I made the mistake of buying the version in the extruded aluminum housing some time back. At the time the software writer wasn't providing the newer versions, I heard he was pissed they keep making all these, using his software, and expecting him to support them. At least the box looks great. Absolutely horrible device. I think I messed with it off and on for 2 weeks and threw it into the woods beside my shop. This was a necessary act to bring an end losing time messing with it.
I also went pregnant with this one (as we used to say in Germany), but didnt purchase it, because it lacks a real tracking generator, which I wanted to do frequeny behaviour analysis of several parts I have already in my lab. Instead I bought an elderly standalone Siglent 3 GHz model SSA 3030 containing a TG for a resonable price.
You are experiencing the same range of emotions that I fealt when I purchased one a while back. Any one that has used a real spectrum analyser will come to the same conclusions. Not enough sample points or RBW. The notch in the true peaks drives me nuts. An interesting toy at best.
Starting at around 4:55 the video and audio go out of synch. Tried twice with same results. Quite an interesting device, but disappointing accuracy. :-(
I bought one of those on a whim ("hey, that might be fun to play with") several years ago, but hadn't got around to doing anything with it yet. I guess the good news is that although I did waste money on it, I haven't wasted any time on it.
I seem to remember you reviewing the PCB version without the case of this SA before with pretty much the same results, maybe it was somebody else. I bought one but never could make it work properly.
The issues look similar to firmware / hardware interface problems. Does the author of the firmware show any working screenshots? Is there a PCB rev level to firmware compatibility listing somewhere? Lastly, have some of the Linux firmware versions been tried? The test results are so poor it's hard to see how this unit could have been tested before shipping.
My thoughts exactly! Like a NanoVNA, they must be calibrated to get meaningful results. Once calibrated, these are usable. Not a replacement for a real SA, but usable for a hobbyist.
Thank you for testing this one. At least the aluminium box it came in was nice, will make a great project box once you remove the stuff inside 😀
I made the mistake of buying the version in the extruded aluminum housing some time back. At the time the software writer wasn't providing the newer versions, I heard he was pissed they keep making all these, using his software, and expecting him to support them. At least the box looks great. Absolutely horrible device. I think I messed with it off and on for 2 weeks and threw it into the woods beside my shop. This was a necessary act to bring an end losing time messing with it.
I also went pregnant with this one (as we used to say in Germany), but didnt purchase it, because it lacks a real tracking generator, which I wanted to do frequeny behaviour analysis of several parts I have already in my lab. Instead I bought an elderly standalone Siglent 3 GHz model SSA 3030 containing a TG for a resonable price.
You are experiencing the same range of emotions that I fealt when I purchased one a while back. Any one that has used a real spectrum analyser will come to the same conclusions. Not enough sample points or RBW. The notch in the true peaks drives me nuts. An interesting toy at best.
Starting at around 4:55 the video and audio go out of synch. Tried twice with same results. Quite an interesting device, but disappointing accuracy. :-(
I'm re-editing the video
I bought one of those on a whim ("hey, that might be fun to play with") several years ago, but hadn't got around to doing anything with it yet. I guess the good news is that although I did waste money on it, I haven't wasted any time on it.
opps, way out of sync with your comments
I seem to remember you reviewing the PCB version without the case of this SA before with pretty much the same results, maybe it was somebody else. I bought one but never could make it work properly.
The issues look similar to firmware / hardware interface problems. Does the author of the firmware show any working screenshots? Is there a PCB rev level to firmware compatibility listing somewhere? Lastly, have some of the Linux firmware versions been tried? The test results are so poor it's hard to see how this unit could have been tested before shipping.
I bet the extra spurs are the usb/micro-controller section. It looks like they did nothing to isolate that from SA
Does it also use IAM81008 mixer?
It was fun to discover that it "sees" the signal of motion sensor radar at 10.5 GHz.
Did I miss the calibration?
My thoughts exactly! Like a NanoVNA, they must be calibrated to get meaningful results. Once calibrated, these are usable. Not a replacement for a real SA, but usable for a hobbyist.
@@ProdigalPorcupine yes, no cal, but the SNASHARP software requires you to calibrate before moving on. Try differant software
can it replace my HP 141T boat anchor? (please!) lol ---- edit...nope! dang. I want to free up some bench space!
So it's junk.
Where can I get one of these ?
You might try looking in IMSAI Guy's trash can.
@@JimAndyAllyn I think there is also one in the woods beside my old house.
it's chinese garbage by any lowest level of expectation