I used to use a signal generator (analog), frequency counter, and a diode load
so adding even a digital oscillator DDS or NCO was a giant step forward in
making basic measurements.
If a SA at ~1500$US is out of reach the lowly 9850 DDS and arduino plus a
RF power sensor (8307 or one of the many others) will allow many of the
same measurements at a fraction of the cost in exchange for time to plot
the points.
It is also possible to use the above to plot to a graphic display?
by taking the power sensor output to the analog input of the arduino
allowing graphic display of the results.?
The 5351 is good but the square wave output will mess you up for many
measurements due to the rich harmonic output.? Two common measurements
are SWR and filter bandwidth/cutoff are hard to do with harmonics present.
Allison
