PSA: Blew $150 on a cheap spectrum analyzer from eBay

Ngl I thought I was scoring a deal on a used Anritsu unit but it was totally out of calibration. Spent 3 hours chasing a ghost signal on a King radio before I figured it out. Anyone else get burned by secondhand test gear?

2 comments

2 Comments

wren_jackson25d ago

Brother I feel your pain. Picked up a "lightly used" Siglent from a guy on Craigslist for $80 and it took me a month to realize the reference oscillator was shot. Was tuning a VHF repeater and kept getting weird frequency drift. Finally borrowed a buddy's Agilent and saw my readings were off by nearly 15 kHz the whole time. Ended up spending another $40 on replacement parts and my time. These cheap deals just end up costing you more in the long run.

the_jana25d ago

Wait actually a 15 kHz drift on a Siglent sounds more like a bad PLL lock than just the reference oscillator being shot. Those units use a TCXO that might drift a few hundred Hz tops even when failing. Probably had a cracked solder joint on the main board or something.