A lot of people are touting the Tiny spectrum analyzer which looks like it was done by the same people that do the tiny NVA. I saw a video on it, and unfortunately it seems to have a lot of issues. So I am pretty happy I got this one. I know it is a bit of a hassle to fiddle around with external attenuators, but I don't think even some of the older Agilent / HP and other models I have seen are pretty much limited to 0 dBm. I found a 20 dB from Crystec for $18.55 at Digikey: CATTEN-0200. A couple of those in series would put you at -10dBm. Their 10 dB model costs the same: CATTEN-0100 and a 20 dB and 10 dB screwed together would put you at 0 dBm and you will be safe with just about any spectrum analyzer. You just have to keep a mental note of the external attenuation when taking measurements. I got really luck - a company I used to work for had the best discards - when they fired or laid someone off, the big gray bins came out, all their stuff went in for recycling. We were free to dumpster dive if we wanted anything, and we could even take things home. I got a Pasternack attenuator with 1dB steps from 0 to 63 dB, so that is what I used. Its relays have gotten weak, it no longer works from TTL levels, but I drive with 6V and they work fine. Probably why they threw it away but I get plenty of work with it.
Hi, do you know if this model have a selectable manual or automatic attenuation? I need to measure +30dbm
I need to measure +30dbm. Do you recommend any other model with this price range?
A lot of people are touting the Tiny spectrum analyzer which looks like it was done by the same people that do the tiny NVA. I saw a video on it, and unfortunately it seems to have a lot of issues. So I am pretty happy I got this one. I know it is a bit of a hassle to fiddle around with external attenuators, but I don't think even some of the older Agilent / HP and other models I have seen are pretty much limited to 0 dBm. I found a 20 dB from Crystec for $18.55 at Digikey: CATTEN-0200. A couple of those in series would put you at -10dBm. Their 10 dB model costs the same: CATTEN-0100 and a 20 dB and 10 dB screwed together would put you at 0 dBm and you will be safe with just about any spectrum analyzer. You just have to keep a mental note of the external attenuation when taking measurements. I got really luck - a company I used to work for had the best discards - when they fired or laid someone off, the big gray bins came out, all their stuff went in for recycling. We were free to dumpster dive if we wanted anything, and we could even take things home. I got a Pasternack attenuator with 1dB steps from 0 to 63 dB, so that is what I used. Its relays have gotten weak, it no longer works from TTL levels, but I drive with 6V and they work fine. Probably why they threw it away but I get plenty of work with it.
Not bad!