Hi there,
I'm toying with the idea of picking up a used HP 8647A signal generator (I've found one for what I think is a reasonably good price). Obviously it's HP so should be built fairly solid, but I'd like to hear from someone who's actually used one.
I'm planning to use it for radio receiver testing - HF (40m) up to VHF/UHF, occasionally modulated externally with data signalling. The spec-an and TG are good for aligning filters, but sometimes you need to feed the thing a real test signal!
I've heard the 8647A isn't well regarded for phase noise performance, but how likely is that to be a problem?
How easy are they to repair? Does anyone know if a CLIP (component-level repair manual) has made it out into the wild?
Cheers,
Phil.