[Test-Equipment] giga 6061A vs HP 8656x

[kd7nm]

Hi Eugene,

The word I got from some one who as I recall was one of the
engineering managers for the Fluke 6060/6061 generators is
that they compare favorably against the HP 8662A for phase
noise, attenuator accuracy, frequency stability (depending
on which timebase option you get), etc.  He also commented
that when Gigatronics bought the product line from Fluke,
that there were some reductions in parts quality and looser
specifications on performance.  That said, they're probably
still at least on par with the 8656/8657 series generators. 

I personally found an 6071A on eBay for about $375 - and
ultimately figured out why it was sold.  If you have to pull
the front panel on these generators, the RF output connector
on mine is actually an SMA-F to N-F adapter, mounted on a
sub-panel.  Apparently those who'd taken it apart before
didn't realize that (no manual?) and had cracked the shield
on the semi-rigid coax going to the SMA plug.  That
eventually broke the connection to the center-pin - some of
the time.

Hope that helps,

Bob Donnell

----- Original Message Follows -----
From: "Eugene Hertz" <ehertz at tcaf.org>
To: test-equipment at mailman.qth.net
Subject: [Test-Equipment] giga 6061A vs HP 8656x
Date: Mon, 10 Jul 2006 17:52:04 +0000

>Hello all, 
>
>looking for an rf gen to near about 1Ghz or so.  Been
>thinking about the HP 8656B or possibly 8657A depending on
>what I can get for cheap(ish).  Came across a gigatronics
>6061A for a few hundred less that the typical HP units and
>was wondering, is this a decent unit? Should I stick to HP?
>Should I avoid the 6061A like the plague for any reason
>(reliability, parts, etc?)
>
>thanks
>Eugene
>
>
>
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