Which Spectrum analyzer would you get?

[rf-loop]

You can always hack a color TFT display into test equipment with a monochrome screen:

Amusements.

[Rupunzell]

hp 8566B lives next to the Tek 7104. Both gets used a LOT.. Both have been quite reliable, problem free for years. It is possible the later production 8566Bs had most of their problem resolved as this 8566B has a production date in the mid-1990's. Not often discussed or considered is the user interface on the 8566B is good and it has a complete service manual that allows fixing (built to be repaired as required as well as being around for a while) and much learning of how it works by studying the hp 8566B service manual.



Speaking of "Doomsday" hp efforts another notable is the 8662A and later 8663A.


Bernice

Ditto, I have them both as well, 8568b and 8566b. 

Big, noisy, hot, etc, but they still have great performance and the best bang for the buck compared to new if you find one that has been well maintained.  $400 is too little for an 8566b.  If it looks complete I would snatch it up in a heartbeat.  It's worth more than that as a parts unit.

If I have the signal generation capabilities, I will setup the signals that I see in threads like these to see how the old HP analyzers compare.  Rarely does anything give better performance.  These new Siglents have some interesting capabilities for the money.

[Muxr]

Been on a lookout for a SA for a long time now.. on and off for a year or so.. and finally pulled a trigger on a Rohde & Schwarz FSEA-30

I've considered the new Siglent as well as the Signal Hound, but in the end the RS won.

[pascal_sweden]

That HP8566B and Tektronix 7104 look very nice!

[luckyflyer]

They appear to be great machines. Was there a feature or a technical reason that made you go for the R&S? I'm still in the research mode but will make my move someday as you did.   

Been on a lookout for a SA for a long time now.. on and off for a year or so.. and finally pulled a trigger on a Rohde & Schwarz FSEA-30

I've considered the new Siglent as well as the Signal Hound, but in the end the RS won.

[Muxr]

They appear to be great machines. Was there a feature or a technical reason that made you go for the R&S? I'm still in the research mode but will make my move someday as you did.   

Been on a lookout for a SA for a long time now.. on and off for a year or so.. and finally pulled a trigger on a Rohde & Schwarz FSEA-30

I've considered the new Siglent as well as the Signal Hound, but in the end the RS won.

A few reasons really, played the role. The fact that it goes from 20hz all the way to 3.5Ghz was a big factor. I like the fact that it covers those audio frequencies and I am also doing some stuff with IR in that low Khz range as well. I also wanted to have the ability to measure in the 2.4Ghz band as well.

Was going to go with the Signal Hound for a long time.. but I don't use Windows so that was kind of a deal breaker. In the end I saw an FSEA-30 for a reasonable price and decided to go for it.

I also have an RTM 1054 and I enjoy RS UIs so hopefully that will translate to the FSEA-30 as well.

Haven't received it yet (I should get it next week), so hopefully I made the right choice.

[Performa01]

A few reasons really, played the role. The fact that it goes from 20hz all the way to 3.5Ghz was a big factor. I like the fact that it covers those audio frequencies and I am also doing some stuff with IR in that low Khz range as well. I also wanted to have the ability to measure in the 2.4Ghz band as well.

Was going to go with the Signal Hound for a long time.. but I don't use Windows so that was kind of a deal breaker. In the end I saw an FSEA-30 for a reasonable price and decided to go for it.

I also have an RTM 1054 and I enjoy RS UIs so hopefully that will translate to the FSEA-30 as well.

Haven't received it yet (I should get it next week), so hopefully I made the right choice.

Congratulations!

From your answer it appears you may have missed the main reason why someone would want to get a R&S FSEA30:
It appears to be one of the (perhaps even the) most cpable semi-modern SA in terms of dynamic range, resolution bandwidth, intermodulation and phase noise performance, that amateur money can buy.

Where else would you get 20Hz ~ 3.5GHz, 1Hz RBW, -123dBc/Hz phase noise @ 20kHz and 110dB intermodulation-free dynamic range?

Congrats again and I'm positive you'll be very happy with your new high-end toy!

[Wuerstchenhund]

From your answer it appears you may have missed the main reason why someone would want to get a R&S FSEA30:
It appears to be one of the (perhaps even the) most cpable semi-modern SA in terms of dynamic range, resolution bandwidth, intermodulation and phase noise performance, that amateur money can buy.

