks. SNIP how about a 8569b ? some guy has one on ebay now for about $3,000.00......i might pull the trigger on that one.....I would be using it for hf work. I was considering a 141t from tucker . it cost more but at least you know it works. i was going to get the 8552b and 8553b plugins with it. then you have to round up the connecting cables and manuals for them. comments? oh by the way i have read good things about the hp 8569b's. if they work. My guess is that the 8569b would be a very passable unit. Its specs seem competitive with an optioned-out Tek 492 in most respects, except that it only goes down to 10 MHz (perhaps there's an underrange capability that lets it see lower frequencies?) That might be a concern if you're going to be using it mostly for HF work. SNIP The 141Ts at Tucker seem like a pretty good deal. I believe they all come with new CRTs. I personally like to buy broken models on eBay and fix them up. It's cheaper, you get really familiar with the gear inside and out, and you always have spare parts on hand. But that strategy isn't for everybody. -- jm As I have HP-141's, an HP-8569, an 8566B and an 8562A, let me drop a few comments here. The 141's are the best deal for a hobbyist. You can acquire the slightly better 8552B IF section, and then get only the RF plug-in that suits your needs (an 8556, with it's built-in tracking generator, for a few Hz to 300 kHz, or an 8555, for 10 MHz through umpteen GHz, assuming you also get the external mixers). Unfortunately, by the time a hobbyist gets one of these, it has been abused and neglected by its last commercial owner. CRT burns are common, and the flood-gun analog memory may be very quirky. For an advanced hobbyist, either get an associated Polaroid scope camera, or build your own camera hood. You can capture a lot of transient things that way, and you can scan the pixs to input into your computer. Also, HP made a line of oscilloscope plug-ins that fit the 141 mainframe, so you can use the 141 as a multi-channel analog memory oscilloscope too. 141's are a pain in two ways; first, you have to externally store extra plug-ins, and secondly, the hard side handles make carrying one a painful experience beyond about 50 feet. Also, you tend to injure your fingertips sliding those bulky plug-ins in and out past the big metal front handles. The 141 may also be the last of the hobbyist repairable analyzers; newer analyzers use proprietary chips and are built too dense to let you get fingers and probes into them. The 8562A is old (1987) but a superb analyzer, 1 kHz to 18 GHz, all digital and synthesized. This will do everything you want, except drive a parallel or RS-232 printer directly. If you're smart enough to talk to it by IEEE-488, then you can do everything through the computer. Other 856x series units have lesser capabilities, but are still great analyzers, and just might be priced low enough for a very serious hobbyist. Also, the HP-859x series are very good, although some have odd frequency, memory and IO capabilities. All 856x & 859x series units are one-man portables, until your knuckles turn white and numb. The 8569 is, in my opinion, a transitional beast between the analog and digital worlds. It's not as stable and simple as the 8562A, although it's a leap above the 141. Since it's wide, it's also awkward to carry using it's handle. I'm not much of a fan of the 8569. The 8566B is HP's top-of-the-line analyzer. They threw down the benchmark for everyone else to try to meet. Mine is customized a bit, covering 20 Hz to 22 GHz, and with an external tracking pre-selector, optional detectors, programmable attenuators, RF path switching and low-noise pre-amps. My company has a number of somewhat more plain-vanilla 8566B's and 8566A's. There isn't anything I need to do that these units fall short of (uhh, with the help of some external IEEE-488 linked computers). OTOH, these are now obsolete, non-supported by Agilent, and need two guys to carry one. Mine is in a 60" tall dedicated rack. Typical used price is around $20k. Most companies will be better served with one of Agilent's newer EPA or SPA analyzers. Anritsu and Rohde & Schwartz are also making fine analyzers. IIRC, Leader makes an analyzer that a hobbyist may aspire to affording. I would say that a 141 is still the best hobbyist choice. A company needs to be sure that they get a usable item for their money, so buying on eBay is a gamble. A company should buy from some place like Tucker, where they get a warranty backed by a reputable source. Yeah, it initially costs more. But it's a lot safer than having to try to repair an analyzer when you need that analyzer to do the real work of your company. A hobbyist can afford to spend 50 to 100 hours to get something going; in a business environment, where the clock is always ticking, that's unacceptable. Ed wb6wsn didn't the 141t's come out in the late 60's? I believe I read somewhere that the hp 8566b came out in 1995 and cost around $75,000 new, and like you stated I have read that it is the best spectrum analyzer ever built. I see them for about $10,000.00 to $12,000.00 starting on ebay but I would have some serious problems laying out that kind of money for a item on ebay. Thanks for the info. For all I know the 141t might serve my purposes just fine. I will look and see if tucker has one of those 8562a's though. |
"Ed Price" wrote in message news:tPmtb.4837$cX1.463@fed1read02...
