#226 RF Generator BangGood - It DOES Work !

Great cheap alternative as RF Generator.
#RFtester #RFgenerator

[rscelectrical]

Good video: I've actually had one of those for a while, I repair a lot of handsets & it's ideal for taking on site. Nice and lightweight, easy to use and not that costly to replace should it get damaged. The thing that lets it down for a lot of people is the lack of instruction manual.

[technishn]

Just got one. Noticed level goes lower below about 10 MHz by about 15 dB at 0.5 MHz. Also below about -120 dB the level goes off as well. Perhaps the level control is done differently. A big spur about 498 MHz (-47 dBm), which is probably part of a mixing process.

[alanvandusen]

Glad to hear it is a viable solution for us deal hunters. Thanks for putting this out.

[NikiBretschneider]

Yes, that was me (I have two channels at Odysee). I am familiar with spectrum analyzers, VNAs and things like that, and I realized, that you tried to measure something under the noise level, which is something almost impossible, so lowering the input attenuation is what reveals what is under the noise floor of that instrument, but everytime I am lowering the input attenuation I am a little bit scared, because there is possibility of frying the input mixer of the spectrum analyzer by overloading it. I am not happy with the Autotune function, which in fact finds the biggest peak, puts it into center and sets some reasonable span, ref level and RBW, but it doesn't set the maximum attenuation before you connect your signal source, which is a kind of unfortunate, because if you set your ref level to something under -30dBm and then you connect some 0dBm+ signal, you may destroy the input of your spectrum analyzer before you press the Autotune button, which is kind of unfortunate. I think it's intended to be used like push PRESET, which gives you fullspan at 0dBm ref level, which is reasonably high, then you connect your signal and then you press the auto tune button, but some pause after pushing the auto tune button which sets the maximal Ref Level with message "now connect your signal and pres ok" would be much better. It is a beginer's spectrum analyzer. Maybe that pause should be optional, but it would be nice to implement something like that. The autotune itself is decent (and maybe usefull) function, it finds the biggest peak, put it into center, sets some reasonable span, rbw, it's something you do very often manually, it's nice to have this one button option.

In this case zoomed the SA to some weird huge signal, that comes from some internals of that generator, which revealed a huge disaster inside that generator, because if you set the RF generator to -70dBm you expect, that the biggest (and only wanted) signal is at -70dBm and there is nothing significantly higher present at the output. And if the generator would work this way, the autotune button would catch that -70dBm signal and I am almost sure about that, because that spectrum analyzer is capable of catching it and if this would be the biggest peak… Generators are typically made with a huge mechanically switched attenuator at the output. The signal is generated at +10dBm levels or even higher and then attenuated to the requested level, because every spurr, everything unwanted is attenuated with the output signal, which protects the ratio between wanted and unwanted signals. And the output of that attenuator must be protected against some potencial signal injection from the inside of the unit, which is in my opinion the Achilles heel of this particular design. They lowered the output signal using attenuator, but they were completely unable to protect it, so I stil think that the generator is kind of malfunctioning, maybe some cheap generator, that gives you -20 to +10dBm with proper external attenuator (or set of attenuators) would give you much better results than this one.

[johnwest]

Thank you for the video, in fact, for all of your videos. Between my TinySA's and my NanoVNA's I now have lots of sig gens. Yep, there are harmonics, but anything cheaper than my HP sig gen has harmonics. You just have to be aware of them, and filter them out if you need to. And of course, the Nano and Tiny are the right gear to use to build such filters with. I also have a couple of step-attenuators to set the output sig strength with. But I might consider one of these units since it is a whole lot smaller than my commercial gear, and as I grow old I am finding that small and convenient is often more important to me than 'precise' is. BTW, I also have a Marconi service monitor like yours. It needs a bit of work, but I like it. I have most of the large, old commercial lab gear, HP, Fluke, Marconi, Advantest, etc, but I find I much prefer to use the tiny, battery-powered, cheap new consumer-grade gear. There are so many good reasons to use it in any situation where it will suffice. It's small, light, runs on batteries, and if I do something really stupid I'm out $80 instead of $2000. That's important. It actually makes electronics fun again. Plus, I find that this cheap gear often has features that my big, old gear does not have. I quickly bought a NanoVNA after my first glance at Joe Smith's Solver32 software. The feature and analysis set of his free NanoVNA software is mind-blowing. It's lab-grade stuff. It's easily worth 20 or 30 times the cost of the hardware it works with. I shudder at the thought of what Keysight would charge for such a feature set. Joe is a saint.

[KADSL]

It's a cool low cost genny, I've had mine for 4 yrs. Now if only it can take an external Ref input. Would make it very accurate.
Rubidium or GPSDO.

[adelolly]

Hi, a friend and I both purchased these units recently. For the price good value.
The only thing we can’t figure is what level of deviation the sub tones and the 1, 2 and 3 kHz are set at. Plus can the deviation be adjusted?
Is that anything you or any of your followers know about.
Thanks, Adrian M0OJR

[tretretre]

I wish you list devices specification when video begins. Does it have am or FM modulation, what is out level range, etc...

[manueladao]

Good. However, I got the idea that this device is just an RF generator for FM (Frequency Modulation) and not AM (Amplitude Modulation). Will it be ?

[thetechgenie]

Turning pre amp on lower noise floor as well as adjusting resolution and lower reference level and turning automatic attenuator and set to zero DBm when looking at small signals.

Curious on the TinySA ultra as like its small size and the fact it has a signal generator built in. Shame not a tracking generator but may still get one when back in stock? Curious how accurate it going to be? Happy with the VNA antenna analyzer bought from China way more useful for setting up antennas. I use it more then my reflection bridge for my rohde and schwarz

[christianp]

J'adore vos videos, j'apprends plein de choses en électronique

[HardcoreDXLithuania]

Is it good for audio tuners and receivers for adjusting?

[stefanStefan-elix]

How do you upgrade to a newer firmware version?
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[layka]

Great video Tony. However, what do you think about this generator compared to e.g. the generator function in the TinySA Spectrum Analyzer? At least the TinySA works between 0.1 to 960MHz, have internal modulation options and sweep function. And yes - it's a spectrum analyzer too :)

[kenwilliams]

I bought one, it worked OK for a few days, then the ON/OFF switch decided to only work intermittently. I also bought a Multi Function Tester TC1, which tested three capacitor, then died.

[VintageElectronicsGeek]

Good to hear it works out, I may just buy one. You mentioned new firmware, is that something the end user updates or are they coming that way? Make sure I get the latest. Also, may I offer positive criticism? Can you start looking at the camera and stop looking at the monitor? Its very disengaging to the viewer when your always looking at yourself. Its OK to glance from time to time at the monitor to check yourself. Or, just add a monitor to the top of the camera. Thanks! ~Jack, VEG

[johnchecketts]

It would be OK if I had the operating manual for it as thay don't send one with it

[TonesElectronics]

Hi Tony Hope you can help. I have the Feeltech Fy6900 (in one of your videos) and a db attenuator box, could I use that to align the receive of a fm cb radio for example or would the rf generator above be a better bet. Thanks from another Tony 2E0JTG

[TheSmokinApe]

Nice video Tony, I've thought about picking this generator up before 👍

[paul.alarner]

can it be set to give a 50uv output on 70cms for smeter alignment?
my old sig gen has no calibrated o/p.