[R-390] Leader Equipment

[2002tii]

Barry wrote:

>Is Leader brand test gear any good?  Looking at an audio signal generator
>and wondering if the brand is reliable.

Leader made a wide variety of items of differing quality over the 
years.  Based on what they made in the '70s, I always thought of them 
as kind of like B&K (not Bruel & Kjaer -- B&K).  In the '80s and 
'90s, Leader tried with limited success (as far as I could tell) to 
move upmarket, with a line of microprocessor-controlled equipment 
(lots of buttons, no dials).

I have a Leader 1300S 2 MHz analog sweep/function generator that 
works OK.  I think those were made in the '80s, but I'm not 
positive.  As another list member said, it's no Tek or HP, but it 
does sweep and it was cheap.  It's relatively light, and if I need a 
portable sweep/function generator I sometimes grab it, particularly 
if I'm worried about damage/theft/etc.  I generally use a Tek SG504 
40 MHz sweep/function generator if I'm not expecting the going to get 
tough because I can also conveniently bring other useful TM-5xx modules.

Not that the Tek 5xx stuff is all world-class, mind you -- some of 
the modules are plenty quirky.  The DM501A DMM, for example, puts so 
much hash and other digital garbage out of its input that you can't 
get it anywhere near a radio, and the frequency counters tend to be 
fussy about triggering.

Best regards,

Don