"John Miles" wrote in message ... In article , says... johnm wrote in message ... what is a good spectrum analyzer to have for a home shop in your opinion, and also what is a good scope to have and do you have to break the bank on this stuff? thanks. SNIP how about a 8569b ? some guy has one on ebay now for about $3,000.00......i might pull the trigger on that one.....I would be using it for hf work. I was considering a 141t from tucker . it cost more but at least you know it works. i was going to get the 8552b and 8553b plugins with it. then you have to round up the connecting cables and manuals for them. comments? oh by the way i have read good things about the hp 8569b's. if they work. My guess is that the 8569b would be a very passable unit. Its specs seem competitive with an optioned-out Tek 492 in most respects, except that it only goes down to 10 MHz (perhaps there's an underrange capability that lets it see lower frequencies?) That might be a concern if you're going to be using it mostly for HF work. SNIP The 141Ts at Tucker seem like a pretty good deal. I believe they all come with new CRTs. I personally like to buy broken models on eBay and fix them up. It's cheaper, you get really familiar with the gear inside and out, and you always have spare parts on hand. But that strategy isn't for everybody. -- jm As I have HP-141's, an HP-8569, an 8566B and an 8562A, let me drop a few comments here. The 141's are the best deal for a hobbyist. You can acquire the slightly better 8552B IF section, and then get only the RF plug-in that suits your needs (an 8556, with it's built-in tracking generator, for a few Hz to 300 kHz, or an 8555, for 10 MHz through umpteen GHz, assuming you also get the external mixers). Unfortunately, by the time a hobbyist gets one of these, it has been abused and neglected by its last commercial owner. CRT burns are common, and the flood-gun analog memory may be very quirky. For an advanced hobbyist, either get an associated Polaroid scope camera, or build your own camera hood. You can capture a lot of transient things that way, and you can scan the pixs to input into your computer. Also, HP made a line of oscilloscope plug-ins that fit the 141 mainframe, so you can use the 141 as a multi-channel analog memory oscilloscope too. 141's are a pain in two ways; first, you have to externally store extra plug-ins, and secondly, the hard side handles make carrying one a painful experience beyond about 50 feet. Also, you tend to injure your fingertips sliding those bulky plug-ins in and out past the big metal front handles. The 141 may also be the last of the hobbyist repairable analyzers; newer analyzers use proprietary chips and are built too dense to let you get fingers and probes into them. The 8562A is old (1987) but a superb analyzer, 1 kHz to 18 GHz, all digital and synthesized. This will do everything you want, except drive a parallel or RS-232 printer directly. If you're smart enough to talk to it by IEEE-488, then you can do everything through the computer. Other 856x series units have lesser capabilities, but are still great analyzers, and just might be priced low enough for a very serious hobbyist. Also, the HP-859x series are very good, although some have odd frequency, memory and IO capabilities. All 856x & 859x series units are one-man portables, until your knuckles turn white and numb. The 8569 is, in my opinion, a transitional beast between the analog and digital worlds. It's not as stable and simple as the 8562A, although it's a leap above the 141. Since it's wide, it's also awkward to carry using it's handle. I'm not much of a fan of the 8569. The 8566B is HP's top-of-the-line analyzer. They threw down the benchmark for everyone else to try to meet. Mine is customized a bit, covering 20 Hz to 22 GHz, and with an external tracking pre-selector, optional detectors, programmable attenuators, RF path switching and low-noise pre-amps. My company has a number of somewhat more plain-vanilla 8566B's and 8566A's. There isn't anything I need to do that these units fall short of (uhh, with the help of some external IEEE-488 linked computers). OTOH, these are now obsolete, non-supported by Agilent, and need two guys to carry one. Mine is in a 60" tall dedicated rack. Typical used price is around $20k. Most companies will be better served with one of Agilent's newer EPA or SPA analyzers. Anritsu and Rohde & Schwartz are also making fine analyzers. IIRC, Leader makes an analyzer that a hobbyist may aspire to affording. I would say that a 141 is still the best hobbyist choice. A company needs to be sure that they get a usable item for their money, so buying on eBay is a gamble. A company should buy from some place like Tucker, where they get a warranty backed by a reputable source. Yeah, it initially costs more. But it's a lot safer than having to try to repair an analyzer when you need that analyzer to do the real work of your company. A hobbyist can afford to spend 50 to 100 hours to get something going; in a business environment, where the clock is always ticking, that's unacceptable. Ed wb6wsn wow! I just looked at the tucker catalogue and the 8562a's are going for $17,000.00. Looks like they don't want to give that one away either. Seems like if you want a nice analyzer for your home shop you had better go out and get yourself a home equity loan because you are going to need it... do you know anything about the hp 180t series mainframes with assorted plugins? They have some of those also. |
"Ed Price" wrote in message news:tPmtb.4837$cX1.463@fed1read02...