Almost.  There's still the FSIQ

Where else would you get 20Hz ~ 3.5GHz, 1Hz RBW, -123dBc/Hz phase noise @ 20kHz and 110dB intermodulation-free dynamic range?

If I remember right the FSIQ (a Signal Analyzer which is pretty much an FSEx on steroids) offers even slightly better specs in some areas. Plus it comes with the various signal analysis functions.

But yes, back then these were pretty much the best SA's on the market - and that includes HP's/Agilent's counterparts.

[Muxr]

I sort of knew it was highly regarded by folks in the industry, but this is my first SA so I don't know yet how much of a difference those capabilities will make in my day to day use of it, I had very basic requirements. Happy to hear it's a great performer.

Once I get it, will probably do a few mods to it.. like backup the disk image and perhaps do an SSD conversion.. maybe even floppy USB emulator, also check for batteries that might need replacing.

[joeqsmith]

Been on a lookout for a SA for a long time now.. on and off for a year or so.. and finally pulled a trigger on a Rohde & Schwarz FSEA-30

I've considered the new Siglent as well as the Signal Hound, but in the end the RS won.

SCORE!  What options does it have? 

[Wuerstchenhund]

I sort of knew it was highly regarded by folks in the industry, but this is my first SA so I don't know yet how much of a difference those capabilities will make in my day to day use of it, I had very basic requirements. Happy to hear it's a great performer.

It is. The UI is a bit cumbersome in some areas but not overly so, and the good thing is that if you can drive the FSEA then you can also operate most of R&S' later models as the UI is the same.

Once I get it, will probably do a few mods to it.. like backup the disk image and perhaps do an SSD conversion.. maybe even floppy USB emulator, also check for batteries that might need replacing.

The SSD conversion is a good idea (just leave some space unused so the SSD's GC can do its thing). I'd also replace the coin cell on the FMR (the "PC" controller).

I'd not bother with the floppy emulators, unless you really need USB storage. You can retrofit an Ethernet adapter if your doesn't already come with it. The FSxx Series is based on x86 PCs with ISA bus. There's an old SMC network card that would work (can't remember the model, though, but it was a fairly common card back then). If you have one of the later FSEAs which run Windows NT then you should be able to use pretty much any ISA network card that comes with WindowsNT drivers.

Also, if you have NT, I'd install the last Service Pack (6a) and upgrade the scope software to the last version.

[Muxr]

SCORE!  What options does it have?

Based on the seller's description it's pretty vanilla.. no TG or Vector Analysis.. just B15 Computer Function and B16 Ethernet (which is nice).

I've picked up a cheap wide band noise generator though, for now.

The SSD conversion is a good idea (just leave some space unused so the SSD's GC can do its thing). I'd also replace the coin cell on the FMR (the "PC" controller).

I'd not bother with the floppy emulators, unless you really need USB storage. You can retrofit an Ethernet adapter if your doesn't already come with it. The FSxx Series is based on x86 PCs with ISA bus. There's an old SMC network card that would work (can't remember the model, though, but it was a fairly common card back then). If you have one of the later FSEAs which run Windows NT then you should be able to use pretty much any ISA network card that comes with WindowsNT drivers.

Also, if you have NT, I'd install the last Service Pack (6a) and upgrade the scope software to the last version.

Thanks for the info.. yup will look to do all those things. One of the reasons I wanted to do the floppy USB conversion, other than just the convenience of having a thumb drive for data was that the floppy drive has yellowed over the years, silly I know 

[luckyflyer]

HP/Agilent/KS has a very active users group here https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/hp_agilent_equipment/info Does RS have a similar group somewhere? I did a search and came up empty.

[Wuerstchenhund]

I've picked up a cheap wide band noise generator though, for now.

I can't remember if it was available for the FSEx but many R&S SA's have an option called 'external generator control' which allows to use a standalone RF generator as TG. The best thing is that it doesn't just support R&S generators (i.e. SMIQ) but als some HP/Agilent ones as well.

