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Rant: That 20 year old spectrum analyzer I bought off eBay was a mistake
Found a HP 8590L for $150 last month. Thought I was getting a steal. Hooked it up to check a UHF antenna on a King Air and the thing drifted 2 MHz in 10 minutes. Called a buddy at the local avionics shop and he said those old units need to warm up for like an hour before they stabilize. Even then the accuracy is questionable. Learned my lesson. Stick with gear that's been recertified or I'm just wasting time chasing ghosts. Any of you guys ever get burned by old test equipment?
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blair_davis3d ago
Learned my lesson" is a good way to put it, but keep in mind that drift also messes up older service monitors for radios, not just spectrum analyzers. Have you checked the caps or PSU in that 8590L yet?
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xena_miller313d ago
Man I used to hunt for deals on old HP gear all the time but after borrowing a buddy's beat up 8560A and seeing it drift like crazy I totally get it now. Not worth the headache for anything critical.
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