"John Miles" wrote in message ... In article , says... johnm wrote in message ... what is a good spectrum analyzer to have for a home shop in your opinion, and also what is a good scope to have and do you have to break the bank on this stuff? thanks. SNIP how about a 8569b ? some guy has one on ebay now for about $3,000.00......i might pull the trigger on that one.....I would be using it for hf work. I was considering a 141t from tucker . it cost more but at least you know it works. i was going to get the 8552b and 8553b plugins with it. then you have to round up the connecting cables and manuals for them. comments? oh by the way i have read good things about the hp 8569b's. if they work. My guess is that the 8569b would be a very passable unit. Its specs seem competitive with an optioned-out Tek 492 in most respects, except that it only goes down to 10 MHz (perhaps there's an underrange capability that lets it see lower frequencies?) That might be a concern if you're going to be using it mostly for HF work. SNIP The 141Ts at Tucker seem like a pretty good deal. I believe they all come with new CRTs. I personally like to buy broken models on eBay and fix them up. It's cheaper, you get really familiar with the gear inside and out, and you always have spare parts on hand. But that strategy isn't for everybody. -- jm As I have HP-141's, an HP-8569, an 8566B and an 8562A, let me drop a few comments here. The 141's are the best deal for a hobbyist. You can acquire the slightly better 8552B IF section, and then get only the RF plug-in that suits your needs (an 8556, with it's built-in tracking generator, for a few Hz to 300 kHz, or an 8555, for 10 MHz through umpteen GHz, assuming you also get the external mixers). Unfortunately, by the time a hobbyist gets one of these, it has been abused and neglected by its last commercial owner. CRT burns are common, and the flood-gun analog memory may be very quirky. For an advanced hobbyist, either get an associated Polaroid scope camera, or build your own camera hood. You can capture a lot of transient things that way, and you can scan the pixs to input into your computer. Also, HP made a line of oscilloscope plug-ins that fit the 141 mainframe, so you can use the 141 as a multi-channel analog memory oscilloscope too. 141's are a pain in two ways; first, you have to externally store extra plug-ins, and secondly, the hard side handles make carrying one a painful experience beyond about 50 feet. Also, you tend to injure your fingertips sliding those bulky plug-ins in and out past the big metal front handles. The 141 may also be the last of the hobbyist repairable analyzers; newer analyzers use proprietary chips and are built too dense to let you get fingers and probes into them. The 8562A is old (1987) but a superb analyzer, 1 kHz to 18 GHz, all digital and synthesized. This will do everything you want, except drive a parallel or RS-232 printer directly. If you're smart enough to talk to it by IEEE-488, then you can do everything through the computer. Other 856x series units have lesser capabilities, but are still great analyzers, and just might be priced low enough for a very serious hobbyist. Also, the HP-859x series are very good, although some have odd frequency, memory and IO capabilities. All 856x & 859x series units are one-man portables, until your knuckles turn white and numb. The 8569 is, in my opinion, a transitional beast between the analog and digital worlds. It's not as stable and simple as the 8562A, although it's a leap above the 141. Since it's wide, it's also awkward to carry using it's handle. I'm not much of a fan of the 8569. The 8566B is HP's top-of-the-line analyzer. They threw down the benchmark for everyone else to try to meet. Mine is customized a bit, covering 20 Hz to 22 GHz, and with an external tracking pre-selector, optional detectors, programmable attenuators, RF path switching and low-noise pre-amps. My company has a number of somewhat more plain-vanilla 8566B's and 8566A's. There isn't anything I need to do that these units fall short of (uhh, with the help of some external IEEE-488 linked computers). OTOH, these are now obsolete, non-supported by Agilent, and need two guys to carry one. Mine is in a 60" tall dedicated rack. Typical used price is around $20k. Most companies will be better served with one of Agilent's newer EPA or SPA analyzers. Anritsu and Rohde & Schwartz are also making fine analyzers. IIRC, Leader makes an analyzer that a hobbyist may aspire to affording. I