Anritsu/Wiltron MS2602A spectrum analyzer - please share your opinions

[cvanc]

Hi gang-

I've got a chance to pick up one of these, and it looks like a useful step up from my old HP.  But I really don't know anything about it.  Is it a decent unit?  Anyone got some experience with it they care to share?  Many thanks.

[Wuerstchenhund]

Hi gang-

I've got a chance to pick up one of these, and it looks like a useful step up from my old HP.  But I really don't know anything about it.  Is it a decent unit?  Anyone got some experience with it they care to share?  Many thanks.

With the MS2602A not much (I worked with one years ago), but I have an MS2609A plus other Anritsu gear and have some experience with them.

In general, Anritsu has great durable gear with very good performance and reliability, at least for the standalone/rack units (don't have much experience with their handheld devices, though). It's pretty much what one would expect from high quality Japanese kit. Unfortunately, most of their gear is also very to excessively noisy.

Manuals are hit and miss, for some devices you'll find everything online (including the maintenance manuals), for others you don't. Unfortunately, Anritsu isn't the most helpful companies for hobbyists. In fact, it's even a very difficult company to deal with for other businesses, as pretty much everything is decided in Japan (the individual dependencies have little authority to act alone).If you buy gear from Anritsu directy then the buying business has to undergo some kind of vetting process to make sure it complies with mostly Japanese export regulations. If you buy Anritsu gear from somewhere else and just want to get access to downloads (software updates) for it then you have to undergo an even longer process where the origin of your instruments will be checked. And that is for a business, individuals are usually ignored anyways.

On the other side they have some great kit (I have two MG3700A signal generators which are in the same class as the later Agilent ESG Series, both have comparable RF performance but the Anritsus have an AWG with 2GB sample memory, an CF card slot and a much nicer UI), and some of it is pretty unique (i.e. MS269xA Series, a spectrum/signal analyzer with built-in vector signal generator).

As to your actual question: the MS2602A is very old (mid-'90s if I remember right), and while it's a very decent analyzer it would have to be really really cheap for me to buy one. Even more so when considering that even newer Anritsu units can often be found for low prices, with better specs, more capabilities and a very likely much longer useful service life left.

What HP SA do you have now that you want to replace with the MS2602A? What exactly are you using it for? And what's your budget?

[cvanc]

Thank you very much for your input.  I currently have a 'vintage but not classic' HP 141S.  I'll keep looking for something better.

[dpenev]

Hi Wuerstchenhund,

Are you happy with the Anritsu MG3700A instruments you have?

I've heard that the old HDD in it can make lot of troubles and is not easy to be replaced.
Do you know about a solution using available components in case of HDD failure? 

Thank you.

[Stray Electron]

  I have two even older Anritsu MS 610 SAs and a tracking generator and I'm very satisfied with them. One SA was left outside and sitting in the rain for a couple of months before I found it but it still works fine.  The only thing that I'm not happy about is that service manuals are impossible to find.  For that reason, I strongly recommend staying with HP or other documented equipment. (Unless the price is simply too good to refuse :-)  An SA is too expensive to be considered a throw-it-away-when-it-fails item.

   Does anyone have the pin out for the DC power input connector used on the MS 610? It MAY be the same as that used on other Anritsu equipment.