service monitor recommendations

[Project25_MASTR]

I never liked the Aeroflex. I started with R2600D and have one currently. I bought an HP8924C as my first personal service monitor and although it was geared for cell, it worked great for aligning radios. Mine had the 100 Watt option and a tracking generator. Very good resolution too and it blew the R2600D away for aligning filters. It also locked onto a frequency very fast, unlike the 2600 where you have to enter the freq and measure the offset. I loved my HP, but it was heavy and a pain to use in the field.

If I sat down with the 8800 I could figure it out but nothing would ever seem as simple as it was on the R-series from General Dynamics. I started with an R8000A then went backwards when I bought myself a R2670A, couldn't resist a fully loaded refurbished unit for $3500 a few years ago (tracking gen, securnet, Type I/II trunking card, Astro, P25 plus trunking, etc.) when Michigan State Police traded 12 of theirs into Freedom for R8100's.

My bigger issue with Viavi these days is their sales team...they love to tell you how much you suck and how much your existing monitor sucks as it isn't approved by Mother /\/\ (listed alternate) or how inaccurate your other monitor is. Their tactic is trash everyone else so they look like the God's gift. Just incase anyone is curious, their key points center around modulation fidelity and accuracy (after a 15 minute warm up).

 

[rescue161]

The same goes for vendors of radios. They all like to trash the other guy, some more than others.

I originally had the HP8924C for personal use, then a deal came along for a fully loaded R2670. I didn't need two, so I sold the HP. I liked the HP tracking Gen and freq counter much better, but the 2670 had every option available, so I couldn't pass it up.

 

[xmo]

"Any thoughts on the Rohde & Schwarz CMD80 Radio Communication Tester? "
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There's a reason those are so cheap. They only cover the mobile phone frequency sub-bands. I bought one just to play with. I was never able to find a real use for it and I have never seen anyone hack it. There was one guy who started a yahoo group for the CMD80 to encourage experimentation. Nothing came of it.

On the other hand, The Rohde & Schwarz CMU200 is a great unit. Every one of them - regardless of options - includes a full band (to 2700 MHz) signal generator and spectrum analyzer in the base unit. If you want to test analog two-way radios - measure deviation & such - get one with the AMPS option.

 

[ElroyJetson]

Here's another vote for the General Dynamics/Motorola R2600 series. The Aeroflex/IFR 1200/1500 series units are very long in the tooth and parts availability is often "cannibalize or die", while the 2600 series is much better supported. I believe even new CRTs are available, and I'd recommend laying in a spare for one NOW. There is an LCD retrofit kit available for the CRT 2600s as well. (The later models like the 2670B come with a color LCD from the factory.)