would say that a 141 is still the best hobbyist choice. A company needs to be sure that they get a usable item for their money, so buying on eBay is a gamble. A company should buy from some place like Tucker, where they get a warranty backed by a reputable source. Yeah, it initially costs more. But it's a lot safer than having to try to repair an analyzer when you need that analyzer to do the real work of your company. A hobbyist can afford to spend 50 to 100 hours to get something going; in a business environment, where the clock is always ticking, that's unacceptable. Ed wb6wsn wow! I just looked at the tucker catalogue and the 8562a's are going for $17,000.00. Looks like they don't want to give that one away either. Seems like if you want a nice analyzer for your home shop you had better go out and get yourself a home equity loan because you are going to need it... do you know anything about the hp 180t series mainframes with assorted plugins? They have some of those also. |
"gw" wrote in message m... "Ed Price" wrote in message news:tPmtb.4837$cX1.463@fed1read02... "John Miles" wrote in message ... In article , says... johnm wrote in message ... what is a good spectrum analyzer to have for a home shop in your SNIP wow! I just looked at the tucker catalogue and the 8562a's are going for $17,000.00. Looks like they don't want to give that one away either. Seems like if you want a nice analyzer for your home shop you had better go out and get yourself a home equity loan because you are going to need it... do you know anything about the hp 180t series mainframes with assorted plugins? They have some of those also. IIRC, the 180 mainframe was a different form-factor than the 141. The 180 stacked up a bit more like a big oscilloscope. Ed wb6wsn |
"gw" wrote in message m... "Ed Price" wrote in message news:tPmtb.4837$cX1.463@fed1read02... "John Miles" wrote in message ... In article , says... johnm wrote in message ... what is a good spectrum analyzer to have for a home shop in your SNIP wow! I just looked at the tucker catalogue and the 8562a's are going for $17,000.00. Looks like they don't want to give that one away either. Seems like if you want a nice analyzer for your home shop you had better go out and get yourself a home equity loan because you are going to need it... do you know anything about the hp 180t series mainframes with assorted plugins? They have some of those also. IIRC, the 180 mainframe was a different form-factor than the 141. The 180 stacked up a bit more like a big oscilloscope. Ed wb6wsn |
"gw" wrote in message om... "Ed Price" wrote in message news:tPmtb.4837$cX1.463@fed1read02... "John Miles" wrote in message ... In article , says... johnm wrote in message ... what is a good spectrum analyzer to have for a home shop in your opinion, and also what is a good scope to have and do you have to break the bank on this stuff? thanks. SNIP The 141Ts at Tucker seem like a pretty good deal. I believe they all come with new CRTs. I personally like to buy broken models on eBay and fix them up. It's cheaper, you get really familiar with the gear inside and out, and you always have spare parts on hand. But that strategy isn't for everybody. -- jm As I have HP-141's, an HP-8569, an 8566B and an 8562A, let me drop a few comments here. The 141's are the best deal for a hobbyist. You can acquire the slightly better 8552B IF section, and then get only the RF plug-in that suits your needs (an 8556, with it's built-in tracking generator, for a few Hz to 300 kHz, or an 8555, for 10 MHz through umpteen GHz, assuming you also get the external mixers). Unfortunately, by the time a hobbyist gets one of these, it has been abused and neglected by its last commercial owner. CRT burns are common, and the flood-gun analog memory may be very quirky. For an advanced hobbyist, either get an associated Polaroid scope camera, or build your own camera hood. You can capture a lot of transient things that way, and you can scan the pixs to input into your computer. Also, HP made a line of oscilloscope plug-ins that fit the 141 mainframe, so you can use the 141 as a multi-channel analog memory oscilloscope too. 141's are a pain in two ways; first, you have to externally store extra plug-ins, and secondly, the hard side handles make carrying one a painful experience beyond about 50 feet. Also, you tend to injure your fingertips sliding those bulky plug-ins in and out past the big metal front handles. The 141 may also be the last of the hobbyist repairable