I have had a Y400 with both modules for a few years now, and also have a Cellmaster MT8212B.
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For starters, the Y400 has Windows CE as its operating system. It is a touchscreen.
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I compared the Y400 to a Sitemaster S331L that was a few months old and still in calibration. We swept several antennas from low band to 470 MHz. The Y400 and the 331L were within 1-2 db of each other on all the measurements we made. In my opinion other than the portability, the Y400 will produce very accurate results for return loss measurements for antenna testing. ?
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As far as the Spectrum Analyzer goes, I actually think the Y400 might be just a touch nicer to use. The Cellmaster S/A goes down to 9 KHz so it looks pretty low in frequency. You can adjust the span from zero to several MHz depending on the frequency you are looking at. The Cellmaster also has built-in attenuation and preamp to choose from.
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For tuning duplexers, isolators, filters...etc...the edge goes to the Cellmaster but it has to have the Transmission option.? With either one you have to change modes when going from looking at gain to return loss. Both will do the job quite well but you can not display both screens at once like you can with a real VNA. Both have a range of 20-25 MHz to 1000 MHz. There is an option for the Cellmaster that allows it o go lower in frequency in the transmission mode.
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They both need to have good quality test cables and calibration loads. For the Anritsu the Instacal module is OK, but individual loads or an OSL device will give you a bit more precise calibration.
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I recently had the need to add a new window to a master receive antenna system and 2 new channels to a transmit combiner. I used the Cellmaster to do pretty much everything involved in that onsite, including tuning the EMR dual port isolators, the transmit combiner cavities, and the receive window filter.? Since I have the CW generator option, I was able to use that option to speed up the scan refresh rate so there was less delay in the screen updates when tuning everything.
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The CW generator option is not something that I see as real useful as there are no audio generators and it requires the use of a external variable attenuation kit to vary the output level.
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I think the Y400 and the Cellmaster are about the same for battery run time.? The Y400 may actually last a bit longer but mine has 2 batteries in it also making it a bit heavier.
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Whichever route you go try and find something that has as many cables, loads and other accessories with it as possible as those can sometimes cost as much or more than what you pay for the unit.
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Joe - WA7JAW
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