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Thread: Spectrum Analyzer suitability for CB radios

  1. #21
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    You know... to speak the plain truth... I feel that I was lucky with mine.

    I bought it at a hamfest here in the Houston area....but I bought it in the "tailgate" area outside the main building.
    I didn't know a SINGLE thing about spectrum analyzers.... other than..... it didn't seem like I could beat it.... for the price of $130.

    It was after I got home and started studying that I discovered how easy they are to damage AND HOW EASILY it could have BEEN damaged when I bought it.

    So either luck was with me, or the many was decent.... I'd kind of like to think BOTH!!!! As it worked fine when I got around to trying it out.

    I didn't know about building a little "coily pickup" non-contact probe until somewhat later.... and it took me a while to understand EXACTLY how the "care and feeding" of an SA worked. I had to get comfortable with the concept of dB and dBm and just HOW both attenuation AND proper power dissipation had to work together....to provide a 0 dBm (and NO MORE than +10 dBm!) signal .....and THEN built the -40 dBm sampler that I built.

    I definitely have enjoyed having it on the bench though. Perhaps I am foolish....but I tend to lean towards being a "clean air / clean modulation" nut and have already taken the CB that I had on my desk "out of service" after seeing IT on the SA. HORRIBLE .... HORRIBLE modulation harmonics present in the signal!!!!

    Again, as I eventually "close in" on retirement... I have a stack of radios of my own here... that I want to evaluate, repair, align and HOPEFULLY make them work as well or better than they ever did.

    Again too, I wish you luck in getting yours going. Do keep me in mind and let me know how it goes for you.

  2. #22
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    Not as easy as I thought. First of all, the problem doesn't seem to be in the input section. The input is traceable for quite a ways. No smoke, no charcoal. The seller knew he had a dog so that's why he let it go so cheap.

    I am in my retirement and for some time now I have enjoyed fixing machinery such as air compressors. generators and misc. small engine projects.

    Problem is, my wife is sick of seeing our back yard looking like Sanford and Sons, and as we get older she keeps talking about "downsizing". The future is that my hobbies must fit comfortably into a spare bedroom. Part of that will be computing and the other part will be radio operations and repair. Thus my quest to build a radio repair bench. She will likely be retiring within the year so the heat is on.

    The future also holds prospect for camping and RVing. In my spare time I'm converting a Ford E-350 van into an RV/Radio shack with solar power and a battery bank suitable for boondocking.

    I currently have a 5HP, 2 stage, 80 gallon compressor and a Grizzly table saw with dust collector for sale, and the proceeds will help fund these projects.

    Other than that, I don't have much to do.

    Best wishes for a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and yours. 73, Jim
    Last edited by okrobie; 12-22-2021 at 05:01 AM.
    35 years clean and sober, by the Grace of God. (PM me if you want to know more.)

  3. #23
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    A sort of "reverse" situation here regarding retirement. My wife retired from the work force last in September 2020. I am still working for a couple of years... but I love my job so it really isn't a load on me. I have a room in the house... sort of to myself. This is a room the previous owner built up out of the original back porch. Did a really nice job... the only issue is... the way they did it... there is no DOOR to the dining room area... it is wide open all the time. This means.... guests that walk through the dining in to the kitchen... if they turn their heads.....are looking right in here... so it is incumbent on me to keep it as neat as I can....but she really is not too fussy about it.

    As I go I will be making improvements to the room, the workbench, the shelving unit for equipment, the radio desk, a cabinet or two for storage...and try to keep it as presentable as I can.

    Here is a couple of older pics of what I have now. I have realized that this kind of shelving is not going to work well so it will be replaces ultimately. Not showing are the 1.3 Ghz Beckman Freq counter and the Eico 950B Capacitor/Resistance bridge/tester... and the Wavetek audio function generator.
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  4. #24
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    Wishing you and all of yours a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
    Our flock will start descending on us tomorrow mid-day. I hope you have a great Holiday Season.

    de KG5JAI

  5. #25
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    Thanks for your Christmas wishes. Same back atcha.

    I'm seeing a little glimmer of hope with my SA. I'm seeing some RF getting through to the screen. I wasn't seeing any signal in the low band at 30 Mhz. So I tried band 2 at 300 Mhz. The signal is getting through and displaying on the screen as a sine wave. Not displaying any frequency sweep for the spectrum display. At least it shows that the front end is healthy on that band.
    35 years clean and sober, by the Grace of God. (PM me if you want to know more.)

  6. #26
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    Typo

    Hi Bob, just a little FYI. I’ve been in the hospital with COVID for a few days. I’m getting better now but I’ll be in quarantine for nine more days. Please keep me in your thoughts and prayers as I recover. Thanks, Jim

  7. #27
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    I regret hearing that and hope that you make a climb out of that.

    Both my wife and I had it in late May of this year. We had both been Phizered in Jan/Feb so we were one of the breakthrough cases but I can say that from the vax... Vax... symptoms only lasted a week.. no hospital. My wife was positive but never had symptoms at all.

    We followed up with a booster in September. We just found out on Christmas day that... on Christmas Eve.. we were in direct contact with a family member who was tested THAT NIGHT and found positive. We are now 7 days down the road and no symptoms or effects at all.

    I already have offered a prayer that you recover fully .... and that you get that SA back to working... so that we can get on to the fun stuff!

    Take care of yourself my friend.

    Bob

    Sent from my SM-G991U using Tapatalk

  8. #28
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    Thank you for your prayer Bob

    I have had the J&J and my wife had both Pfizer but we hadn't yet taken boosters. I think we caught Omicron because our symptoms were like a heavy case of flu. Never felt threatened.

    What is this Tap-A-Talk? I have been a member of many forums throughout the years and in fact hosted a few, but I never needed a third party app to participate
    Last edited by okrobie; 12-31-2021 at 04:01 PM. Reason: typos
    35 years clean and sober, by the Grace of God. (PM me if you want to know more.)

  9. #29
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    I think of it as a phone app that can handle connection to forums.... IF the forum knows how to deal with it.

    This way.... I get in the app.. and log in to this forum.... And NOW it just acts like an app. A little easier than dealing with a forum on a web browser! At least that is the way that I use it...

    B

    Sent from my SM-G991U using Tapatalk

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