[time-nuts] OT: HP 8590A

John Miles jmiles at pop.net
Sun Feb 21 22:52:38 UTC 2010


>
> I remember we've had one in the company where I was working back then.
> It was ok for TV and similar stuff.
> The frequency stability was not really great, but what can you expect
> from a free running 1st LO?
> The drift was specified < 50 kHz / 5 min after 2 hours warmup and 5
> minutes after setting the center frequency.
> Also, note the center frequency accuracy of < +/- 5 MHz...
> Btw. the drift spec was bumped up to 75 kHz for the B model, so it might
> have been a bit optimistic.
> Well, if it costs near nothing, and your applications are not very
> demanding, it might be worth considering.

This is the key point.  For $1500 you can get an 8590A that is basically a
drifty, noisy, repackaged 141T-era analyzer, or you can get an 8568B that
you can take to the bank on Friday and to church on Sunday.  Unless you are
really limited on bench space, it just doesn't make any sense to buy an
8590A when prices have come down so far on hardware that is so much better.

There have been a *lot* of discussions along these lines in the archives.
Not everyone agrees, but the market dynamics seem clear enough to me.

-- john, KE5FX




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