analyzers; newer analyzers use proprietary chips and are built too dense to let you get fingers and probes into them. The 8562A is old (1987) but a superb analyzer, 1 kHz to 18 GHz, all digital and synthesized. This will do everything you want, except drive a parallel or RS-232 printer directly. If you're smart enough to talk to it by IEEE-488, then you can do everything through the computer. Other 856x series units have lesser capabilities, but are still great analyzers, and just might be priced low enough for a very serious hobbyist. Also, the HP-859x series are very good, although some have odd frequency, memory and IO capabilities. All 856x & 859x series units are one-man portables, until your knuckles turn white and numb. The 8569 is, in my opinion, a transitional beast between the analog and digital worlds. It's not as stable and simple as the 8562A, although it's a leap above the 141. Since it's wide, it's also awkward to carry using it's handle. I'm not much of a fan of the 8569. The 8566B is HP's top-of-the-line analyzer. They threw down the benchmark for everyone else to try to meet. Mine is customized a bit, covering 20 Hz to 22 GHz, and with an external tracking pre-selector, optional detectors, programmable attenuators, RF path switching and low-noise pre-amps. My company has a number of somewhat more plain-vanilla 8566B's and 8566A's. There isn't anything I need to do that these units fall short of (uhh, with the help of some external IEEE-488 linked computers). OTOH, these are now obsolete, non-supported by Agilent, and need two guys to carry one. Mine is in a 60" tall dedicated rack. Typical used price is around $20k. Most companies will be better served with one of Agilent's newer EPA or SPA analyzers. Anritsu and Rohde & Schwartz are also making fine analyzers. IIRC, Leader makes an analyzer that a hobbyist may aspire to affording. I would say that a 141 is still the best hobbyist choice. A company needs to be sure that they get a usable item for their money, so buying on eBay is a gamble. A company should buy from some place like Tucker, where they get a warranty backed by a reputable source. Yeah, it initially costs more. But it's a lot safer than having to try to repair an analyzer when you need that analyzer to do the real work of your company. A hobbyist can afford to spend 50 to 100 hours to get something going; in a business environment, where the clock is always ticking, that's unacceptable. Ed wb6wsn didn't the 141t's come out in the late 60's? I believe I read somewhere that the hp 8566b came out in 1995 and cost around $75,000 new, and like you stated I have read that it is the best spectrum analyzer ever built. I see them for about $10,000.00 to $12,000.00 starting on ebay but I would have some serious problems laying out that kind of money for a item on ebay. Thanks for the info. For all I know the 141t might serve my purposes just fine. I will look and see if tucker has one of those 8562a's though. A 140 series, with a round face CRT came out in the early 70's. The 141, with a rectangular face, hit around 1975. The 8566 was around 1991, IIRC. Unless you get extraordinarily lucky (and when does that ever happen), all but the 141 series is priced beyond the hobbyist. Maybe some of those 8562's or 859x's will be still working in 5 years or so when they hit the surplus market. Till then, hobbyists are still pretty much in the analog SA world. Ed wb6wsn I wouldn't buy an 8566B on eBay; I can't cross my fingers that hard. |
"gw" wrote in message om... "Ed Price" wrote in message news:tPmtb.4837$cX1.463@fed1read02... "John Miles" wrote in message ... In article , says... johnm wrote in message ... what is a good spectrum analyzer to have for a home shop in your opinion, and also what is a good scope to have and do you have to break the bank on this stuff? thanks. SNIP The 141Ts at Tucker seem like a pretty good deal. I believe they all come with new CRTs. I personally like to buy broken models on eBay and fix them up. It's cheaper, you get really familiar with the gear inside and out, and you always have spare parts on hand. But that strategy isn't for everybody. -- jm As I have HP-141's, an HP-8569, an 8566B and an 8562A, let me drop a few comments here. The 141's are the best deal for a hobbyist. You can acquire the slightly better 8552B IF section, and then get only the RF plug-in that suits your needs (an 8556, with it's built-in tracking generator, for a few Hz to 300 kHz, or an 8555, for 10 MHz through umpteen