Dawn wrote: > I checked the archives and noticed there was scant mention of these units. > For the money, these seem like a dream come true. From what I understand, > once set up in the test mode, they have most all of the function of the > HP-8920 series minus the following: > > No Edacs,LTR or any signaling formats or DPL except raw tone generation and > DTMF. > > Three watt limitation > > No frequency count on Spec A screen > > Pre-set squelch or none. > > Otherwise these function as a complete service monitor from 100kc-1 gig and > another second band to 1.7gig. > > I also gather that with a suitable thruline or similar power attenuator, the > wattmeter indication can be adjusted to read correctly removing the 3 watt > limitation. > > If all this is correct and with an external multi format tone generator such > as Motorola's or Cromco's and a Multiformat tone reader such as Opto's or > Connect System's boxes, you pretty much have the entire enchilada por poco > dinero. > Am I missing something or is this quite possibly a fantastic deal due to the > shere amount of orphaned CDMA/TDMA test sets since GSM? > Anyone have one of these? The 100 kc-1 gig isn't part of Agilent's specs. Is > this a hack or was this a function of earlier units? > > Any info or caveats appreciated on these units.
I bought one recently on eBay. It had, what the seller referred to as, a 'jittery' display. It also has the desired "Option 102" (spectrum analyzer / tracking generator. They can be branded either HP or Agilent. Some later models aren't able to tune below 800 MHz, as the downconverter and input modules 'may' not be calibrated by the factory for operation in this portion of the spectrum. Also, the firmware on the newer units doesn't support operation below 800 and some other functionality. The unit I was watching looked pretty good, had 102, and I took the plunge... There is a guy in Lakewood NY that is very knowledgeable on HP / Agilent equipment (as well as some other brands). His name is Rick Bowman, and he owns Amtronix Instruments. Before purchasing my unit, I asked Rick all of the same questions you are wondering about. Basically, if you buy one from eBay or another surplus source, it isn't known if you will have a 'good one' until someone like Rick takes a look and determines what it needs. I lucked out. Even though the unit I have has a serial number above what Rick considered would be okay for operation below 800, mine didn't require a different downconverter or input module. It did require a firmware downgrade and I had him run it through calibration. The display jitter was caused by some bad capacitors on the display board. If you have one of these and the display is jittery, don't run it as it will eventually take out the regulators on the display board. My display is a little burned - common I'm told for these machines. Rick has these units already 'fixed up' from time to time for around $700.00. He is currently out of stock on these, but expects to be getting some in soon. My suggestion is to get on his waiting list. Rick is a good guy to deal with. His prices are fair and his work second to none. In the past, I have used the HP 8920A/B and my HP E8285A is very similar in operation. Basically it doesn't have the items you mentioned above, but does have a few things that the 8920 doesn't. It is a good machine, and for the price, you can't beat it for a good monitor. I'm told all E8285A's have the high-stability reference oscillator. Here's a page that does a comparison between them: http://www.amtronix.com/e8285a.htm Rick can be reached at: http://www.amtronix.com/ Kevin Custer
