Recently, I've become very interested in RF measurement and testing. Adam, VA7OJ, has been a terrific mentor with his extensive knowledge and very well stocked testing bench.
Previously, I thought the best way to create a test bench was to build what I needed. However, lately the prices of fantastic 'not-so-young-anymore' commercial equipment is such that a lab can be assembled on a very limited budget.
So far I've accummulated the following commercial test equipment:
- HP3562A Dynamic Signal Analyzer (a spectrum analyzer 0.064Hz to 100KHz)*
- HP8640B RF signal generator
- HP3586B Selective Level Meter*
- HP437B Digital RF Power Meter*
- HP435A Analog RF Power Meter
- HP8482A Power Sensor (works with either of the above power meters)
- RACAL DANA 1996 Frequency counter*
- RACAL DANA 1992 Frequency counter*
- HP3488 Data Acquisition System (variety of analog and RF input modules)*
- Tek 2236 Analog Oscilloscope
- Kenwood DC Power Supplies (2)
Recent additions:
- HP6632A Programmable Power Supply*
- Marconi 2380/2382 Spectrum Analyzer*
* These are programmable using HPIB and a Prologix interface adapter.
Other testing equipment includes:
- N2PK VNA, original LPT version
- N2PK VNA, dual detector, USB version
- Power Meter OZ2CPU
- GPS Disciplined 10Mhz Oscillator
- TADD-1 10Mhz Distribution Amplifier
- IQ - DDS Oscillator
- DDS PIC Oscillator
- Capacitor ESR tester
- M3 Semiconductor tester
- AMQRP Antenna Analyzer
- Kuranishi BR210 Antenna Analyzer
- ...
A look at the close-in noise performance of my HP8640B using the HP3586B as a down-converter. For this test I used the MO of the RACAL 1992 (top) rather than the GPSDO. The HP3586B and the RACAL 1996 are both locked the MO and appear to show a difference of 5Hz (reading 14.1MHz) because they are triggering asynchronously. The laptop is capturing screen dumps from the HP3562A Signal Analyzer. I am trying to determine if this level of phase noise is typical for an HP8640B.