One of the reasons I wanted to do the floppy USB conversion, other than just the convenience of having a thumb drive for data was that the floppy drive has yellowed over the years, silly I know 

Not at all. It's one of the things that annoys the hell out of me as well. I usually replace such drives, i.e. find a better looking white/grey/black one, a blank, or (if it's useful, i.e. it can be functional with the specific instrument) some usb module or media card reader.

For an FSEx I'd probably look at some IDE to PCMCIA or IDE to CF adapter in floppy format. Not hot-pluggable but gives you lots of removable storage for screenshots and data.

[Wuerstchenhund]

HP/Agilent/KS has a very active users group here https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/hp_agilent_equipment/info Does RS have a similar group somewhere? I did a search and came up empty.

https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Rohde_Schwarz/info not sufficient?

[pascal_sweden]

schalke04.rs-fanclub.wuerstchenhund.sa

[Wuerstchenhund]

schalke04.rs-fanclub.wuerstchenhund.sa

 

[pascal_sweden]

Sorry, I could not let that one go

[luckyflyer]

Hmm, I think I did a Rhodes & Schwarz instead of Rhode. Picky search engines they do what you tell them, not what you want. ............Thanks

https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Rohde_Schwarz/info not sufficient?

[Muxr]

R&S FSEA30 arrived today.. self. cal passes and it looks good so far.



Going on a trip soon but once I get back will have to do the SSD conversion etc..

[joeqsmith]

Wow, that looks real nice!  Have fun on your trip.  Looking forward to see this thing in operation.

[rf-loop]

R&S FSEA30 arrived today.. self. cal passes and it looks good so far.



Going on a trip soon but once I get back will have to do the SSD conversion etc..

What is signal in this image?

Can you show exactly same also without signal. (this noise level is bit high but it can be also this signal what is now totally undefined)

[Muxr]

R&S FSEA30 arrived today.. self. cal passes and it looks good so far.



Going on a trip soon but once I get back will have to do the SSD conversion etc..

What is signal in this image?

Can you show exactly same also without signal. (this noise level is bit high but it can be also this signal what is now totally undefined)

Signal is coming from a cheap Chinese DSS my other Sig Gen is too far on the other side of the office. (I've put the this SA on my free bench space since I want to do a teardown and some preventative maintenance.. like SSD conversion and battery change).

I suspect the high noise floor comes down to the attenuation / ref. level I am set on.

This is what it looks like with just a 50 ohm termination:


If I change the ref. level so that the attenuation goes down to 10dB (from 20dB):


If I really narrow the span and use the highest resolution available (1Hz):

[joeqsmith]

We need a sticky SA spreadsheet next.

I wonder how the systems are designed.   My old analyzers were swept with analog filters.  The 3589A is swept but sampled with digital filters.  The Signal Hound is a whole different animal with it's 27MHz bandwidth (which I have yet to try, come on new PC  ).  I attempted to repeat your setup with the BB60C.   Sweeps times are as slow as it goes.   Gain was set to 3 for all tests. 

[Performa01]

The specs say: <-145dBm, typ. -150dBm for >10MHz  center frequency, 10Hz RBW, 1Hz VBW and 0dB attenuation.

You still have 10dB attenuation, so without that the displayed noise floor would be somewhere near -150dBm. Since you’re using 1Hz RBW, we’d expect <-155dBm - maybe there’s still some other setting left to optimize.

The 1st order dynamic range is specified as 165dB for 1Hz RBW and the 1dB compression point is +10dBm (which is 10~15dB higher than the usual candidates and this is what makes the FSE analyzers so great), which confirms that the noise floor should indeed not be higher than -155dBm in this scenario.

But even if your particular unit doesn’t quite meet its specs and the noise floor is some 5dB higher than expected and the 1st order dynamic range is “only” 160dB – don’t worry. There are still not many other analyzers that could compete.

The usual Chinese budget SA have some -5dB CP – and consequently would have to display a noise floor of -165dBm/Hz (or -170dBm/Hz to meet the R&S specs for the 1st order dynamic range) with preamp off.

Not to mention the FSEA30 phenomenal 115dB 3rd order dynamic range (above 50MHz), which is the one that really counts. And this doesn’t require the lowest possible noise floor, but exceptional linearity in the entire signal path up to the point, where the narrow band filtering occurs, which for narrow RBWs is the digital processing after the ADC in the final IF…