Electronics > Beginners
Why are spectrum analyzers so expensive?
codingwithethanol:
I've recently been making myself a mini lab so I can move past arduino and do some actual engineering. I wanted to get a spectrum analyzer to view frequency response of components, but I looked at the prices of the cheapest analyzers and had a stroke. What makes these things so expensive, are they made out of platinum and diamonds? Not saying that I don't understand why the super serious business pro models are expensive, but where are the budget hobby tier models?
bd139:
Because they’re very complicated, the bits cost a lot of money and the engineering effort to design one is pretty extensive.
Not joking but they are pretty cheap now really. Just the SA plug in for my tek scope I had recently (7L12) with inflation would cost $25000 today. Add another $20000 for the scope mainframe and a couple of basic plugins for it so you get a scope too. So $45k down.
That Rigol or Siglent looks like a bargain now.
Or you can buy the 25 year old $45k one which is vastly inferior for $200 and fix it which is what I did.
codingwithethanol:
WOW
Also, speaking of plugins, I don't have a 7000 series tek to plug that into, but i was also wondering why there isn't just a black box with some BNC ports you can connect to your oscilloscope to have SA functionality on a budget?
codingwithethanol:
http://prntscr.com/nzhwh4
HRNNNNNNG
When I say budget im talking $100-$200. I've checked a few DIY SA projects but they are all far beyond my expertise to build
bd139:
--- Quote from: codingwithethanol on June 09, 2019, 09:34:31 am ---WOW
Also, speaking of plugins, I don't have a 7000 series tek to plug that into, but i was also wondering why there isn't just a black box with some BNC ports you can connect to your oscilloscope to have SA functionality on a budget?
--- End quote ---
Yes Thurlby TSA250 and TSA1000 spectrum analysers. they are pretty crap though. They come in under your budget.
It's possible to get a good deal but you have to lurk and there's a risk element.
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