Opinions about HP5361A

[DC1MC]

Hi, I need a counter that goes over 1GHz, and I may be able to acquire a  HP 5361A, foes anybody have an experience with this device, is it worth having as a counter, I see that it has a lot of communication features (measuring base frequency of FM modulated signal, tracking and so on...) and a lot of pulse mode measurements, but what about just being used as normal frequency meter ( I think HP calls it CW mode ) ?

Most of the literature I find on the net is about  5361B, don't really realize what the big differences are.

Any help or advice is appreciated.

 Cheers,
 DC1MC

[0culus]

How much over 1 GHz? Looks like this is at least a 20 GHz counter. I have a similar 5350B myself, at one limitation to note is that it has 1 Hz resolution only. Also the UI of these counters leaves a lot to be desired IMO. The LCD is hard to read and the button layout is confusing.

[DC1MC]

Thanks for the info, the maximum frequency that I could generate and I want to measure is around 6GHz (actually 5.5GHz).
I've seen that for the frequencies up to 10MHz, 5361 has a "High Resolution" setting, that somehow manages some extra digits.
I also have some other HP, that goes up to 520Mhz only, that has a longer gate time, if I really need miliHz.

If you know of some other better option under 500EUR (550USD), I will be more than happy to hear about it, the display and UI are of no consequence.

 Cheers,
 DC1MC