Batboard

I recently sold my HP8924C due to me purchasing an R2670 with all the bells and whistles. I thought that I could use the 2670 for filter work, but I now regret that I sold the HP as I can't get the same resolution on the 2670. It is absolutely horrible trying to align a BPBR duplexer. The only thing that I hated about the HP was the weight. It was about 70 pounds. Is there a "portable" Spectrum analyzer that has the resolution of the 8924C? I'd like to stay as close to $1000 if that is possible. It doesn't have to be a hand-held unit, but needs to be a lot less than 70 pounds. Less than 20 pounds would be ideal. What are the recommendations from you guys?

What do you guys think of the Rohde & Schwarz FSH6 or a JDSU JD746A?

The resolution for a portable device has its limitations, for determining types of adjustment I still prefer the line Hp and IFR, but that is a particular opposition and correct if you can get some for testing,

Hugs to the friend

Never a huge fan of using a tracking gen for for two way filter alignments since most of that is duplexers which have only two or four frequencies .
The exception may be if you have some broad range filters like those used in some RX multi couplers and even then I would be more interested in the insertion loss at the specific frequencies in use.

The SA / tracking gen can quickly give you a very good picture of the alignment and help determine if adjustment is needed though.

If I needed to align I would most often just use the service monitor in duplex with Zero offset and the signal level. This usually gave me a more accurate picture for the specific frequencies of interest rather than trying to read the SA screen while it was sweeping.

The checks of RX, TX and desense performance should be what drives aligning the filters for most repeater sites.
There are exceptions especially on heavily shared sites where the filtering is optimized for multiple pieces of equipment. ( my worst nightmare was a site with 3 VHF repeaters, paging, bases and voting receivers due to the non-standard spacing )

Have both of those pieces of equipment and yes the 8924C is a more accurate as an overall piece of test equipment.
The trade off is the R26XX series are two way optimized and more portable.
Would never lug an 8924 to a site ...just to damn heavy and the warm up time.

The 8920 series is essentially the same HW as the 8924 but I may still take the R26XX just due to the two way focus.

The 2670 is just not as accurate as I like. I had to keep fiddling with the settings and there was just too much back and forth. I'm now looking at the Siglent SA as the specs were better than the Rigol.

This morning I messed around with a FSH8. It was nice, but too rich for my blood.

Siglent SSA3021X with tracking generator option enabled and external RL bridge. Your arms will thank you.

http://www.siglent.com/ENs/pdxx.aspx?id=1299&tid=18&T=2

Yep. I bought one Monday. I already have an RLB, so I didn't buy that option. It'll be here Friday. I got mine from Saelig for $1658.16 shipped, which included the TG and was cheaper than anywhere else.

Do you have one? How do you like it? We have an FSH8 at work and I tried it out in preparation to buy the FSH6, but it reminded me of a Yaesu radio with all of the menus and sub-menus. Plus, I just couldn't justify the cost of a used R&S SA without knowing the history.

I've only played with one and I was very impressed for the price. It look nicer and the specs are slightly better than the Rigol.

My own machines are the old HP8713 and HP8566. They don't go to site.

One more option : http://www.keysight.com/pt/pdx-x201904- ... =por&pm=ov

Nice piece of equipment, but WAY out of my price range. I wanted to stay as close to $1K as possibly. I busted that by $658, but I could justify that. No way that I could drop $15,000 on a piece of test equipment for a hobby.

You might want to look at an Anritsu MS2711D with option 21
Googd to 3 GHz

ablitz wrote:You might want to look at an Anritsu MS2711D with option 21
Googd to 3 GHz

Used unit only - they have been discontinued. But it is still a good thought.

https://www.anritsu.com/en-US/test-meas ... ts/ms2711d