[Test-Equipment] HP-436A Power Meter

Sat, 28 Feb 2004 17:44:09 -0500

Another decent power meter is the Boonton 42BD, some call it a "economy"
HP.
I picked up one with cable and the almost DC -18 GHz 41-4E sensor at an
equipment auction for a mere $47 as 99.9% of the bidders were after HP
gear only.

Calibration was a bit off from the chart so I made a new one using a HP
437B as the standard. I prefer using the Boonton for general around the
bench work and preserving the 4841A and 4847A sensors for when
absolutely necessary to be NIST accurate.

Carl
KM1H
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "KL�S" <[email protected]>
To: "Mail List - Test Equipment" <[email protected]>
Sent: Thursday, February 26, 2004 12:31 PM
Subject: Re: [Test-Equipment] HP-436A Power Meter

Ditto what George said about low power sensors....I took a chance buying
my
HP 8481D (the -70 dBm to -20 dBm model) on eBay....looked VERY hard at
the
feedback the seller had and the kinds of things he had sold before, to
include several sensors.  Needless to say I was pretty apprehensive when
I
first powered it up, starting at -127 dBm from the service monitor and
working my way up.  When I passed -70 dBm and didn't get a reading I
started
to say "I told you so" until it finally kicked in about 2 dBm later....I
think the 436 will "hang onto" a signal once it has acquired it since I
could then move back down and get a reading at -70 dBm.   Phewwwwww!!!!

'Course all you can say about eBay is that there's nothing you can say
about
eBay -- I got this unit as the only bidder for about $400....a similar
unit
from another seller two days later had 25 bidders and went for $585 and
the
day following that same seller offered another with a starting price of
$500
and a Buy it Now of $700....all without the required attenuator.  Heck,
you
can buy a refurbished one with a warranty AND the attenuator from Bell
Electronics (where I got my other sensor) for about $650.

What  a world we live in.....

73 -- Dino KL�S/4

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