Ok i know i sound like a broken record but i still consider the 70000
series the best choice if you need a good lab analyzer.
First off its a synthesized unit and you can piece it together and
expand it as needed, the lowest RF gets you to 2.9GHz and you can add
color display plus they are cheap !
If you only need 1.5GHz go for a 8568A or B need to go higher and dont
want to mess with modules buy a 8566 !
In my sincere opinion there is really no more excuse for somebody to
mess with a unit thats not synthesized, the difference in price is not
this much anymore and the performance and stability is just alot better.
I have worked with 8590 series analyzers and every one of them was able
to win a marathon :)
When HP build the 8590 they too the basic RF from the 8558 added a
processor board and display and thats it.
Tek 278 and 9 series are nice until you have to fix them, many
adjustments are done in software and the service software, altough it
is available requires lotus measure - good luck finding a copy !
the other downside is that there are many "prototype" units on ebay
that came out of tek and not even tek can service them anymore.
R+S is nice as well but expensive as hell even used, if you can afford
one or find one cheap go for it - you wont be disapointed.