GHz, assuming you also get the external mixers). Unfortunately, by the time a hobbyist gets one of these, it has been abused and neglected by its last commercial owner. CRT burns are common, and the flood-gun analog memory may be very quirky. For an advanced hobbyist, either get an associated Polaroid scope camera, or build your own camera hood. You can capture a lot of transient things that way, and you can scan the pixs to input into your computer. Also, HP made a line of oscilloscope plug-ins that fit the 141 mainframe, so you can use the 141 as a multi-channel analog memory oscilloscope too. 141's are a pain in two ways; first, you have to externally store extra plug-ins, and secondly, the hard side handles make carrying one a painful experience beyond about 50 feet. Also, you tend to injure your fingertips sliding those bulky plug-ins in and out past the big metal front handles. The 141 may also be the last of the hobbyist repairable analyzers; newer analyzers use proprietary chips and are built too dense to let you get fingers and probes into them. The 8562A is old (1987) but a superb analyzer, 1 kHz to 18 GHz, all digital and synthesized. This will do everything you want, except drive a parallel or RS-232 printer directly. If you're smart enough to talk to it by IEEE-488, then you can do everything through the computer. Other 856x series units have lesser capabilities, but are still great analyzers, and just might be priced low enough for a very serious hobbyist. Also, the HP-859x series are very good, although some have odd frequency, memory and IO capabilities. All 856x & 859x series units are one-man portables, until your knuckles turn white and numb. The 8569 is, in my opinion, a transitional beast between the analog and digital worlds. It's not as stable and simple as the 8562A, although it's a leap above the 141. Since it's wide, it's also awkward to carry using it's handle. I'm not much of a fan of the 8569. The 8566B is HP's top-of-the-line analyzer. They threw down the benchmark for everyone else to try to meet. Mine is customized a bit, covering 20 Hz to 22 GHz, and with an external tracking pre-selector, optional detectors, programmable attenuators, RF path switching and low-noise pre-amps. My company has a number of somewhat more plain-vanilla 8566B's and 8566A's. There isn't anything I need to do that these units fall short of (uhh, with the help of some external IEEE-488 linked computers). OTOH, these are now obsolete, non-supported by Agilent, and need two guys to carry one. Mine is in a 60" tall dedicated rack. Typical used price is around $20k. Most companies will be better served with one of Agilent's newer EPA or SPA analyzers. Anritsu and Rohde & Schwartz are also making fine analyzers. IIRC, Leader makes an analyzer that a hobbyist may aspire to affording. I would say that a 141 is still the best hobbyist choice. A company needs to be sure that they get a usable item for their money, so buying on eBay is a gamble. A company should buy from some place like Tucker, where they get a warranty backed by a reputable source. Yeah, it initially costs more. But it's a lot safer than having to try to repair an analyzer when you need that analyzer to do the real work of your company. A hobbyist can afford to spend 50 to 100 hours to get something going; in a business environment, where the clock is always ticking, that's unacceptable. Ed wb6wsn didn't the 141t's come out in the late 60's? I believe I read somewhere that the hp 8566b came out in 1995 and cost around $75,000 new, and like you stated I have read that it is the best spectrum analyzer ever built. I see them for about $10,000.00 to $12,000.00 starting on ebay but I would have some serious problems laying out that kind of money for a item on ebay. Thanks for the info. For all I know the 141t might serve my purposes just fine. I will look and see if tucker has one of those 8562a's though. A 140 series, with a round face CRT came out in the early 70's. The 141, with a rectangular face, hit around 1975. The 8566 was around 1991, IIRC. Unless you get extraordinarily lucky (and when does that ever happen), all but the 141 series is priced beyond the hobbyist. Maybe some of those 8562's or 859x's will be still working in 5 years or so when they hit the surplus market. Till then, hobbyists are still pretty much in the analog SA world. Ed wb6wsn I wouldn't buy an 8566B on eBay; I can't cross my fingers that hard. |
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