|
one problem i find is that the market for stuff like this is soo small that
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
it isnt worth my time. i cant afford to spend alot of time on things that have very little return at oner time i had enough money to play for long periods of time that isnt the case any longer im not as fotunate as john miles. ----- Original Message -----
From: John Miles To: hp_agilent_equipment@... Sent: Saturday, November 17, 2007 3:16 PM Subject: RE: [hp_agilent_equipment] HP8565 hacking/mods > Hi John, > Yes I have seen that unit - I was pondering something more > sophisticated. Along the lines of 100MSa/s to FPGA to digitize x,y or > if and an embedded web-server to get the data out. Keep in mind that there's no benefit to digitizing post-detected trace signals (x and y) at rates beyond the bandwidth of the widest video filter, typically a few MHz at most. And if you digitize the final IF, the bandwidth may still be limited to a few MHz by other filters in the SA's signal chain. If you are that ambitious, I think the best approach -- meaning, the one that would benefit others the most, and require you to do the least original engineering work -- would be to launch a project using the USRP or other GNU Radio peripherals as a general-purpose spectrum analyzer back end. Keep it simple at first or you'll never get anywhere! Trust me on that... > I figure I might > have enough space on that board and use the control inputs for other > purposes such as selected storage mode or other function since they > wouldn't be controlling the tube any more. Still early ponderances - > I only just got the SA and need to play with it a bit more!! I've > decided its time to move into the exciting world of RF and high speed > digital - spent enough of time on slow - medium speed digital and > software - besides - that's what I do at work. It's definitely a good idea to spend time coming to grips with the limitations of what you have. The obvious specification deficiencies aren't always the ones that will end up limiting your measurements. > I was interested in your hybrid 2GHz vco and possible use as a yig > stabilizer. Heh... that will teach you all you (n)ever wanted to know about noise and stability. Building a clean YIG synthesizer is a challenging project. I still haven't managed to do as well as the old HP designs, even with much-newer opamps and other parts... which is one reason I chickened out when I realized I was faced with that sort of problem in my 8566 'redesign' project. It will have to wait until I can devote a lot more time to it. > I just realised that we looked at using your pc sound system where I > work. We're now moving from SGIs into pcs and may be looking at it > again. :-) Oh, you mean the sound system I'm supposed to be working on right now. Oh, yeah, THAT. :) -- john, KE5FX |
